Oculus Go is the breakthrough VR headset you’ll want to buy or give as a gift – it’s attractively priced and easy to use
Costing US$200, the headset has no cables, and is easy to use with iPhone, Android, Mac or PC. Use it to watch TV virtually with a friend who is elsewhere, or turn it into your private cinema while on a long flight
If all the hype about virtual reality were true, you’d be reading this column through VR goggles.
But in actual reality, tech’s next big thing has been stuck as tech’s niche market thing.
When VR for homes arrived two years ago, it required strapping on a US$600 face computer with a cable that slithered down your back into an even more expensive computer. Or you needed a special phone slipped inside funny headgear. The tech got in the way of non-gamers even trying VR.
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Now VR’s getting another shot, this time with the Oculus Go. This new headset is the product Facebook’s Oculus division should have sold the first time around. After testing one for a week, the Oculus Go is the first VR gadget I actually want to buy.
It costs just US$200. It has no cables. It’s easy to use. It works with iPhone, Android, Mac and PC people. And it’s for more than just playing games. The Go lets you curl up and watch TV virtually along with a faraway friend. Or on a long flight, you can use one as your private cinema.
The Oculus Rift was the 2016 gadget you hoped your neighbour bought so you could try it out. The Oculus Go is the 2018 gadget you buy as a gift.
The Oculus Go doesn’t solve all the problems facing VR. You can teleport to new places, but you won’t forget you’re actually wearing goggles. And aficionados will be disappointed that the Oculus Go, in an effort to trim its price and bulk, offers less sophisticated VR experiences than its predecessors.