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The year of virtual reality is finally here.
Oculus, one of the biggest names in the game, is opening preorders of its highly anticipated virtual-reality headset this week.
Oculus Rift orders start Wednesday at 8 a.m. PT on the company’s website, Oculus said in a blog post Monday. The virtual-reality startup, which Facebook bought last year for $2 billion, did not reveal many other details.
The company has not yet released a price for the Rift, which is expected to ship by March. Executives hinted last May that consumers could spend around a total of $1,500 for the headset bundled with a PC that costs $1,000 or less.
Oculus declined to provide further details on the price and ship date of the Rift.
2016 has widely been touted as the year of virtual reality, as the technology finally makes its way from research projects to store shelves. So far only two headsets, Google’s Cardboard and Samsung’s Gear VR, are being offered to consumers. In addition to the Rift, virtual-reality products like the Sony PlayStation VR and HTC Vive are expected to be released this year.
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The preorder date is good news for people excited to dive into virtual worlds. Oculus last week, however, delayed the release of its Touch controllers until the second half of 2016. The gadgets are designed to work with the Rift and enable people to use hand gestures in all-digital environments. Despite the delay, Oculus appears ready to start the year of virtual reality with a bang.
“This is going to be an exciting week for VR,” the company said in its post.
Oculus founder Palmer Luckey will hold an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session about virtual reality on social-news site Reddit at 6 p.m. PT Wednesday.
Update, 12:05 p.m. PT: Adds Oculus declining to share further details.
