oculus connect
Latest
Oculus Connect conference is now Facebook Connect
Oculus Connect will now be known as Facebook Connect. The company said this is due to the event encompassing much more than just the VR headset.
Facebook cancels all large events through June 2021
Mark Zuckerberg announced today that Facebook will cancel any large physical events with more than 50 people through June 2021.
Beat Saber's 360-degree mode arrives in December
Oculus Connect is as much about games as hardware and services, and at the event, Beat Games had some news about upcoming additions to Beat Saber. In December, you'll be able to slash your way through stages in 360 degrees, keeping you even more on your toes. To tide you over until then, a new music pack is on the way next week featuring tunes from Panic! At The Disco.
Social VR world 'Facebook Horizon' comes to Oculus in 2020
Facebook, at its core, is a social networking company, so it's perhaps not too much of a surprise it has a major social project in the works for Oculus. At Oculus Connect 6, Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook Horizon, described as a "social VR world coming to Oculus Quest and the Rift Platform." However, as it focuses on that new VR experience, the company will shut down Facebook Spaces and Oculus Rooms October 25.
Respawn will share more about its 'AAA' VR shooter later this year
Back in 2017, Facebook and Respawn Entertainment revealed the developer was working on a virtual reality AAA shooter. While things have been fairly secretive since (so much so that it might have fallen off your radar), we'll hear more about it at this year's Oculus Connect, which is scheduled for September 25th to 26th in San Jose.
More than 130k developers have signed up with Oculus
Nate Mitchell, VP of Product at Oculus, revealed today at the Oculus Connect event in Hollywood that the company has more than 130,000 users signed on via the Oculus dev center. If that number isn't quite as astronomical as you'd like, would you perhaps prefer enjoy knowing that the Oculus SDK has been downloaded more than 550,000 times? Or how about the fact that the 325-plus VR games and experiences have been downloaded more than 699,000 times via Oculus' sharing platform? We imagine that, with the announcement of a new Rift prototype - codenamed "Crescent Bay" - those numbers will only continue to climb.
Oculus DK1 source now open to all
The source code used to build the Oculus Rift DK1 is now open and available to everyone interested in tinkering with what is arguably the most famous virtual reality device since Nintendo's Virtual Boy. This means that, regardless of whether or not you have an Oculus Rift (DK1 or not), you can develop your own virtual reality experiences and, potentially, hardware. Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe said at today's Oculus Connect event that releasing the source code for DK1 is the company's way of "giving back" to the community that helped them get where they are today: a massive success story with billions of dollars' worth of investments from companies like Facebook and partnerships with companies like Samsung. "Can't wait to see all the Chinese knock-offs," Iribe joked. [Image: Oculus]
Oculus announces Oculus Connect conference, acquires RakNet
As the latest Oculus Rift development kits begin shipping, Oculus VR has made a pair of important announcements for up-and-coming virtual reality developers. First, the company will be hosting a new VR development conference later this year. Called Oculus Connect, the conference will feature "sessions and workshops led by Oculus engineers and industry pioneers," as well as keynotes from Oculus founder Palmer Lucky, CEO Brendan Iribe, chief scientist Michael Abrash and, of course, John Carmack. Oculus Connect 2014 runs September 19-20, and registration begins July 10. Alongside Oculus Connect, the company also announced the acquisition of RakNet, a C++ networking middleware system for game development. Essentially, the system provides developers the essentials for implementing online multiplayer (voice chat, object replication, etc). The system is currently used by companies like Sony Online Entertainment, Mojang and even Lockheed Martin. More important than the acquisition, however, is Oculus VR's decision to make RakNet open source, starting today. Interested developers can snag it right now from Oculus' GitHub. If you decide to develop any online-enabled, virtual face touching, let us know.
