Oculus Connect 3 Reveals Lower System Requirements, New Peripherals

Today Oculus Rift announced that the system requirements for running the VR headset are lower than thought, making it easier to afford the cutting-edge system. The requirements to use the Rift aren't completely ridiculous, but they were out of the range of the average consumer who isn't heavily into gaming. Manufacturers like Asus and Alienware made it easier by offering Oculus-ready PCs. Those come in at around a thousand bucks apiece on top of the $600 VR headset. Unfortunately, coming in under this performance barrier give users a higher risk of motion sickness and nausea from the spotty performance. Recently though, that changed. In an Oculus keynote presentation in San Jose, California, Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe revealed a new technology improvement that drastically reduces the requirements needed to run the headset. The new system, given the flashy name "asynchronous spacewarp", creates a more stable experience that's the equivalent of 90 frames per second. That's the magic framerate that reduces problems with nausea. The upshot is that the new minimum requirements are considerably lower, and an Oculus-ready PC can now be built for $499, cutting the price of entry in half. Oculus also announced some new peripherals including a new standalone headset, in-ear headphones, and Oculus Touch, the motion-sensitive controllers for the Rift, as well as a slew of new games. Check out Oculus' Twitch Channel for the whole keynote presentation.