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The Dream of Oculus: Five years in

A lot has changed in the five years between the launch of the Oculus Rift and the self-contained Oculus Quest 2. We compare our first demos in 2013 to what Facebook’s VR looks like now. Let’s time travel and see how we got here, as well as where we might be going.

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61 Comments

61 Comments

  1. Tyler Jordan

    April 4, 2021 at 3:06 pm

    I’ll never touch a product that ties into facebook. Needs to be standalone, no location tracking etc. Privacy is the only future that is acceptable.

    • EVOLICIOUS

      April 4, 2021 at 11:46 pm

      Guess everyone forgot about the massive data leak that happened at facebook yesterday that leaked millions of peoples personal information.

  2. aaron parys

    April 4, 2021 at 3:21 pm

    Getting better ! Future VR will be amazing..still love my Go ..very handy when your in the middle of a pandemic….hopefully will see better VR camera technology as well?

    • EVOLICIOUS

      April 4, 2021 at 11:33 pm

      The Oculus Go is not a VR system, lmfao. Its a 3D viewer, not even remotly like VR.

    • MATRIX

      April 4, 2021 at 11:38 pm

      Oculus GO is a 3DOF system, so its not the full 6DOF experience.

      The Quest would be a fully featured system.

  3. Ross

    April 4, 2021 at 3:50 pm

    It is amazing how far its come, just with price. I love the quest 2 its a fantastic device. if i may just shout out my fav game, Catan. Boardgames and vr is just a killer combo.

    • EVOLICIOUS

      April 4, 2021 at 11:34 pm

      The price is low because they sell your data they collect from the device.

    • Scott Buzzatto

      April 5, 2021 at 12:46 am

      I got this game too!

  4. impendio

    April 4, 2021 at 4:29 pm

    Amazing video! I personally can’t wait for Apple’s supposed AR/VR products and have some non-facebook backed options for the masses 😭

    • EVOLICIOUS

      April 4, 2021 at 11:39 pm

      Apple doesn’t have a platform or any devs, their AR project is just another investor scam.

  5. Blender Study

    April 4, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    Thank you for the in-depth review..!! Oculus Rift is an awesome product..!!

  6. capote5000

    April 4, 2021 at 5:02 pm

    Where it goes next? The answer is simple. Much smaller and lighter, more powerful and more cameras (eyes and mouth capture), better resolution and field of view, better hands tracking, more complex games and application, more social experiences in VR, etc.

  7. Decitronic

    April 4, 2021 at 5:02 pm

    This is excellent. So entertaining, thanks so much for making this.

  8. Michal Brat

    April 4, 2021 at 6:04 pm

    I got Quest 2 last week. Two things shocked me – that it can do hand tracking taking individual fingers into account and also how close to the real deal some of the experiences get – namely Eleven Table Tennis, which is just great.

    • Ploplox

      April 4, 2021 at 9:13 pm

      Hard though

  9. Clarence Tse

    April 4, 2021 at 6:04 pm

    F for all my fellow Rift-S owners..

  10. Mr. Marc G.

    April 4, 2021 at 6:24 pm

    facebook is evil and has ruined Oculus.

  11. HE 2016

    April 4, 2021 at 6:42 pm

    mandatory covid vaccines would accelerate the rollout and adoption of neural inputs in our entire human body (Re: facebook vision)

  12. menassie samuel

    April 4, 2021 at 6:55 pm

    I wish this was more of a cnbc/vox style video

  13. matthew s

    April 4, 2021 at 7:04 pm

    Oculus says to date, they have sold more quest 2’s,, than they have sold of any other Quest platform
    steam platform says 1 in 4,, is an oculus quest.
    so….. I think a big part of what you left out of your report is the production quantity of these units
    now that they are available for $299 WITH 6 degrees of freedom AND the beginnings of HAND TRACKING

  14. Georges Abi Khalil

    April 4, 2021 at 7:16 pm

    Nice video!!

  15. ali ali

    April 4, 2021 at 7:38 pm

    the problem remains – no decent VR games to justify the price

    • Martin VR Schmuck

      April 4, 2021 at 11:12 pm

      HL:Alyx alone is worth bying a VR headset and 300$ for a Quest 2 is not that much money.
      For me there are enough good VR games, to play VR most likely every day.
      Nowadays people buy every 2 years an Iphone for 1000$.
      That is a waste of money in my eyes…

    • ali ali

      April 4, 2021 at 11:33 pm

      @Martin VR Schmuck the iphone and the VR are both wastes of money

    • EVOLICIOUS

      April 4, 2021 at 11:52 pm

      @ali ali iPhones are garbage, but VR is far and beyond the best gaming experience with countless games. You have no clue what you are talking about, kiddo.

    • ali ali

      April 5, 2021 at 12:07 am

      @EVOLICIOUS That’s your opinion and I have mine. See i know the difference between opinion and fact……you clearly don’t. Good luck!

    • Martin VR Schmuck

      April 5, 2021 at 9:10 am

      @ali ali I know it’s not for everybody but for me and a lot other people is VR the future. It will never replace flat gaming but it has a right to exist.

  16. David Giles

    April 4, 2021 at 7:53 pm

    Facebook sucks! I will only buy a separate VR set from an independent company – no affiliation with Google or Facebook.

    • EVOLICIOUS

      April 4, 2021 at 11:50 pm

      Google has adsense which is heavily regulated and some of the most secure servers on earth. Facebook has no regulation or security (they just had a massive personal info data leak yesterday).

  17. Elite 1984

    April 4, 2021 at 8:49 pm

    I can’t wait to see the state of VR in the next 5 years.

    • Head First

      April 7, 2021 at 12:31 am

      Great big RCA jack in the back of the head? Nnaaaa.

  18. Nolomite

    April 4, 2021 at 9:30 pm

    I think if PS5 makes a wireless headset, it’s game over for Oculus. There’s just not that many great games coming from Facebook. I don’t like the idea of stand alone devices being “the future” because it inhibits today’s cutting edge graphics in lieu of mobile processing. Mobile processors will always lag years behind. Also since every kid on the block owns a PS5 already the whole cost issue is not as relevant anymore.

    • EVOLICIOUS

      April 4, 2021 at 11:38 pm

      PSVR won’t be a 60ghz system, it will be wired. Also, PS5 is a very weak system and isn’t now good enough for modern VR.
      If you want to play VR, get a Quest 2, or a VR-ready PC and a VR system.

    • Nolomite

      April 5, 2021 at 12:32 am

      @EVOLICIOUS The PS5 is capable of 120 fps, and graphically can compete with high end PC’s. It’s more than capable of 60HZ, and any new headset Sony makes for the PS5 will likely be at least 90 hz. The Quest runs on a mobile processor, and you think the PS5 can’t handle VR? It may be wired, but if they are smart they will make it wireless. I have the Quest 2, and a Valve Index, you are quick to draw conclusions. PS5 if I had to guess will be the new king of VR because Sony will actually make games for it, and spec wise they are more likely to match the Quest with more powerful processing and likely much better games.

  19. Captain Picard

    April 4, 2021 at 9:59 pm

    Jesus, so much has changed in 5 years. Here’s to the next 5 years and more competition.

    • stachowi

      April 6, 2021 at 3:13 pm

      Less competition… winner takes all

  20. BonBonHuggles

    April 4, 2021 at 10:44 pm

    Correct title: the down fall of oculus cause facebook owns it the most
    sh!tty company ever to exist

    Buy a better VR headset one not owned by SpyB00k

  21. EVOLICIOUS

    April 5, 2021 at 12:29 am

    Great video, however just showing the outside consumer experience rather than actual history.
    I would still implore that no one buy facebook devices. They are cheap because they use the data collected from those devices to sell to literally anyone that buys. Unlike Google and MS that have platforms like adsense that are heavily regulated and store minimal data on some of the most secure servers on the planet. Meanwhile Facebook constantly has data leaks (like the massive leak that occurred yesterday) of personal information they have no business collecting.
    This wildly increases the risk of data theft and options of hackers/scammers to use the data against you to exploit you and scam you (called “phishing”).
    Its also important to remember that oculus has not existed since 2017. The entire oculus team including all the foinders left Facebook right after the quest 1 launch due to ethics reasons they did not want to be involved with (big surprise! lol).
    Oculus is not a company, they are a product of Facebook.
    There are far better alternative VR products that exist such as the Valve Index, WMR kits and Vive that do not collect personal information rather tracking data to improve tracking precision (which is stored internally).
    Also with steamvr native support so you have access to 6000+ apps and a wide variety of freedom that oculus does not provide.
    If you are looking to own a Quest device, I suggest to wait until someone has cracked the OS and has blocked all Facebook services from accessing your device.

  22. Easy Money

    April 5, 2021 at 12:53 am

    What’s the stock for this ?

  23. Eddie Martinez

    April 5, 2021 at 12:53 am

    What’s the stock for this ?

    • stachowi

      April 6, 2021 at 3:13 pm

      Facebook

  24. Scott Buzzatto

    April 5, 2021 at 12:53 am

    Missed the entirety of Windows Mixed Reality (WMR). What happened? Also I saw B-roll of the Oculus Go, but it wasn’t talked about. otherwise very enjoyable watching the history of VR unfold from your perspective.

  25. skpmd4186

    April 5, 2021 at 1:15 am

    I’m excited to jump into VR when PSVR2 comes out. The experiences I’m interested could only be done from the games space, rather than the experience space it feels currently stuck with. Seeing what Valve did with Half-life Alyx and what Sony could do with it, is what has me excited.

  26. Enoch OfGod

    April 5, 2021 at 1:29 am

    [Ooooooooo]

  27. Elijah Whyte

    April 5, 2021 at 3:09 am

    I’m just now experiencing VR for the first time firsthand with my Quest 2, so I definitely appreciate going back and touching on the comments when VR was first officially being demonstrated. Really shows how many leaps and bounds were made to get this device to where it’s at now!

    • Romulus Maximus

      April 5, 2021 at 9:56 am

      I have a Quest 2 as well and it’s only been 3 days and every time I step into virtual reality I get blown away ! I remember I used to hate on VR because it was so lame that all you could do was use a controller and basically only look around you. Now I wholeheartedly think VR is the future 🙂

  28. VR Dynamite

    April 5, 2021 at 4:00 am

    Brilliant! I really think it will be exercise that pushed the Quest into mass adoption. We have the ability to map a our couch into VR but one day it should be a set of weights or a treadmill. Gyms will be taxis and the Quest will be Uber haha

  29. Marc Herrera

    April 5, 2021 at 4:23 am

    Why does every tech reviewer seem to skip over the Windows Mix Reality HMD. It introduced “Inside-Out-Tracking”, only 2 cables and was actually ridiculed in the VR community.

  30. Marc Cisneros

    April 5, 2021 at 8:35 am

    I think Neuralink is the endgame (for now).

  31. bell alonge38

    April 5, 2021 at 9:07 am

    👍

  32. noomy 663

    April 5, 2021 at 9:43 am

    I can’t help noticing a hypothesis that any basic skills that create a product like this were first built for 4D glasses.

  33. matthew s

    April 5, 2021 at 11:54 am

    the apple ][ computer had a “killer app” in the form of VISICALC the first spreadsheet

    so far,, there is no “killer app” for VR on the Quest or PCVR,,
    UNTIL that time all consumer $299 Quest or PCVR, will remain a “curiosity”,, not an essential device

  34. OMG! Its Karen!!!

    April 5, 2021 at 2:12 pm

    I could spend all day in VR. I make sure to take small breaks when playing for extended periods though, but yeah, It’s easy to be in VR whe you have a Frankenmod Quest 2 and Virtual Desktop.

  35. MalekiRe

    April 5, 2021 at 3:51 pm

    Try Neos vr if u play vrchat, it’s 100x better!

  36. streetwaxtv

    April 5, 2021 at 4:52 pm

    Great video

  37. Stokes Wait

    April 6, 2021 at 3:10 am

    I just bought a oculus quest 2 and accessories with it, I have never experienced vr before, very freaken cool!

    • Blokka Nokka

      April 6, 2021 at 12:53 pm

      Find someone who has a vr gaming pc, and play pc games. Skyrimvr, H3vr, Assetto Corsa with a force feedback steering wheel is boss.

  38. Matthew Howell

    April 6, 2021 at 8:32 am

    Is there any realistic danger, with these VR headsets, of some people developing what Star Trek referred to as “Holodiction”?

    Meaning that some VR headset users might become so infatuated with VR that they never want to leave the experience?

    • Blokka Nokka

      April 6, 2021 at 12:52 pm

      I think if comfort or battery life was not a issue, we would have that more. I would liken vr to a gamer who does not leave their room, hopefully they are talking to someone vs nonstop headshots of vr shooter lol.

  39. Jared Braun

    April 6, 2021 at 6:38 pm

    I’m with you. I have been wanting VR since I was a kid. I think it’s really starting to take off now though. I’ve seen and heard of friends getting the new quest 2 that I would have never imagined would buy one and they are gushing over how immersive the game play is. The price to performance has finally hit a point where it makes sense for a lot more people to buy and get into it.

  40. Gonzalo martinez

    April 7, 2021 at 12:13 am

    Just because facebooks owns oculus I won’t buy it!

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