Oculus Reveals 140 Degree VR Headset

With the HTC Vive going hard on new hardware lately, we've been wondering what Oculus has been up to. As it turns out, they've kept themselves rather busy with some hardware improvements of their own. The virtual reality producer recently revealed some prototype head displays that might change the game.

While they showed a few projects, the one that everyone has their eyes on is the "half-dome prototype." This device, which doesn't look that different from the current Oculus Rift model, sure packs a great deal more. The half-dome prototype has a 140-degree field of view, varifocal displays, and supposedly eye-tracking.

The half-dome was revealed by Maria Fernandez Guajardo, Head of Product Management, Core Tech at Oculus. She claims the half-dome has a 140-degree field of view and varifocal displays into a Rift-like form factor. The high degree is due to new Fresnel lenses, allowing users to see a noticeably large area at a time. For reference, all other headsets on the market have between a 96 to 110-degree field of view.

Aside from being able to see more, how you see it has changed as well. Varifocal displays within the headset allow for dynamic view focus. This allows the headset to control whether your focusing close-up or far away, a common VR problem. When this is paired with eye-tracking technology, the headset can detect where you're looking, and adjust the focus accordingly. This would allow for a more comfortable and natural feeling experience, particularly with up-close objects.

Special remarks have also been made towards the effectiveness of these features. Oculus reassures us that the dynamic nature of the varifocal display will be silent and unnoticeable to the player.

No word on whether these prototypes will make their way to market as a new generation Oculus Rift, nor what the cost of such would be.