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‘Oculus Ready’ PC program makes it easier for the average consumer to access VR

By Koh Wanzi - on 29 Sep 2015, 10:27am

‘Oculus Ready’ PC program makes it easier for the average consumer to access VR

The 'Oculus Ready' PC program will allow PC vendors to certify their systems as ready for the Rift. (Image Source: Oculus)

The consumer version of the Oculus Rift will be available in early 2016, but virtual reality is still far from a mainstream concept. Even though the US$99 Samsung Gear VR – with Oculus tech behind it – might change that, a headset like the Rift is still going to require dedicated, high-performance PC hardware to run.

As a result, Oculus has introduced the ‘Oculus Ready’ PC program, which has it partnering with PC vendors and hardware manufacturers to certify systems as meeting or exceeding the minimum specifications required to run the Rift.

While Oculus hopes that VR will eventually find its way to the masses, the initial system requirements for the Rift are still relatively high compared to your run-of-the-mill OEM system. For one, the Rift will require at least an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or an AMD Radeon R9 290, both of which aren’t usually found on most off-the-shelf desktop systems.

The good news is that this requirement will be kept constant, so the number of systems that support it should trend upwards over time. However, the average consumer is still going to struggle at this early stage to discern if a particular pre-built system will run the Rift, and the ‘Oculus Ready’ certification case badge provides an easy way of doing so.

ASUS, Dell, and Alienware are already on board with the program, with systems starting as low as US$949. ASUS is also the first of the three to announce upcoming ‘Oculus Ready’ PCs in the form of the ROG G20CB and G11CD gaming PCs. 

The ROG G11CD (left) and G20CB. (Image Source: HEXUS)

They will be equipped with sixth-generation Intel Skylake processors and NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics cards. The desktops will launch in time for the Rift’s early 2016 release, but ASUS said that further details, presumably pertaining to availability, price and the exact specifications, will be made known later this year.

The official announcement at Oculus Connect 2 featured only these three PC vendors, but Oculus said that more partnerships will be announced as the launch date nears.

The way it looks, Oculus is approaching VR adoption from two fronts, with the Samsung Gear VR for the masses and the ‘Oculus Ready’ program for a more comprehensive experience.

Source: Oculus via Tom’s Hardware

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