【Hollywood Archives】

Oculus gave more details about its its next-generation VR headset today at the Oculus Connect 4developer conference. It also said the headset would become available "in the next year."

The Hollywood Archivescatch: The headset is still a prototype, and it will only be made available to developers.

SEE ALSO: Facebook announces $199 Oculus Go standalone VR headset

The new headset, codenamed Santa Cruz, is the company's first prototype headset with "inside-out tracking" technology, meaning it doesn't require external cameras or other accessories to track your position in the room. What's even more exciting is that the headset will also be able to track two newly designed wireless controllers with six degrees of freedom.

In short, the Santa Cruz headset will be the first high-end VR system from Oculus that doesn't require being tethered to a powerful PC. It also crucially features positional tracking -- tracking the position and head movements of the wearer in addition to tracking the handheld wireless controllers. Basically, it's a standalone VR headset that works all by itself.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The next-level tracking system is enabled by a set of four cameras placed on the outer corners of the new Santa Cruz headset. By placing cameras around the rim, the display can actually track the position of the both the user and the controllers.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

The Santa Cruz headset will be paired with new prototype Santa Cruz controllers. The new controllers feature a ring covered in LEDs aimed upward, in order to make them more visible to the tracking cameras on the outside of the headset.

Existing Oculus Touch controllers also have LEDs, but the ring that houses them is facing downward, and they are tracked by an external camera that must be attached to a PC. The newer version should make it much easier to setup and use Oculus VR products. The new controllers also use infrared emitters, rather than LEDs, meaning they won't have a distracting glow.

The new controllers shouldn't be much of a change for older users. They still include a trigger, touchpad, and buttons similar to the existing Oculus Touch controllers. It is important, however, to mention that this is a prototype system, so by the time they're commercially available, they could change significantly.

If Oculus delivers on everything it's promised, the Santa Cruz headset will be a realization of the dream that VR developers have long been chasing. Users have often complained that current systems require a cable being attached the headset — which makes it easy to trip over or get tangled in while you're immersed in a virtual world. Soon, developers will no longer have to worry about stumbling over cables that attach to their headsets or having to mount positional trackers around the room. This is a huge deal.

The Santa Cruz headset first premiered in October 2016 during the Oculus Connect 3 conference. At it's unveiling, Oculus emphasized that the PC that typically powers VR headsets would be replaced with a small minicomputer placed in the rear of the head strap.

So what components are actually included in the Oculus Santa Cruz prototype? Unfortunately, those details are still unclear, and the company has not yet revealed specifics about the processing power and technical specifications of the system.

For now, we have only these short demos to rely on. But if it works as well as the video showed today, it's certainly something worth being excited about.

---

Featured Video For You

---

KFC's creepy VR training game is a terrifying way to welcome new employees

---

Topics Facebook Oculus Virtual Reality

• Entertainment
• Deals
• Social Good
• Tech
• Science
• Shopping
• Life
• Digital Culture

• The Loud American
• Palmeiras vs. Porto 2025 livestream: Watch Club World Cup for free
• How Arm Came to Dominate the Mobile Market
• How to unblock Pornhub for free in Kentucky
• Parkland: Urgency and Insurgency
• NYT Connections hints and answers for June 15: Tips to solve 'Connections' #735.
• Wordle today: The answer and hints for June 15, 2025
• Are Gray Market Game Key Sites Legit?
• The Unofficial Chief of Staff
• Boutique PC Builders vs OEM Pre

• When Female Artists Stop Being Seen as Muses
• How Like the Mind It Is by Ellen O’Connell Whittet 
• The Burning House by Hanya Yanagihara
• How TikTok turned reading into an aesthetic
• How to Write a Feminist “Dead Girl” Story
• How to Live in a Dystopian Fiction
• Who Are You, Jack Whitten? by Jack Whitten
• Target's sale is live — check out the deals ahead of Cyber Monday
• The Radical Notion of a Smartphone
• BeReal introduces new features to draw users back to the platform

• Looking for Twin Peaks
• Watch out for these 5 misinformation trends as anti
• King's Field Retrospective: Exploring the Roots of Elden Ring and Dark Souls
• CPU and GPU Availability and Pricing Update: March 2021
• Brain AWOL
• The Antique Store: Connor Wood isn't just 'that TikTok comedian'
• Al Ahly vs. Inter Miami 2025 livestream: Watch Club World Cup for free
• Al Ahly vs. Inter Miami 2025 livestream: Watch Club World Cup for free
• The Moldbug Variations
• Pacers vs. Thunder 2025 livestream: Watch Game 5 of NBA Finals for free

• Socialism or Barbarism?
• NYT mini crossword answers for June 16, 2025
• Making a Fast Quad
• PSG vs. Atletico Madrid 2025 livestream: Watch Club World Cup for free
• Mommy Issues
• What is Quantum Computing?
• 21 Years of Hitman: How Stealth Action Got Perfected Over the Last 2 Decades
• Against All Odds: How Nintendo Made It
• Media for the Apocalypse
• How to unblock ePorner for free