Hey everyone!
Cas here and last week was a very interesting week for the VR industry.
Many photos of the new Oculus Quest headset was leaked.
Today, we’re covering all the rumored specifications & we’ll end the video with my speculation.
It’ll fun to make this a game and hear your predictions as well.
Let’s get started, but first, if you like to see more videos like this one, consider
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And now, join me beyond reality.
So if you’ve missed the leaks, I’ll take you back in my time machine to the previous
week before diving into the rumored specifications of this new headset.
So on Wednesday, July 22, this photo was leaked on Twitter by the user called WalkingCat.
This is what looks like a new marketing image of the new Oculus Quest.
It shows it’s front with the cameras, buttons at the bottom that may be volume buttons,
and two controllers.
Noticeable differences from the current Quest headset are its white color, the top camera
at the side seems to have moved back, and the new Velcro-less strap.
In the post, a bit further in the comments, WalkingCat replied to another Twitter user
that he believes this headset is dubbed as the Quest 2.
Of course, we need to take everything with a grain of salt as names are subject to change.
Plus, any images shown in this video have not been confirmed yet, so no one knows what’s
real and what’s not.
It’s all just rumors right now.
But the Twitter user WalkingCat is a known leaker, who usually leaks Microsoft products.
He or she had previously leaked info on the Hololens 2, and have leaked an image of the
HP Reverb G2 before it was announced.
Both turned out to be accurate.
So this cute cat does have some validity.
Then two days later, on Friday, July 24.
WalkingCat posts two more images of the headset.
One of them is the other side of the headset, which shows that this version of the Quest
has only one microphone jack, probably to make the headset lighter.
But more interesting, the other picture shows the lenses.
It shows the usual edited-in light flare that we’ve seen before in other Oculus marketing
images.
It is interesting, though, that this image shows the headset from this angle like it’s
trying to show that there is a better nose gap or less light leakage at the nose gap.
This image also shows clearly, that if this is the next Quest version, we’re going to
get integrated speakers again in the straps.
And it looks we could get dual stereo microphones as there are two little black dots at the
bottom of the headset.
No IPD adjustment is to be seen though in any of the images.
At least nothing that looks like the ones used in major VR headsets, which is usually
a slider at the bottom of the headset.
This would be disappointing to me if they decide to move away from a manual IPD adjustment.
But what is exciting is the mysterious message tagged with this image: September 15 and then
that emoji with the face and that monocle.
Which could mean that the headset may be announced officially on this date by Oculus.
This would align with Oculus Connect 7 as previous Oculus Connect’s have been around
that date.
This year, Oculus has announced that they will host OC7 digitally.
So make sure to keep an eye on Oculus then.
Then on the same day, as if it wasn’t enough already, we got more pictures of the headset
from a Reddit user and these pictures look very, very real, while the leaked images we
got before could have been fake 3D renders.
The Reddit post and user were deleted not long after these photos were posted, but luckily
for us, it was already shared everywhere.
I mean, that’s the internet for you.
The first pictures show the strap more clearly.
This strap has a similar form to the Oculus Go, with a top strap that’s adjusted with
Velcro.
So it doesn’t look like it will cup the backside of the head as much anymore for weight
balance, which could indicate that the headset is lighter and thus more comfortable.
How you adjust, the strap is unclear now as there are no Velcro hook and loops at the
sides anymore.
I don’t even see how the straps could spring, as the current Quest.
I feel something has to be said with the two things at the back of the headset.
They look like strap fasteners to me.
Maybe you can use that to tighten the strap, much like what you can do with a fanny pack
strap like the one I have here.
Although, to me, this doesn’t seem like it will be super comfortable.
These two things have to do something, though.
Maybe Oculus will finally come with official accessories that you can place on the back
of the headset using these things?
This picture also shows where the top side camera is positioned now.
It’s been moved more back than the current Quest.
This could mean we’ll get better tracking for movements like shooting arrows with a
bow.
You know, these kinds of movements…
And in this picture, you can see the headset’s exterior more clearly.
It looks like the new Quest device has removed the fabric from the sides and is replaced
with plastic like the Rift S. The color white looks matte to me, and on these pictures,
they also look more grey-ish, then full-on white like on the previous pictures.
There’s a sticker on the headset that shows a warning: “This device has not been authorized
as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission.”
And some more warnings, which is a pretty standard message on devices that have not
been approved released yet, probably required by the FCC.
The last picture that was leaked is from the controller.
Interestingly, it looks like they moved back to the button placement of the original Oculus
Rift consumer version 1 (CV1).
One of the first consumer VR headsets released.
So on the picture, the battery cover seems to have moved back too; as you can see, the
seam of the cover now is more in the middle than at the sides.
Maybe that’s because this new controller could solve the issue for a lot of users where
the battery cover would come loose when playing intense and sweaty games.
Phew, that was a lot on one day, wasn’t it?
The next day, on July 25, WalkingCat shows another picture of the headset, the lenses-side
again but with a bit more detail.
Here, it looks like the fabric that we had in the inside of the Quest, of the first Quest
is gone, and you can clearly see that the buttons at the bottom of the headset are volume
buttons as we thought before.
But still, no IPD slider to adjust the lenses according to the user’s eyes for best clarity.
But interestingly, the area around the lenses does look like it has enough space to move
around.
In this picture, I don’t see a nose flap still, which gives me a question mark surrounding
whether the light leakage from the nose gap is any better.
And what’s that mysterious number “2” area here?
In most other VR headsets, there is a proximity sensor here to sense if a player is wearing
the headset.
But in this image, it looks like a toggle of some sort.
Could this be an IPD adjustment?
I really hope there is one.
Because if Oculus decides to move away from the IPD adjustment, it could indicate that
they will go for a single LCD, like the Rift S. This will increase visual performance with
less resources needed, but not without its disadvantages.
Without an IPD slider, many users might be left out from this headset as they might not
be able to get comfortable, clear visuals.
Ok, so those were the image leaks.
Pretty exciting stuff to know that we might be getting a newer version of the Quest sooner
than we think.
But, these are mostly exterior changes.
It’s harder to speculate what the hardware specifications will be, based on these pictures.
There is some info on this though, on May 5 this year, Bloomberg did post an article
saying that Facebook is working on multiple potential successors to the Quest.
In this article, they say that Facebook is testing versions that are 10 to 15% smaller.
That they are lighter, around 1 pound, and more comfortable to wear.
According to the article, the new Quest device could also remove the fabric from the sides
and replace it with more plastic like the current Oculus Rift S. This does seem to align
with the pictures we just showed you just now, so that’s interesting!
Further, in the article, they say that the updated refresh rate of the new Quest headset
is at least 90Hz and may even go to 120Hz.
According to the people they’ve spoken to, this may be capped at 90Hz to preserve battery
life.
But, 90 Hz, would be a nice upgrade from the current model’s 72Hz.
So based on these rumors, these are my predictions.
Of course, everything is based on the rumors and just my guts so I can’t be sure that
this is correct so keep that in mind.
But what I think is that this is going to be a replacement for the current Quest headset.
Not a Quest lite to replace the Oculus Go and not a Quest Pro or a Quest 2.
But probably a Quest S that will replace the current Quest.
Like the Rift S replaced the Rift CV1.
I think they will have to go with a better processor than the current Quest, but we will
skip the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845.
And possibly go with the 855 or XR2.
They have to upgrade the processor if they want to improve the display specs, like the
refresh rate.
I do think the refresh rate will be higher but will be capped at 90Hz.
The display will probably be different, but I don’t think the resolution will be much
higher, it might stay the same even.
I speculate that the field of view will be the same.
I also speculate that this Quest will allow for higher bandwidth for Oculus Link video
transfer.
This means better game graphics when using Oculus Link and a VR-ready PC as the new processor
should allow it.
I also think this new Quest might launch with exciting games as Oculus has always been very
content focused.
When the Quest launched for example, they promised to bring 50 great titles at launch.
So possibly, Oculus will also have some games to launch with this new headset as well that
will showcase what this headset can do.
But what game will this be?
I’m not sure, but I think we will be surprised.
And, based on my guts, I think the price will be lower than the current price of 399 US
dollars.
For the smallest storage version, at least.
I think it will be more affordable because Facebook’s goal has always been to get more
people into VR, I think it was 1 billion?
So they are not looking for massive upgrades.
I think they are prioritizing making the headset lighter, more comfortable, and more affordable
by removing hardware that isn’t needed while finding a good balance on what they can update,
like the refresh rate…
Which fits the goal of making the headset more comfortable.
And… just because I don’t want to miss the IPD adjustment, I hope they include it,
but I fear they will go with a single display LCD.
Again, this is only my speculation, so take it with a grain of salt.
But I do think it will be interesting to have a friendly discussion about this!
So what are your speculations and thoughts?
Let’s make this a game!
Copy and paste this list, I’ve pasted it in a pinned comment.
Fill in your answers and thoughts.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes here; it’s just for good fun.
The one who got it right the most will get a shout out once the new headset is released
and a small prize, which we will decide when the time is right.
So I know that some of you might want to know if you should wait before buying a Quest headset
now.
In my opinion, I do think you should wait.
September is less than two months away, and if we’re going to get new info then, I think
it’s worth waiting to see when it’ll be released as it may be sooner than we think.
This all probably depends on COVID, though.
But, of course, if you have the budget for it.
Be my guest and buy both.
And that’s it for today.
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