Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 Available for Pre-Order

Oculus VR announced today that Development Kit 2 (DK2) of their Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is now available for pre-order on their site for $350.  DK2 provides a significant step forward from DK1 that was released back in March of 2013.  Thanks to an external camera, DK2 features positional head tracking to further immerse the player into the game by tracking up, down, forward, back and side to side movement.  It also features a new low persistence OLED display that flashes the picture, then goes black, then the picture again so fast that it reduces motion blur (borderline eliminates it in the video).  The display resolution has also been increased from 640 x 800 per eye in DK1 (a sour point for many users) to 960 x 1080 per eye in DK2.  DK2 also clears up the clutter by removing the intermediary power box that connected between the headset and your computer in DK1.

Here’s a nice preview video from the Oculus team explaining their newest creation.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/OlXrjTh7vHc[/youtube]

Unfortunately, those of us who scream “take my money!” will have to wait until July to receive Dev Kit 2.  That’s a long ways out and also raises the question of when the production unit will be available?

So, is any one going to take the plunge on DK2?  Is anyone currently racing with DK1?  Currently iRacing and Assetto Corsa seem to be leading the way in Oculus support.  In fact, Assetto Corsa even released this image last week with Oculus VR’s Head of Developer Relations Aaron Davies at the office, a good sign for the early adopter sim racers.

DK2 SPECS:

Display

Resolution 960 x 1080 per eye

Refresh Rate 75 Hz, 72 Hz, 60 Hz

Persistence 2 ms, 3 ms, full

Viewing Optics

Viewing Optics 100° Field of View (nominal)

Interfaces

Cable 10′ (detachable)

HDMI HDMI 1.4b

USB Device USB 2.0

USB Host USB 2.0 (requires DC Power Adapter)

Camera USB USB 2.0

Internal Tracking

Sensors Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Magnetometer

Update Rate 1000 Hz

Positional Tracking

Sensors Near Infrared CMOS Sensor

Update Rate 60 Hz

Weight

Weight 0.97 lbs (without cable)

Included Accessories

Included Accessories HDMI to DVI Adapter

DC Power Adapter

International Power Plugs

Nearsighted lens cups

Lens cleaning cloth