If the Oculus Rift suffers from any inherent flaw, it's that it is basically a big box you wear on your face. It's an unavoidable characteristic of the device, but also one that has to be addressed if it's going to be a mainstream success. After all, spending time in virtual worlds isn't going to be much fun if it makes your skull ache.
"We want to make sure that when you do buy an Oculus in the future, that it is a comfortable experience," Oculus VR co-founder and CEO Brendan Iribe said in an interview with Bloomberg. "It's probably going to be a little bit big, it's going to be ski goggles form factor in the beginning, it's not going to be sunglasses for awhile, but we want it to be comfortable."
Getting that comfort factor right is a "big challenge," he said, adding, "We're just at the point that we're now confident we're there, and it'll be not too far along."
As promising as that sounds, don't hold your breath waiting for one to appear under your tree over the holidays. "More than a few months, less than a few years." Iribe said when asked when the headset will be released to consumers. "Pretty soon." We know the next iteration of the Rift is still in prototype form, meaning the next dev kit (or, maybe, consumer headset) release won't happen until sometime in 2015.
To learn more about what the Oculus gang is up to these days, read our September interview with Vice President of Product Nate Mitchell about the new Crescent Bay Oculus Rift prototype.
