06-07-2020

Facebook has announced that it will stop selling the Oculus Go. The Oculus Go will continue to be supported until December 4 of this year, after which it will no longer be possible to make application updates on the platform. Oculus has announced that it will fully focus on the Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift. Since its launch in 2018, many organizations have purchased the Oculus Go for business and educational use. Stopping the Oculus Go puts organizations in a dilemma: go through with the use of their application on the Oculus Go? If not, which VR headset is it best to switch to? This article lists the options.

Option 1: Continue with the Oculus Go

The press release states that new applications and updates will be accepted until the end of 2020, but not after that. Oculus has also said that they will ensure that the operating system remains functional until 2022.

In practice, this means that after December 2020 it is no longer possible to make any changes to the application they are currently using. Any newly discovered “bugs” in the application cannot be resolved and new features can no longer be added.  

Continuing with the Oculus Go therefore comes with increased risk. Only if you as an organization are 100% sure that the current application will continue to suffice in the future, or if it is a use case in the short term, will the Oculus Go remain relevant to you.

Option 2: Switching to the Oculus Quest

The biggest reason for Oculus to quit Oculus Go is because they see the future of virtual reality in 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) VR headsets (what is 6DOF?): Like the Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S, both headsets could be a good alternative for organizations.

The advantage of the Oculus Quest is that it provides so much more opportunities in the field of virtual reality, so organizations can see it as an opportunity to upgrade their application. Unfortunately, there are also disadvantages.

First of all, the Oculus Quest (€ 439) is significantly more expensive than the Oculus Go (€ 204).

Secondly, the use of an Oculus Quest requires a much larger usage area. After all, every user should be able to walk around. VR applications that are used in groups are therefore very difficult in practice with the Oculus Quest. Thirdly the Oculus Quest has a longer startup time. When starting up, the space in which you can move must be drawn. With the Oculus Quest, it is mandatory to do this every time you move or restart it. Preparing a group of 10 Oculus Quest headsets for use can easily take 20-30 minutes. As well as that,a commercial license is needed for business use. Oculus has announced that it will roll out more functions for business applications. This makes, among other things, publishing applications easier. At first this may seem like good news, but it is also stated here that they will monitor the type of use of the Oculus Quest more strictly. 

The commercial license of the Oculus Quest comes with the“Oculus Quest / Rift for business”.  An Oculus Quest does not cost € 429 EUR, but with a license € 999 EUR each. Many organizations now use the non-commercial variant, but run the risk of Oculus taking action.

Option 3: Choosing the Pico G2 4K

An alternative to the Oculus Go is the Pico G2 4K. Like the Oculus Go, the Pico G2 4K is a 3DOF headset. Pico has developed the Pico G2 4K specifically for the business market. This gives the Pico G2 4K a number of advantages:

• It is possible to use the Pico G2 4K without a controller.
• The Pico G2 4K can easily be put into kiosk mode.
• The Pico works on the basis of an Android operating system. This gives organizations more options for the Pico G2 4K to adjust it to their specific requirements
• The Pico G2 4K has a PU foam cover making it easy to clean
• Pico G2 4K applications can be easily distributed and easily installed on the device.
• Pico has announced that it will continue to sell and support the Pico G2 4K at least until 2022. 

At the moment, the Pico G2 4K is the most popular all in one VR headset after the Oculus Go. Converting an Oculus Go application to a Pico application is also relatively easy with the Pico SDK. The Pico G2 4K therefore seems to be an ideal alternative to the Oculus Go. There is a clear price difference between the Pico G2 4K (€ 349 EUR) and the Oculus Go (€ 204). 

 Want to know more about the Pico G2 4K? Read the Review here.

Option 4: Choosing a different 6DOF vr headset

In addition to the Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S, there are also other 6DOF VR headsets on the market. The most popular 6DOF headsets next to the Oculus Quest are:

• HTC Vive Pro Full Kit (€ 1,125)
• HTC Vive Focus Plus (€ 785)
• Pico Neo 2 (€ 649)

The Pico Neo 2 and the HTC Vive Focus Plus are similar to the Oculus Quest and can both be used without a VR ready computer. The Pico Neo 2, like the Pico G2 4K, has been developed for business use and therefore has similar advantages to the Pico G2 4K. The HTC Vive Focus Plus comes in combination with a 1 year Business Warranty Service package and therefore has excellent service.   

All 3 devices are significantly different in use from the Oculus Go in that they are 6 degrees of freedom devices. This means that you need much more space if you work in groups, it takes longer to set up with each headset and the purchase price is relatively higher. In the application area, however, more is possible with a 6DOF headset.

Conclusion

The Pico G2 4K seems best suited for organizations to replace the Oculus Go 32GB. The usability and applications are most alike the Oculus Go. In addition, the Pico G2 4K has several benefits that make the implementation of VR much easier for businesses. 

An alternative is to switch to a 6DOF headset such as the Oculus Quest or the HTC Vive Focus Plus. It is important to then also use the extra possibilities of a 6DOF headset to make the price difference worthwhile.

 

For more information about the future and the alternatives to the Oculus Go, you can get in contact with VR Expert via our email sales@vr-expert.nl