Facebook announces a cheaper standalone Oculus headset is on the way

At its Oculus Connect event today, Facebook teased it has a new kind of VR headset on the way.

Zuckerberg took the stage, explaining how VR today is largely segregated into two categories: smartphone and PC based. The CEO then announced Oculus and Facebook are working on a new type of headset: a standalone model that sits between the mobile and PC based ones in both power and price.

The company wasn’t ready to show off a final unit, but Zuckerberg explained how right now, mobile units have you in fixed positions, and PC units require camera setups to track your position in space. This new headset will instead be able to use a camera mounted on the headset itself – what Facebook calls inside-out tracking – to detect your position in a room without the need for a secondary camera, which sounds a lot like Microsoft’s HoloLens.

And that’s about it. The company didn’t say when the new headset would arrive, but it’s nice to know you eventually won’t need a powerful PC or Samsung phone to enjoy a decent VR experience.

Developing…. Refresh this post for updates.