Oculus Go Aims to Be Facebook's VR Gateway for the Masses
*By Alisha Haridasani*
With its sights trained on a broader market for its virtual reality headsets, Facebook’s Oculus began selling its mid-range device on Tuesday.
The Oculus Go, which is available for sale on the Oculus website, Amazon, and in Best Buy stores, starts at $199, about half the price of the company’s high-end Rift product. The company also produces the cheaper Oculus Gear VR, which only works with select Samsung phones. The Go, unlike the Rift or the Gear VR, doesn’t need to be tethered to another device.
“We think that Oculus Go is a fantastic entry point for people who may not have tried getting into VR yet,” said Madhu Muthukumar, the product manager for Oculus Go, in an interview with Cheddar’s Alex Heath.
“We think of VR as a spectrum,” said Muthukumar, with the Rift at one end and the Gear VR at the other. The Go fits “nicely in the middle," he said.
The Go includes its own for-sale VR video library and access to Oculus TV, a new platform that allows users to access TV apps such as ESPN, Netflix, and Hulu. The new Go headset is also compatible with personal photos and videos from a user's phone, social media accounts, and Dropbox. The Go can also be fitted with prescription lenses.
“This is how people imagine VR should work,” said Muthukumar.
Oculus has grown from the Kickstarter-funded brainchild of [Palmer Luckey](https://www.wired.com/2014/05/oculus-rift-4/), who created the first prototype in 2011, when he was 18 years old, to a major player in virtual reality. Facebook acquired the company in 2014 for $2 billion, prompting other tech companies such as Microsoft and Google to try to develop their own competitive VR products. Apple is [reportedly](https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-is-working-on-an-ar-augmented-reality-vr-virtual-reality-headset-powered-by-a-wireless-wigig-hub/)working on its own headset that can run both VR and AR technology.
Despite Silicon Valley's push into VR, the technology hasn't been widely adopted by consumers. In 2016, only 200,000 Rift headsets were sold globally, according to a study by [SuperData](https://www.economist.com/news/business/21724863-vr-has-been-more-about-hype-substance-will-change-reality-check-virtual). The VR software and hardware industry made $1.8 billion in 2016, half the amount estimated in the study.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-looks-to-take-vr-mainstream-with-oculus-go).
Self-driving truck startup Kodiak Robotics recently announced a $125 million funding round as the trucking industry is facing major challenges, including growing shipping demand and driver shortages. Kodiak says its autonomous technology can help businesses move goods faster, safer, cleaner, and more efficiently. Kodiak Robotics founder and CEO Don Burnette joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, turned heads on Tuesday when it announced it will block some ad-targeting, specifically those of a political and religious nature.
This is one of the most direct moves the company has made in order to minimize ad-targeting by advertisers on its platforms. Hastie Afkhami, Head of Digital at S-3 Group, joins Cheddar News to discuss the impact of this move.
Sotheby's is getting into the crypto game. The auction house announced it will now be accepting bids in increments of ETH, marking the first time that an auction will field live bids in crypto. This announcement comes just a week ahead of Sotheby's contemporary art auction 'The Now Evening Auction' for two works by Banksy: Trolley Hunters and Love is in the Air. Alex Branczik, Sotheby's Chairman for Modern & Contemporary Art joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss what went into this move.
Autonomous tech developer Embark made its Nasdaq debut on Thursday via a SPAC merger, making its CEO Alex Rodrigues, the youngest chief executive of a publicly-traded company at the age of 26. He joined Cheddar's "Between Bells" to discuss what led to the IPO and what it means for the trucking industry as it looks to navigate ongoing supply chain issues. "I think there are really three major benefits to autonomous trucks. You think about the benefit from an efficiency perspective, from a safety perspective, and from an environmental perspective," Rodrigues noted.
AppHarvest CEO Jonathan Webb joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to talk about the company's Q3 earnings, stating sales data showed the indoor farming tech firm remained on track with its 2021 outlook. Webb also discussed a new campaign called "Fight The Food Fight," to encourage consumers to support a more resilient, sustainable food system.
SpaceX and NASA have collaborated on another successful launch sending four astronauts to the international space station. The international crew will stay in orbit aboard the ISS for six months.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: Yat Labs Co-Founder breaks down how a 'Yat' is changing the way people think about their online identities; Scythe Robotics CEO explains how it's bringing innovation to the landscaping industry with its autonomous, all-electric mowers; Founder of California Cowboy discusses how its creating clothing designed for creating in-person connections with others with features like a beverage pocket, bottle opener, and conversation cards; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Beyond the Spotlight' biography series.
Jack Morrison, CEO and co-founder Scythe Robotics, joins 'Cheddar Innovates' to discuss how it's bringing innovation to the landscaping industry with its autonomous, all-electric lawn mowers, and how this is addressing the labor crisis in the landscaping industry.
