Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Oculus Chief Executive Brendan Iribe joined about 1,500 people in the real world this week to promote the latest apps that will be available for use in the company’s joint virtual reality venture matching Oculus’ Rift headsets with apps to be sold on Facebook’s Oculus Store.
Speaking at the Oculus Connect convention, Iribe told the crowd that the Rift would be available sometime in the first quarter of 2016, with plans to “start small” but grow to a potential market of millions by the year end. The company plans to work with Asus and Dell on compatible computers to work with the system, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times.
Other companies are also entering the virtual reality sector. Samsung’s Gear VR, selling for $99, works with the company’s Note 5 or Galaxy6 computers. The Oculus Rift, by contrast, replaces the screen and PC with a smartphone.
Both Gear VR and Rift users will be able to purchase games, movies and other apps in an app store, but the apps will have 3D components. Zuckerberg, a surprise speaker at the Oculus Connect conference, told the crowd that the company is committed to virtual reality, and expects that VR platforms will ultimately surpass smartphones and personal computers.