Oculus Rift closer to consumers than ever before

Oculus Rift

You want to be scared of this guy

Iribe said that even with the weight of the headset, internal prototype testers are starting to forget they're wearing it.

"You don't quite forget yet with the second developer kit, but you get really close. It's a massive leap towards what we ultimately want it to look like for the consumer version. It has those fundamental building blocks to get you there, so when developers make content with the second developer kit, that content will come right over to the consumer version. It'll end up looking better, feeling better, you'll get this better sense of presence. But you can start with the second developer kit and make content that you know will come over."

He said of the DK2 experience: "It's really close to consumer."

Iribe encouraged developers to pick up a new headset, a virtual steal at $350 (about £210, AU$383). Some "super enthusiasts" may also end up pre-ordering one now, and though he said DK2 really is meant for devs, it's not exclusive.

"I would go grab one because it's just so awesome," he joked. "But don't grab it and expect that there is a catalogue of content and app stores and all these things there today. This is still very much ... a hardware developer kit with a software SDK. It's basically a collection of samples. But this is the beginning of virtual reality."

Closer and closer

Iribe said Oculus is more focused on getting the Rift right than pushing it out to consumers as soon as possible.

"We're aiming for you to put it on and say, 'Oh my god. This is it. This changes everything. This is going to change the world. I truly feel like I'm here.' We're very close. What we can say is we are now starting to finalize the spec. We are locking it down - we've locked down a lot of the key components of it.

"We have the prototype internally which does deliver the experience. There are times when I say, 'Put on this pretty crazy prototype, look through these lenses, this is what consumer v1 is going to look like.'"

You can imagine how Iribe describes users' reactions.

"It's close" is something the CEO seems to say often of Oculus Rift, and the journey has indeed come a long way since the first dev kit, which now looks antiquated in comparison to DK2.

"We're going to continue with DK2, get a lot closer, make some incredibly fun, compelling stuff, and soon - not now yet - but soon, we'll get this out to millions of people across the world."

Michelle Fitzsimmons

Michelle was previously a news editor at TechRadar, leading consumer tech news and reviews. Michelle is now a Content Strategist at Facebook.  A versatile, highly effective content writer and skilled editor with a keen eye for detail, Michelle is a collaborative problem solver and covered everything from smartwatches and microprocessors to VR and self-driving cars.