Breean: This is 360 Immersive, thank you for joining us, where you can learn about virtual and augmented reality, and how we’re using it for training and education. Today, we’re gonna learn more about the Oculus Go, and what an amazing tool it is for bringing virtual reality training into your classroom. So, David, what were our options prior to the release of the Go?
David: So, initially, when virtual reality first became widely available, people used to have cardboard – and they’d fold them up, and then you’d put your phone in it, and it was a great way to get people into VR because of the fact that you could buy them for $10.00-15.00, and suddenly, you had something that you could experience VR with. And then, after a while, people came up with things like this, (holding up a BOBO VR headset) which is a great headset for the money. It’s about $25.00-30.00, and you put your phone in it after loading the app, but you’ve got all these adjustments. You’ve gotta get it all set, you’ve gotta keep the goggle paired with the phone, and it’s a little bit still a pain in the backside. But, six months ago, Oculus came up with the Oculus Go, which is called an all-in-one device. Now, what does that mean? It basically means that there’s no phone, that all the electronics – the display mechanisms, how you create that VR experience – is built right into it. In fact, more so: It’s optimized for VR, where your phone is a good device, but…it’s good at being a phone, it’s good at sending texts, it’s good at sending virtual reality images if you have it in your cardboard device. But, it’s still primarily a phone.
Now with the Oculus Go, its sole purpose is to create great VR, and plus, there’s great spatial audio built right into it. But, that must cost a lot, right? Well, actually, if you look at taking the old device, and if you had to go out and buy maybe a refurbished iPhone 6 or Samsung Galaxy X6, which we recommend is the minimum if you’re gonna buy a phone, that’s about $250.00.
Breean: Oh, and then you ’re also worried about did they all charge their batteries when they left the house this morning, are they updated, are they gonna be getting 30-40 notifications when they’re using it, and all those other sorts of issues.
David: Absolutely. And then, if you look at it, the Go is $199.00, so it’s better equipment, a better experience, less money, and it’s simple to use. Plus, it comes with a controller so that you can do more things with it depending on the application that you’re experiencing in that VR environment. We can sense rotation with it, for example. So, if somebody’s interested in VR, they’re interested in understanding that VR experience for training, for education, the Oculus Go is hands down the way to go if you’re looking for an inexpensive method to either try it or to populate a whole classroom.
Breean: Fantastic. So, this is gonna be a good go-to tool for anyone that wants to take VR, get it into their classroom, and get going.
David: Absolutely.
Breean: All right. Well, David, thank you so much. We appreciate it. This has been 360 Immersive. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to drop them below, and we’ll see you next time.
