Credit: Oculus
Twice the functionality, twice the fun.
Oculus, makers of fine virtual reality products and accessories, recently announced a new feature for their standalone Quest headset, Oculus Link. Through the Link, a Quest headset can link up with a gaming PC and play games with higher graphical and processor intensities. In other words, Quest plus Link equals diet Rift.
On its own, the Quest headset is only intended for mobile devices and mobile games; it only has around 4 GB of RAM, so it can’t handle the load of full-grade games like the Rift. With the aid of the Link software and a USB-C cable, though, the Quest can plug into a PC, handling the basic VR elements while allowing the PC’s processor and graphics card to handle the brunt of the rendering and whatnot. It’s an all-around improvement; the compact size and reduced price of the Quest with the range of games from the Rift, not to mention a simple USB-C connection versus the buttload of wires you need to hook a Rift up.
Oculus themselves are pretty hyped up about it. In their announcement video’s description, they wrote, “it’s now possible to build high-end PC games and experiences while taking advantage of the biggest possible market and connecting with new audiences as the Quest community grows.”
Oculus Link will be releasing some time in November. Oculus will be releasing, in their own words, a “a premium optical fiber cable to provide a best-in-class experience with maximum throughput and comfortable ergonomics,” which is a fancy way of saying a USB-C cable, along with the software proper.
