It’s DK2 month, with swaths of developers and enthusiasts eagerly awaiting a knock on the door from their local delivery man. An anonymous source has revealed an unboxing of the highly anticipated Oculus Rift DK2.

In a recent update from Oculus VR, the company says that the first Oculus Rift DK2 batch has left the manufacturing site and is on the way to distribution centers. Developers and enthusiasts around the world are hoping to be included in that first shipment which is expected to start reaching doorsteps by the end of the month.

For a select few, Christmas in July has come early. An anonymous tipster has passed along some Oculus Rift DK2 unboxing photos along with thoughts on the unit so far.

“The unit feels solid and not heavy. There are A and B lenses (no C) but switching out the lenses is much easier than with the DK1. I also love the expansion port on the top; having a USB port on the HMD opens up many possibilities for expanding the VR experience. I’m still getting used to developing with it. There are a few things that seem different after using the DK1; the screen is rotated 90-degrees counter-clockwise by default when you plug it into a Windows machine.

The low res screen door effect is much improved over the DK1 with only minor hints of it remaining. That said, I don’t think the world is ready for UHD VR (at least not on the computing power side of things).

The screen is crazy smooth in motion. The color, contrast, and motion is leaps and bounds over the DK1,” says the anonymous source.

The A and B lenses from the DK2 are apparently not the same height as their counterparts from the DK1; the lenses are also not interchangeable.

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The 90 degree rotation is likely due to the DK2’s screen having been originally designed for a phone’s native portrait orientation; at this point, all hints point to Samsung as being the provider of the display. In smartphones, screen rotation is generally handled in software—it’s likely that the Oculus SDK will be take care of that task.

oculus-rift-dk2-pre-orderIn addition to the ports needed for the DK2 to connect and operate with the computer, the headset also features an extra on-board USB port. Oculus hopes it will make a convenient attachment point for tinkerers to experiment with peripherals like the Leap Motion depth camera. The headset also includes an extra Sync port, same as the one found on the IR camera. So far it is unused, but could be utilized to gather the same data provided to the IR camera—presumably including syncing a second IR camera mounted on the DK2.

The Oculus Rift DK2 comes with the following:

  • Headset
  • IR camera
  • Detachable 10 ft cable (splits on the ends to HDMI 1.4b and male USB)
  • Two sets of lenses (normal and nearsighted)
  • HDMI to DVI adapter
  • DC power adapter (only needed when using the DK2’s extra on-board USB port)
  • Three international power adapters (UK, AU, and EU),
  • Sync cable (which connects to the IR camera)
  • Lens cleaning cloth

Oculus says that 45,000 Rift DK2s have been ordered since the VR headset’s announcement back at GDC 2014 in March. The DK2 is available for purchase for $350, but the company stresses that it is only intended for developers.

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Andrés

    Is it me or are those lenses way bigger than the old ones?

    • Dawiiz

      The A and B lenses from the DK2 are apparently not the same height as their counterparts from the DK1; the lenses are also not interchangeable.

    • WormSlayer

      Yeah the lenses are also wider and cover a greater range of IPD than the DK1, from 58.8mm to 68.8mm I believe.

    • Brad Hawthorne

      One of the design flaws with DK1 was the lenses were badly optimized for the display they ended up using. Looks like this time around a little more though has gone into making sure the lens configuration better matches the panel used. I seem to remember with DK1 they lost their initial panel supply and had to retool for 7″ display. The bad match up of DK1 lenses and the DK1 7″ panel I think was a design compromise to get the kits out the door. With DK1 you loose a bunch of resolution outside the lens FOV.

    • Ben Lang

      They are definitely bigger, quite gorgeous when you see them in person:

      http://i0.wp.com/www.roadtovr.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/oculus-rift-developer-kit-2-release-date.jpg

  • brianpeiris

    I think you may be mistaken about the “extra Sync port”. If you’re referring to the round socket next to the extra USB socket, I believe that is meant to supply power for that extra port.

    • Alci

      why would you need extra power source on HMD when external power input is 5V/1A max. which is perfectly suitable for USB itself? I believe even 12V on that USB is powered by computer itself as there could be up to 8A already. It’s just 5V branch which is already used by Rift and for another 1A it needs to ask external power source. But there is no reason why would you place power connector on Rift when you have USB next to it. It’s most likely sync connector. Same as goes to camera.

      • Brad Hawthorne

        Oculus VR staff indicated awhile back that it’s a power port for USB for devices outside of regular USB power specifications. Unless something is changed, I’ll believe the Oculus VR staff more than I do people just guessing at what the headphone jack port is.

        • alliekins

          Oculus VR staff here! Nate did once say that top port was for power, but he was tired and we’ve corrected this many times. The top port is in fact an extra sync port. The main sync port and the power port are on the cable’s inline breakout box (seen in the pic with the camera). The headset itself draws power off of USB but if you are using anything on the extra USB port, you should plug in the power.

    • Ben Lang

      Oculus confirmed it is a sync port:

      https://www.roadtovr.com/mystery-port-on-oculus-rift-dk2/

      The power input is on the little breakout box at the end of the USB/HDMI cable.

      • Sartrefan

        I think we’re missing the obvious purpose for that extra sync port: To add another camera to track some kind of hand attachment for hand tracking. I’m guessing that will be announced at Oculus Connect.

  • sponge101

    The dk2 looks much more polish than the dk1 and oculus recent purchase of the design company will probably influence the cv1. Most interesting to me is the camera and how well that would be implemented in not only vr games but with legacy games with vr tacked on after release.

  • Dawiiz

    So the DK2 does not need a separate power cable like the DK1? That’s gonna help me tons :)

  • Alkapwn

    Oh snap!! I wonder if this is a developer with early DK2 access or an actual first batch of shipments. I’m hoping to be among the very first shipped orders. Hopefully the fact that I’m in Canada doesn’t delay that though.

    For now I’ll keep checking my order status throughout the day for an update.

    • Brad Hawthorne

      My guess is it’s part of the July shipments. Only other way would be a developer breached NDA on an early access DK2.

      • Alkapwn

        That’s what I was thinking last night after the link to this post went down for a while. Clicked on the link as soon as it was posted on twitter, read it, logged in to post, and poof, it was gone. I’m like dang, Oculus must have been on that ASAP and requested Road to VR to take it down. I guess that is not the case.

        Either way I can’t wait for the DK2 to arrive! Every time I hear the doorbell form the delivery guy at work I sprint to the front door to see it it’s the Rift. One day soon, it shall be! :)

  • sponge101

    They shipped it in cardboard? I feel a “yo, dawg” joke coming.

  • ZombieP

    I ordered mine within the 1st 30 mins so I will DEFINITELY be getting mine soon! ^_^

    • Michael

      So did a lot of other people by the looks of it, you might actually be in the 2nd batch depending on where you are situated and Oculus number allocation for each country. I ordered mine within the first 15 minutes so hopefully I’ll get mine soon but If I dont it’s not a big deal, just glad that the DK2 is almost here.

  • Sven

    It looks as if the DK2 is as wide as the DK1. That’s surprising given that it uses a 5inch display versus the 7inch display inside the DK1.
    Could someone please post the dimensions?