In an interview with the Wired UK, Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe alluded to the kind of lifecycle we can expect with the consumer Oculus Rift.

The Oculus Rift is here – or it will be soon. But how long will the hardware VR enthusiasts have waited so long to own remain current?

In an interview with Wired.co.uk, Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe reflected on many things; from Facebook’s acquisition swelling the company’s ranks by “..several hundred percent” and taking the company from “…startup to a worldwide leading tech company”, to Rift developer kit success, “We’ve got 180,000 developer kits out there in the world. I don’t think there’s ever been a hardware project where that many developer kits have been given out before launch.”

But one of the more interesting comments for prospective Oculus Rift buyers was Iribe alluding to the Rift’s potential lifecycle once it reaches market in Q1 next year. “The product cycle for the Oculus Rift will be between the rapid six-month cycle of cell-phones and the slower seven-year cycle of consoles.” says Iribe. “I think you can imagine every few years being the usual cadence. We will have prototypes in-between so we’ll have a new demo or prototype or dev kit to show every year.”

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Oculus have always maintained that virtual reality will evolve rapidly, and by definition hardware iteration is a large part of driving that evolution – which by extension means new products must make it to market in fairly rapid succession. But I’ve not heard anyone at Oculus state so clearly the pattern of hardware releases going forward, in particular the iteration of new dev kits into the wild every 1-2 years.

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Before any VR enthusiasts on a budget panic however, Iribe went on to clarify what these comments mean at retail; “That’s not the same as saying we’ll have a customer product to show every year but we’ll have new tech to show.”

You can catch the full interview over at Wired UK right here.

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Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.
  • Killhunter

    Well, I cannot wait to get my hands on the next one.

  • stunningtech

    Oculus rift is the best tech around the world,Its really amazing!

  • stunningtech

    I wrote an article on the oculus rift see that foor more details http://www.stunningtech.in/2015/08/oculus-rift.html#more

  • Mageoftheyear

    I take this as meaning we will see a new consumer edition of the Rift every two to three years.
    Seems reasonable to me.