A possible first image of what appears to be an Oculus Quest successor has circulated over Twitter from notable leaker WalkingCat, revealing its pearl-like design and tweaked touch controllers.
Stronger and slimmer, the headset was rumored to be in the works by Facebook since May 2020. It was also expected the Quest would be getting a slight tune-up since the fully-wireless VR device was launched last summer. Using front-facing cameras to sense movement, the Quest also became a first of its kind for a six-degrees-of-freedom (6DoF) experience that let users go into VR without a tether. Users could also walk around in their environments and use the Quest without any additional setup. The inside-out tracking was later updated to add hand-tracking for use in VR – another bar that pushed the way users can experience games without Touch controllers.
Strangely, there’s no DPI slider opposite to the volume switch on the bottom. The DPI could likely be adjusted in a new spot, letting VR users adjust the lenses according to eye space.
The alleged successor is likely to keep the best parts of the Quest, while its white shell adds a premium and refined option for those joining the VR race. It also sports white Touch controllers, while its face and joystick buttons keep the black plate for easy-to-read use in and out of VR. The head strap looks different than its velcro-heavy predecessor, with users possibly adjusting the straps on the sides in a halo-fashion similar to the PSVR. Though it’s hard to make out, heads might be slightly scratching on a nylon-like material on the top head strap. The material also runs inside and behind the skull when worn.
The USB-C charging cable port is also in the same spot on the left, while it’s expected there are two headphone jacks on both sides for flexibility. The Quest 2 may have some smaller tracking eyes, as shown on the bottom and upper corners of the headset. This would suggest the new Quest is able to track more with less, slightly improving the hand-tracking for fast-paced experiences. The Touch controllers might receive a stronger plastic, after a year’s worth of complaints from numerous users around the easy-to-break rings. Even though it’s not show, the new Quest is expected to come with wrist straps to spare friends, family, pets, chandeliers, mirrors and TVs of flying controllers.
As a low-res unofficial image, the new Quest’s design should be taken as a grain of salt. It’s still unknown when Facebook’s second wireless 6DoF device is being revealed, while the ongoing coronavirus pandemic had cancelled the annual Oculus Connect 7 keynote event earlier on April 2020.
