Oculus Rift Dev Kit 2 Teardown Shows Repairability And Impressive Internals
As if the whole Oculus Rift movement wasn't exciting enough, there's even more reason to like the virtual reality headset. The folks at iFixIt got their hands on the Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 and did what they do best -- they tore it apart, bit by bit, to evaluate its repairability. The verdict? An impressive 9 out of 10.
Since the Oculus Rift is a still a beta product, the 9 out of 10 score is a preliminary one. That said, it scored high marks for using standard Phillips #0 screws in both the headset and positional tracker, "making it a cinch to open them." It also impressed the teardown crew for its cable management being much improved from the original development kit -- the elimination of the control box makes for a much more streamlined device.
One of the few complaints associated with tearing down the Oculus Rift Development 2 is that getting into the positional tracking without a repair guide can "a bit of a doozy." Prying around the edge doesn't help like you think it would, but a thin tool in the front will.
Just as interesting as the overall teardown and repairability score is the collection of parts inside, such as the brand new positional tracking unit referenced above. It's essentially a custom made external IR camera that's been specially designed to work with the new Development Kit.
The motherboard in the Development Kit 2 is changed from the one in the previous version. All of the internal parts are now placed on a single board, hence the reason why Oculus removed the external control box.
As exciting as all this is, we're eager for the Oculus Rift to launch in final form. At present, that's expected to happen sometime in 2015.
Since the Oculus Rift is a still a beta product, the 9 out of 10 score is a preliminary one. That said, it scored high marks for using standard Phillips #0 screws in both the headset and positional tracker, "making it a cinch to open them." It also impressed the teardown crew for its cable management being much improved from the original development kit -- the elimination of the control box makes for a much more streamlined device.
One of the few complaints associated with tearing down the Oculus Rift Development 2 is that getting into the positional tracking without a repair guide can "a bit of a doozy." Prying around the edge doesn't help like you think it would, but a thin tool in the front will.
Just as interesting as the overall teardown and repairability score is the collection of parts inside, such as the brand new positional tracking unit referenced above. It's essentially a custom made external IR camera that's been specially designed to work with the new Development Kit.
The motherboard in the Development Kit 2 is changed from the one in the previous version. All of the internal parts are now placed on a single board, hence the reason why Oculus removed the external control box.
As exciting as all this is, we're eager for the Oculus Rift to launch in final form. At present, that's expected to happen sometime in 2015.
