Having preannounced Oculus Connect 6 in mid-June, Facebook is finally ready to reveal what the next six months have in store for its virtual and augmented reality divisions. Its developer-focused gathering is once again being held at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, where attendees will have access to dozens of sessions over two days, each toplined by a keynote speech.
Following past traditions, a broadly focused keynote will begin today at 10 a.m. Pacific time (1 p.m. Eastern). Tomorrow, a second keynote with a heavier technology focus will kick off at the same 10 a.m. start time. You can watch today’s keynote live online here.
This year will be particularly interesting because of numerous changes in Oculus’ executive ranks, including departures of the last remaining Oculus cofounders from parent company Facebook. Even so, widely respected visionaries such as John Carmack and Michael Abrash remain at the company, supported by large hardware and software engineering teams.
Since Oculus rolled out new Quest and Rift S headsets only recently, we’re hoping to hear updates on how both platforms are doing and to get a better sense of what software — possibly something new in the “social VR” department — will make them compelling this holiday season. Prior to the keynote, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg released a video that shows fingers spelling out “OC6,” so it’s possible finger-based gesture recognition could be coming to one or both platforms.
We wouldn’t be surprised if there was some major (and not entirely positive) news about Oculus Go, which has been rumored to be nearing the end of the line. There might also be more exciting updates on wireless PC accessories, and perhaps even future Half-Dome PC hardware.
You can watch the first keynote on your computer through Facebook here, or through the Oculus Venues app. The day two keynote will be available here.
