According to a comment made by on of the Oculus Product Managers in response to a question that was left on the official Oculus Quest reddit page, Oculus will be releasing the specs for the Oculus Link to third-party manufacturers. This will ensure that Oculus won’t be your only place to buy the cable to connect your Quest to your PC, and you might be able to get the same experience for a cheaper price point.
The comment states that “Just to add onto what was stated above, the Oculus Link cable is quite thin and flexible when compared to a standard usb-3 active cable,” states the Oculus employee in the thread. “But length, data integrity, flexibility, ergonomics, and weight were all a factor. We also are releasing the specs of our cable so if a 3rd party wants to build their own and sell it, they are welcome to do so.”
The Oculus Link was announced this past September at the highly anticipated Oculus Connect 6 Event. The new technology will give customers with the Oculus Quest hardware the ability to essentially turn it into a PC VR headset. The Quest has inside-out tracking and is next to the Rift S is power. The Quest is capable of playing anything the Rift S and Rift can play, as well as any title meant for VR on the Steam Store. Although the update should be available at the start of November, Oculus has announced that they won’t be releasing their own dedicated cable until the end of the year. This cable is set to be around $80.
The Quest comes with its own USB-C cable, but that won’t be powerful enough to turn your headset into a Rift S. The headset will require a link with a more optical power and with more ability to transfer large amounts of data in incredibly short amounts of time. All of this needs to be done without giving up the flexibility of a cord that is meant for virtual reality gaming.
There wasn’t too much time between the comment and the next, as another Oculus staff member commented on a different post, shedding more light on the subject that has been leaving many wondering what the plan was for the Link. You can check out that comment below.
“To be clear, the cable is an active optical cable to allow it to be thinner and longer while still being in spec from a signal integrity standpoint, and the shape of the cable is customized for better reliability and cable routing on the headset. From a protocol/latency/throughput perspective though, it’s identical to any other USB 3.0 cable.”
On first glance, the $80 price tag might seem a bit steep, but Oculus is confident in their ability to bring their customers an experience that is the best, and the most cost efficient. The virtual giant company is releasing the specs to third-party manufactures, and if that doesn’t scream confidence, then we aren’t sure what does. This will allow other large tech companies the blueprint to making a successful link and challenges to do it at a price cheaper than Oculus, while maintaining a strong profit.
You can expect companies like Anker, Griffin, and even Belkin to create a cord that is capable of packing an optical and data-driven punch, while giving the customers a price they are comfortable with. You can expect the virtual market to have even more outreach with this money making opportunity presented in front of many companies. For more virtual news and updates, make sure to check back at VRGear.com.
