The Oculus Rift is
now available for pre-order at $599 and a new controller that had not been announced before-hand, called the Oculus Remote, will ship with it. This is a very basic controller with just a touchpad, four buttons - home, back, plus, minus - and it's tiny too.
The idea is simple - the Oculus Remote gives you an easy way to browse through different VR experiences without having to take off your headset.
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Also see: Oculus Rift Preview: Bringing Reality to the Virtual World)
This sounds like a small thing, but actually, if you've spent any amount of time using VR headsets, you'll quickly realise that this is a pretty big deal. Until now, the only convenient way to move from one VR experience to the next was to completely remove the headset, find the next experience on your PC, and then launch it and put the headset back on.
This is obviously inconvenient but when you can't see the keyboard or need to make inputs or choose different buttons, then it's the only option at hand.
The new Oculus Remote could enable users to simply keep it in their pocket when not in use, and quickly and easily click buttons, navigate menus, and get around launching different VR experiences without having to take the headset at all.