Oculus Rift unveils next generation of virtual-reality headset

SAN FRANCISCO – Oculus is expanding its virtual-reality headset to simulate the sensation of touch and gesturing as part of its quest to blur the lines between the fake and genuine world.

The touch controllers unveiled Thursday by Oculus founder Palmer Luckey are designed to enable people to pick up guns, throw Frisbees or carry out other actions within the fantasy scenes they see through a virtual reality headset called the Rift. The controllers also will make it possible to point and wave inside the video games being played on the Rift, according to Luckey.

The half-moon-shaped controllers, called Oculus Touch, will be showcased along with the Rift headset next week in Los Angeles at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, a major video game conference.

“We really think Oculus Touch is going to surprise you,” said Luckey, 22. “We think they are going to deliver an entirely new set of virtual-reality experiences.”

Besides showing off its latest gadgetry, Oculus provided a glimpse at the lineup of video games being designed for the Rift and announced a partnership with Microsoft Corp. to make the headset compatible with the Xbox console and devices running on the next version of the Windows operating system scheduled to be released next month.

Oculus’ virtual-reality technology is so highly regarded that Facebook bought it for $2 billion last year.

Since that acquisition, the Rift has remained in a testing phase that has kept its early prototypes in the hands of video game makers and computer programmers. The first consumer model of the headset won’t be released until sometime during the first three months of next year. The touch controllers start selling shortly after that, at some point between April and June.

Luckey and Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg believe the Oculus technology eventually will extend far beyond video games to enable people’s avatars to attend business meetings and bring together friends and families in virtual living rooms even though they are many miles apart. Movie buffs might even be able to insert themselves as characters in their favorite flicks.