The Big Story I’ve been a bit of a virtual reality junkie for a few years. The tech is deeply interesting and I can’t think of a more interesting hardware or software challenge to be tackling in consumer tech right now than VR design. That said, VR headsets are — more often than not — made to gather dust in closets. For the mainstream consumer, there’s just not that much there to keep them busy. This week, I reviewed the Oculus Quest 2, a $299 device that has made some major improvements over its predecessor which only launched about 18 months ago. I was a pretty big fan, here’s an excerpt of my review, which you can read more of here. “Facebook's virtual reality dreams have been a headache for the company. At CEO Mark Zuckerberg's prodding, the company has spent billions on Oculus and dealt with huge added complexities to their business, while encountering countless issues regarding the company's founding team, a massive IP lawsuit, crippling supply chain issues and an impossible-to-satisfy user base. But for all the tears, that toil has given the tech world a weirdly poignant look at what's possible when you attempt to brute-force an industry into existence. Has Facebook convinced anyone out there that virtual reality is a technology we deeply need? Not so much. And yet, six years after Facebook acquired Oculus VR, the company has released a device that feels meaningfully complete. In short, the new Quest 2 headset is a fantastic piece of hardware that showcases what a rewarding ecosystem can be built when you throw enough money and engineering talent at a dream. For all of the improvements that Facebook has driven to the Quest's software since launch, I do still wish the platform was more diverse in its non-gaming offerings. Arriving around 18 months after its predecessor launched, most users were likely expecting this update to host a minor spec bump, yet the Quest 2 is a true upgrade, making advances in about every way. It's lighter, smaller, more powerful, easier to use and cheaper, now starting at $299. As the company kills off its Rift line of PC-only headsets, months after sunsetting its $199 Go headset, in some ways the Quest 2 feels like a last-ditch attempt at mainstream success.” | 
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