page_title: Oculus Rift
section_title: Initial prototypes
hierarchical_section_title: Oculus Rift / History / Initial prototypes
caption_attribution_description: English: Oculus Rift - Developer Version - Front
context_page_description: Oculus Rift is a lineup of virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a division of Facebook Inc., released on March 28, 2016.
  In 2012 Oculus initiated a Kickstarter campaign to fund the Rift's development, after being founded as an independent company two months prior. The project proved successful, raising almost US$2.5 million from around 10,000 contributors. Then in March 2014, Oculus was purchased by Facebook for $2 billion.
  The Rift went through various pre-production models since the Kickstarter campaign, around five of which were demonstrated to the public before reaching its commercial release. Two of these models were shipped to backers, labelled as development kits; the DK1 in mid 2013 and DK2 in mid-2014, intended to provide developers with a platform to develop content in time for the Rift's release. However, both were also purchased by many enthusiasts who wished to get an early preview of the technology. The Rift saw its commercial release in March 2016 with the Rift CV1, which was discontinued in March 2019 with the release of its successor, the Oculus Rift S.
context_section_description: Through Meant to be Seen (MTBS)'s virtual reality and 3D discussion forums, Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus and longtime MTBS discussion forum moderator, developed the idea of creating a new head-mounted display that was both more effective than what was then on the market, and inexpensive for gamers.
  The first rough prototype was hacked together in 2011 by Palmer Luckey (then 18 years old) in his parents’ garage in Long Beach, California. Coincidentally, John Carmack had been doing his own research and happened upon Luckey's developments as a fellow member of MTBS. After sampling an early prototype, Carmack favored Luckey's approach and just before the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Id Software announced that their future updated version of Doom 3, BFG Edition, would be compatible with head-mounted display units.
  
  In June 2012, during the E3 convention, Carmack introduced a duct taped head-mounted display based on Luckey's Oculus Rift prototype, which ran Carmack's own software. The unit featured a high speed IMU and a 5.6-inch (14 cm) LCD, visible via dual lenses, that were positioned over the eyes to provide a 90 degrees horizontal and 110 degrees vertical stereoscopic 3D perspective.
caption: The Development Kit 1
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