As we head into 2019, there’s a growing sense of bated breath within the VR industry as the Oculus Quest launch draws near. Today the headset popped up in FCC listings, seemingly indicating that things are on track for the Spring 2019 release.
After showing off prototypes in years prior, Oculus formally announced Quest in September, saying that the high-end standalone headset would launch in Spring 2019 priced at $400. Now filings for the headset from Facebook have appeared at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The FCC is tasked with certifying products with electromagnetic emissions to be safe and compatible with regulations. Products utilizing radio, WiFi, infrared, etc. need certification before they can be distributed for sale. Certification by the FCC marks one step closer to the launch of consumer electronics product.
While the documents don’t specifically name Quest, a diagram shows what appears to be the signature silhouette of the headset, and model number (MH-B) aligns nicely with the company’s prior headset, Oculus Go (MH-A). So unless we just discovered a previously unknown headset, this filing is for Quest.
Filings also indicate that some Quest units were received by the testing firm as early as July 25th, 2018, which suggests that Quests final hardware components were locked down at least that early.
Aside from the publicly available documentation, Facebook, like many companies, has submitted a Confidentiality Request to keep the following FCC documents out of the public eye:
- Schematic Diagram
- Block Diagram
- Part List
- Operational Description
- Tune-up Procedure
While the company hasn’t divulged a more specific release date than ‘Spring’, Facebook seems like it could be readying the headset for launch at F8, the company’s annual developer conference, which will be held April 30th & May 1st, 2019. That would mirror the way it launched its last headset, Oculus Go, at F8 earlier this year.