CES 2014 has wrapped up, and the awards and mentions are still rolling in for Oculus VR’s Crystal Cove prototype. Road to VR recaps them for you.
Awards
Engadget proclaimed: “Of all the exciting, innovative products we’ve seen at CES this year, the Oculus Rift ‘Crystal Cove’ prototype is unquestionably the best of the best.” Engadget was the official partner for the Best of CES 2014 awards. Crystal Cove was up against other finalists: the Intel Edison chip (an amazingly tiny wearable computer) and another well-reviewed HMD, the Avegant Glyph (covered in detail here).
The Verge honored Crystal Cove with its Best Prototype award, noting this version “amplifies [the Rift’s] best features and mutes its worst ones.”
Mentions
While not an award, per se, Gizmodo highlighted Crystal Cove in its Best of CES 2014 round-up, saying that it is “[by] far the most exciting thing at CES, even without being finished.”
TechRadar did not include Crystal Cove in their list of award winner, but did include it as a top 10 moment of the show.
“Giddy, wide-eyed amazement” is how Wired described their experience with Oculus’ latest prototype. Credit where credit is due: Wired was one of the first sites to list the new prototype’s specifications at the show.
PC Magazine did not include the Rift in their list, but did cover the Booth Babes of CES 2014, so there’s that.
Interestingly, Mashable’s only story on the Rift since before CES covers how Sony may be looking to compete with Oculus. However, feedback from people with hands-on time at CES (including VR evangelist Cymatic Bruce) suggest it has a ways to go before it can be considered a serious competitor.
Recall that Oculus had an incredible showing at CES 2013 as well; 2014 continues an exciting and positive trend for this young, innovative, and (now) well-funded company. Marc Andreessen commented to me that Crystal Cove was even better than what was demoed prior to Andreessen Horowitz‘s investment of $75 million into Oculus VR. To me, this—and the positive CES showings two years in a row—indicates the Oculus team is executing well and is on-target to deliver an outstanding consumer experience later this year.
