Oculus Connect, the company's annual developer conference, is here once again. Now in its fifth year, Oculus is expected to update the world on what's next from in VR content and hardware. Here's a look at what we expect to see this year. Taking place this week on the 26th & 27th, Oculus Connect 5 will be hosted in San Jose, CA. The opening keynote on the 26th is where most of the major announcements will happen, while smaller developer-focused sessions across both days will likely give deeper glimpses into what Oculus and partners have been up to. You can find the full OC5 schedule here, and if you aren't attending yourself you'll be able to watch the keynotes and some of the VR esports action via livestream (details here). Here's a look at what we're expecting to see from the company this week. Santa Cruz, Oculus' High-end Standalone Headset [caption id="attachment_76234" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Image courtesy Oculus[/caption] Santa Cruz is the code name of Oculus' high-end standalone headset. While the company launched Oculus Go just earlier this year, at $200 Go is built as an entry-level VR device for casual users. Go lacks positional tracking on the head and hands, limiting its capabilities to the point of being in a different class of VR device compared to high-end VR headsets like the Rift. While Go targets the casual user, Santa Cruz is being built with the same positional tracking features as high-end headsets, meaning it's expected to be able to play the same class of high-end games. As a 'standalone' headset however, all the compute hardware is built in, with no reliance on an expensive gaming PC to power Santa Cruz. While that brings 'take-it-anywhere' accessibility, it also means users should expect mobile-class graphics. While we don't expect Oculus to outright launch Santa Cruz at Oculus Connect 5, we do expect them to formally announce the consumer version, which means branding the headset with a proper name and detailing some features that will be included at launch. The actual launch of Santa Cruz is presently rumored for Q1 2019. It seems Oculus could take a similar approach to Santa Cruz' announcement and launch as they did with the Go headset. Go was announced at Oculus Connect 4 (right around this time last year), and then launched in the first half of 2018. At Oculus Connect 5 this week, we could see the company formerly announce the consumer version of Santa Cruz with a launch date set for early 2019, which aligns with the headset's current release date rumors. If you want to dig deeper into what's known (and still unknown) about Santa Cruz, check out this article. Half Dome, The Next Step for Rift [caption id="attachment_77724" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Image courtesy Facebook[/caption] Oculus' first PC VR headset, the Rift, is still going strong now 2.5 years after its 2016 launch. Even so, earlier this year Oculus offered a glimpse at a what could be coming to the next Rift. The company showed what they call the 'Half Dome' prototype at Facebook's F8 developer conference back in May. Oculus said that Half Dome manages to pack a 140 degree field of view (up from the Rift's ~100), eye-tracking, and a 'varifocal' display into a Rift-like form-factor. [irp posts="76272" name="Oculus Affirms Commitment to Rift, Believes PC Will Lead the VR Industry for the Next Decade"] While an expanded field of view and eye-tracking would be big improvements alone, the varifocal display could prove to be Half Dome's most unique feature. A varifocal display is one that can focus at multiple focal lengths, compared to today's VR headsets which are locked at a single focal length. In Half Dome, the headset identifies what part of the scene the user is looking at (thanks to eye-tracking), and then physically moves the display inside the headset to achieve the correct focal length. Doing so could be a solution for what's called the vergence-accommodation conflict in today's VR headsets. [caption id="attachment_77726" align="alignright" width="325"] A Rift-like field of view compared to the Half Dome prototype. | Image courtesy Facebook[/caption] Worth noting: Oculus has stated that we shouldn't "expect to see all [of Half Dome's] technologies in a product anytime soon," meaning that the next Rift might incorporate some but not all of what Half Dome can do. That said, we don't think that Oculus will announce a Half Dome-based 'Rift 2' at Connect this year. Instead, the company may do what they've done in years past with Santa Cruz: show Half Dome to a select group of press and developers in a 'behind-closed-doors' setting so that it doesn't steal the spotlight from products that are nearer to launch (namely, Santa Cruz). Beyond that, it still feels a little early for the company to give any indication of a release date for an eventual Rift 2, which we may not see until late 2019 or even into 2020. Continue on Page 2: New Content for Oculus Rift » New Content for Oculus Rift Since the launch of the Rift, Oculus Connect has always been a place where the company reveals updates on anticipated content and sometimes announces entirely new content to look forward to. While Oculus Go and Gear VR will surely see some new content announcements as well, big budget Rift titles are often the marquee attraction. Respawn's Unannounced "AAA VR Shooter" In a surprise announcement at last year's Oculus Connect, the company revealed that they'd enlisted AAA developer Respawn Entertainment (the studio behind Titanfall) to work on what Respawn has described as a "AAA VR shooter." Virtually no other information has been revealed about the project, not even a name. This year we expect a proper game announcement, though we don't expect a release date until 2019. Stormland and Defector [caption id="attachment_81038" align="alignright" width="325"] Image courtesy Insomniac Games[/caption] Oculus has aggressively funded large Rift productions, and over time the company has been concentrating its funding into a smaller number of more ambitious titles. Hot on the top of mind are upcoming games Stormland (from Insomniac Games) and Defector (from Twisted Pixel), both of which will likely see mention during the Oculus Connect opening keynote, and it seems likely that we could see a release date announcement for both titles. Lone Echo and Echo Combat [caption id="attachment_74516" align="alignright" width="325"] Image courtesy Ready At Dawn[/caption] At Oculus Connect last year, the company teased that the story of Jack and Liv—the main characters in the critically acclaimed Lone Echo—wasn't over. While they stopped short of announcing a new game at the time, it seems probable that the company will have more to say about it this year, possibly culminating in the formal announcement of a Lone Echo sequel. Furthermore, Lone Echo and Echo Arena developer Ready at Dawn has been hard at work on a multiplayer FPS component to Echo Arena dubbed Echo Combat. The studio has held several open beta periods for the game, so we have a good idea of what to expect already. The game is set for a 2018 launch, but so far there's no specific release date—something which we might find out at Oculus Connect this week. Marvel: Powers United VR [caption id="attachment_80532" align="alignright" width="325"] Image courtesy Oculus[/caption] Though it launched earlier this year, we expect at least some mention of Oculus' latest production, Marvel: Powers United VR. The company will likely overview upcoming changes to the game, as the they've stated they plan to support it in the long run. Something from Tender Claws? Tender Claws is the studio behind Virtual Virtual Reality, a gem of a game which we haven't been coy about calling "one of mobile VR's most immersive games yet." Originally launched on Daydream, the game eventually came to Gear VR and Oculus Go, followed by a launch on PC headsets. The game has received top marks from users reviews across the board, thanks to its compelling interaction design and story. Earlier this year, Tender Claws teased that they've got a new project in the works set for 2019 that's planned to be a 'collaboration with Oculus'. It isn't clear how deep that collaboration might go, or which platforms it would be targeting, but we expect that Oculus might want to tap the studio's narrative prowess for a title made first and foremost for the 6DOF tracking of Rift and Santa Cruz (whereas Virtual Virtual Reality was originally designed for mobile, even though it worked well enough when ported to PC headsets). Oculus Connect 5 could be the first time we hear about the next VR project form Tender Claws, but we aren't holding our breath just yet. Facebook Spaces [caption id="attachment_76572" align="aligncenter" width="640"] image courtesy Facebook[/caption] Facebook Spaces is Facebook's first social VR app (and a pretty good one at that) which launched first on the Rift. It would go on to also become the company's first cross-platform VR app; a surprising development considering that Oculus has otherwise kept a tight grip on its content ecosystem. At the launch of the Vive version of Facebook Spaces (late 2017), Facebook's head of social VR said that Vive support is “only the beginning: We’re working to bring Facebook Spaces to even more VR platforms and devices in the future, so stay tuned.” Since then, the company hasn't announced availability on any new platforms, so we expect that Oculus Connect 5 could bring more news in that department, possibly opening the app to the likes of Windows VR headsets, PSVR, and maybe even Santa Cruz. Facebook has been slowly but steadily enhancing Facebook Spaces. At recent F8 and Connect conferences, developers behind the app have been on hand to tout the latest improvements, and we expect that, alongside the possible announcement of new platform support, we might hear about new features as well. - - — - - We'll be at Oculus Connect 5 this week to bring you the most important news from the conference. Stay tuned!