You can now register to attend Oculus’ 3rd ‘Connect’ conference, an event dedicated to all things Oculus from Rift to Touch and is focused primarily on developers and VR development.

Held in San Jose, CA between October 5th and 7th, Oculus Connect returns once again and, as before, promises to become a Mecca for virtual reality developers around the world.

This year’s conference, held at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, aims to gather together the worlds VR developers to share the latest technologies and techniques with them. Where the first Connect back in 2014 was all about introducing creators to early VR design and development concepts and pre-release hardware, this year’s conference looks to have gone and grown up, indicating the move from enthusiasts nice to a rapidly evolving industry.

Photo courtesy Oculus VR, LLC
Photo courtesy Oculus VR, LLC

The event is offering 5 tracks offering a wide range of topics from technical to the practicalities of VR as a business.

Design — Explore early lessons of VR game design with our Oculus Studios team and top developers such as High Voltage Software, Tripwire Interactive, OZWE Games, and more. Learn about breakthroughs for FPS in VR, how to design games with hand presence for Touch, and best practices for cross-platform compatibility.

Development — Get hands-on training for how to build the world’s best VR applications, from tutorials covering the latest Oculus Mobile and PC SDKs, to workshops on top game engines including Unity and Unreal.

Business — From ideation and raising funds, to launching your first experience on the Oculus Store, we’ll bring experts together from across the VR community to discuss how developers of all sizes can find success in the evolving VR ecosystem.

Experiences — Learn VR and 360 video production techniques from the teams that brought you Henry, Nomads: Maasai, LeBron James: Striving for Greatness, and more. Explore the endless possibilities for VR across 360 video, film, art, and education.

Social — From personalized avatars to connecting with real people in virtual worlds, learn how to add deeper levels of immersion to your VR experiences through memorable multiplayer interactions.

Passes for the show start at $199 for the early bird, available for those registering prior to September 9th, with regular passes prices at $299 from then on. There’s also a student/academic pass available at $99.

Oculus Connect 3 Registration

Although Connect’s focus is most definitely about arming Oculus developers with the tools they need to build good VR apps and games, it’s also traditionally played host to some significant announcements from the company.

Might we finally learn the precise launch date and price of Oculus’ Touch motion controllers? The launch window was narrowed ‘Q4’ 2016 by CEO Brendan Iribe recently, and with HTC’s Vive shipping with motion controllers from day one, the absence of an equivalent input device for Rift users has begun to look increasingly glaring.

From what we’ve seen so far though, it should be well worth the wait and with Oculus aiming to ship “well over 5,000” Touch development kits by the time the devices launch, you can be assured that much of Connect 3’s focus will be schooling developers in how to get the most out of Touch.

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Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.
  • Ionsu

    So expensive….

    $300, that’s the price of half a rift…

    • Michael Davidson

      Well, it’s $199 until September 9th, 2016 and this is relatively cheap compared to a lot of conferences I’ve been to. I doubt; however, that the SWAG will include an Oculus Rift or Oculus Touch package ;)

      • Doctor Bambi

        Yeah, compare that to the $995 price tag of a 3 day E3 pass and it
        starts to seem like a very reasonable price point.

    • DiGiCT Ltd

      That’s just admission fee, i need to travel half around the world to get there and stay in hotel, not worth it, more an expensive travel trip just to see the touch controlelrs, wondering if they eventually have something really to show for just another event.
      It’s either making money or spending money for so many events.
      They should be nearly for free as its oculus which wants to make the benefit out of it.

      Unity at least makes a website for it to “connect” developers to make content together without any charges.

      For many devs going there already cost more as the admission fee, ridiculous.

  • Joshua Peck

    I am going to do my best to be there! A must for any one going into the VR Business!

  • Ethan Wayne

    Hope they can make some sort of an announcement about touch, they are getting pounded in the marketplace.

  • Roy Sherrill

    How do i apply for a press pass.
    Roy from thenewsbubble.com facebook.com/thenewsbubble