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Oculus Rift VR headsets shipping next year

Brett Molina
USA TODAY
The Oculus Rift.

After months of hype and promise, fans of virtual reality finally have a launch window for the high-anticipated Oculus Rift.

The company confirmed in a statement Wednesday that shipments of the Rift headset will start during the first quarter of 2016, with pre-orders arriving later this year.

Oculus says the company has tweaked the latest prototype Crescent Bay to include a better tracking system for both seated and standing experiences, and improved ergonomics.

The company says more details, including games and inputs, will be made available later this year.

The launch of Rift is a long time coming for Oculus, which sparked a powerful enough surge in interest for virtual reality that they were scooped up by Facebook for $2 billion.

Oculus also helped ramp up competition for virtual reality headsets, with companies including Samsung launching or developing their own VR devices.

Oculus Rift was designed with games as a core component, but a statement from Oculus hints at other uses, such as "film, entertainment and communication."

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

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