Oculus CEO: We're ‘very close’ to delivering consumer Rift VR headset

Oculus chief executive Brendan Iribe declined to give a specific timetable for when the world might finally see a consumer version of the company’s much-hyped Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.

“I think we’re getting very close,” Iribe said today on stage at the Web Summit in Dublin. “We want it to be a beautiful product. It’s not months away. It’s many months away.”

Expectations for Oculus have skyrocketed since Facebook acquired the company for $2 billion back in March.

While Oculus operates as an independent subsidiary of Facebook, Iribe said his company’s “partnership” with the social networking giant has provided a number of benefits. Facebook has helped the company grow from 75 to 200 employees since March, Iribe said, by using its resources to help recruit and hire talent.

And Iribe said Facebook has helped Oculus set up a separate R&D group, something it couldn’t have done on its own as a startup.

Still, the big question lingers: When will consumers be able to buy the Rift?

Iribe said the developers kit the company released in September brings the company closer to that happening. But among the big challenges still to tackle is developing a proper input device as a companion to the VR headset. Iribe said keyboards and gamepads don’t cut it. And gesture-based devices are also unsatisfying.

He said the input needs to be tactile, but the company doesn’t yet know exactly what the input device will look like. And while it’s tempting to just get the VR headset out there, Iribe said, the company is more intent on getting the whole experience right.

“We’ve gone out there and set this bar and said we want to get it right,” Iribe said. “We don’t want it to be four or five years. We’re eager for this to happen.”