The Oculus Rift was the major consumer VR headset produced by Oculus after its Kickstarter prototype.
Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign for the Rift prototype in 2012, attracting widespread attention from developers and technology enthusiasts. The campaign helped demonstrate demand for modern head-mounted VR and contributed to Facebook’s decision to acquire Oculus VR in 2014.
The consumer version, commonly called Oculus Rift or Rift CV1, began shipping in March 2016. It used an external camera-based tracking system, a separate display for each eye, and motion controllers that were initially sold separately. The headset required connection to a compatible computer, unlike later standalone Quest devices.
The Rift name is sometimes confused with Oculus Go or Oculus Quest. Oculus Go was a simpler standalone headset released later, while Quest was a standalone six-degrees-of-freedom product. The Rift line was ultimately discontinued as Meta concentrated on the Quest family.