The Oculus Rift virtual reality headset has come a long way from its humble beginnings in the garage of founder Palmer Luckey. After an impressive Kickstarter campaign and two rounds of investment funding totaling $91 million , Oculus VR is forging ahead with plans to bring its head-mounted display to the public. Gamers—both PC and mobile--are still the overriding priority at Oculus, but the team also envisions a future where the Rift is a standalone platform, changing the way people learn, socialize, and experience the world.

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“ Even though it’s reliant on external hardware…that definitely won't be forever.

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The growing company recently hired David DeMartini, who once led the Origin team at Electronic Arts, to head up publishing for the Rift. Freshly armed with a massive dose of capital, DeMartini and his Oculus publishing team are actively seeking out developers and content providers worldwide to spread the gospel of virtual reality. While there’s still no solid release date for the consumer version of the Oculus Rift, the group sees the latest round of funding as evidence of the device’s relevancy and impending launch.“Most importantly, I think the funding is a huge statement to the development community that this device is coming to market,” DeMartini told IGN. “And anybody who is considering development for VR, should come to our platform and should be ready for business.”While DeMartini makes it clear Oculus is offering guidance—and possible financial assistance—to all types of game developers, including tiny indie workshops and triple-A studios, he also makes it abundantly clear the company is interested in changing more than how we peer into traditional video games. There’s a sense now, with the large investment capital and the employment of a seasoned EA executive, the Rift is morphing from a game peripheral into a broader interactive device.“Certainly, gaming is an incredible focus and we’re aiming at a huge array of gaming content in a variety of sizes and genres,” said DeMartini. “But beyond gaming, as you think of education, attendance at live events, experiencing all kinds of other experiences, vis-á-vis traveling to the beach in Barcelona, followed by the beach in Hawaii…I mean, there’s so many.”The possible ramifications of virtual reality on video games, if not ordinary run-of-the-mill experiences, are admittedly intriguing. And while the discussion of letting our real-world selves delve into a projected universe is older than The Lawnmower Man, both DeMartini and Mitchell are quick to point out we’re no longer talking about some far-flung tech; the Rift is just around the corner.Of course, none of this is to say Oculus VR has abandoned its gaming focus. The team’s primary objective right now is attracting game developers, and according to Mitchell, the platform—a term brought up numerous times during our interview—is already drawing in its fair share of backers, beyond the names we’ve already heard like Valve and Epic. As both men note, “content is king.”“We think gamers are going to be excited to see it when we get there, to see what we’ve been working on with some of the best and brightest developers in the world,” said Mitchell.The Oculus team is clear to point out its appreciation for its early industry supporters, too. While Mitchell declined to elaborate on the current relationship with Valve, and possible integration with the upcoming Steam Machines , Oculus is readily thankful for the ongoing support. “Valve has hands down one of the best VR teams in the world,” said Mitchell. “I can’t get into all the details, but a lot of the success around VR is Valve working with us to push this thing forward.”The future of the Oculus VR, like all new and advancing companies, is somewhat hard to gauge at this point. The company is clearly positioning the Rift as a platform, but it’s a platform dependent on external hardware, e.g. PC and mobile devices. But as DeMartini says, the company’s headset is more than a fly-by-night peripheral like those Guitar Hero instruments gathering dust in your closet. The Rift has the potential—an inevitability, according to Mitchell—to eventually find its way as a standalone product.“Even though it’s reliant on external hardware, whether that’s a PC or mobile device, that definitely won’t be forever necessarily,” said Mitchell. “It’s just the inevitable direction the industry is going to go in, especially for VR and [augmented reality]. The Rift is going to support plugging right into your mobile phone or tablet. What if you just moved the phone into the headset?“We don’t have any announcements around our roadmap in that direction, but all the work that John Carmack has been doing on mobile is totally aligned with that vision in the long term.”And the concept of a standalone Rift may prove the best solution for console gamers. While Mitchell reiterates the Oculus team “would love to work with consoles,” the current status of Rift compatibility with your PlayStation 4 or Xbox One doesn’t sound so promising . The focus appears unabashedly honed in upon PC and mobile devices, thanks in no small part to console manufacturers—according to Mitchell—playing “gatekeeper” over their platforms.“It’s all about doing some sort of deal with them to bring the Oculus Rift over,” said Mitchell. “But we’ve moved so fast in one year. And frankly, we’re still pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on modern day hardware. In 5 to 7 years, take what we’ve done in the last year and multiply by five, the very best experiences—the Rift 2.0, or 3.0, or wherever we are—are going to be on PC.”The Rift has gone through a number of prototypes over the last year or so. The original 720p resolution developer kit has given way to a 1080p prototype, debuted at E3 back in June . Some of the big changes—outside of the recently announced lower latency to combat motion sickness —were focused on providing users with a crisper image, of course. But according to DeMartini, visual prowess isn’t the end-all-be-all of virtual reality.“It feels like this is a truly revolutionary change within gaming,” said DeMartini. “I’m so tired of hearing about better visuals. The independent developers are tired of hearing about better visuals. This is a whole different kind of design continuum, and a whole different experience.”So, where does Oculus VR go from here? When asked about the recent changes to the Rift, especially in light of growing announcements from upcoming competitors like the Avegant Glyph, Mitchell said the company thoroughly welcomed fellow devices as a means of growing the VR market. Of course, that doesn’t mean Oculus is sitting on its laurels.“We’ve got a few more tricks up our sleeves these days.”

Matt Clark is a freelance writer covering the world of videogames, tech, and popular culture. Follow him on Twitter @ClarkMatt and MyIGN at Matt_Clark