At the event, Facebook did not give a demonstration of the actual product, settling instead for standard projections of several games that are expected to appear on Oculus Rift.

Facebook did not say what Oculus Rift might cost, but the goggles will work only on expensive computers running costly processors. The wire between the computer and Rift is necessary because of data inputs about half as big as the already demanding level of existing VR goggles.

Facebook held the event in advance of next week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, the gaming industry’s largest annual event. If the company had had nothing to show for Oculus after a year, it would have been a black eye.

To showcase Oculus Rift’s gaming possibilities, Facebook said the device would work with the gaming controller made by Microsoft for its Xbox One console. This could make the goggles easier for established gamers to get used to, and raises the prospect that lots of Xbox games — like Halo and Minecraft — could be played on Oculus and upgraded to a more immersive kind of 3-D.

Facebook also showed off its own controller, called Oculus Touch, which looks like a pair of half-moons that fit over the hands and can be used to manipulate objects with a button and a trigger.