Oculus Rift gets a permanent price drop and software upgrades; makes virtual reality accessible at $399

At Facebook's Oculus Connect event, the social network announced competitive pricing for its existing Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) headset. Facebook-owned Oculus has permanently brought down the price tag of its Oculus Rift VR headset by a $100 setting the permanent price at $399 instead of the earlier $499.[caption id="attachment_3906575" align="alignleft" width="380"] An earlier model of the Oculus VR headset. Reuters[/caption]Surprisingly, the new $399 price tag also includes the Oculus Touch motion controllers, so this is quite a deal considering that the HTC Vive is still priced at a hefty $799.Initially, Oculus had announced its Rift at $599 with the Touch motion controllers separately priced at $199. With the new pricing, Facebook will be able to deliver virtual reality to the masses, making it a lot more accessible than before.As of today, the Oculus Rift is indeed the go to place of a complete (but wired) virtual reality experience. The device still needs to be connected to a PC, but should see more sales thanks to the new price considering the package that you get.Oculus also announced that the Rift will soon be getting a new customisable VR home room and desktop window interface called Rift Core 2.o. The older system was called the Dash and was based around Facebook's React VR development. The new system is more customisable and will also get Oculus' avatars, hinting that Oculus will not be dropping the Rift from the shelves anytime soon.[caption id="attachment_4134577" align="alignnone" width="1280"] The Oculus Rift VR headset with Touch motion controllers[/caption]While the Rift is Facebook-owned Oculus' current flagship product the company is currently working on an wireless, self-contained VR headset codenamed the Santa Cruz. The product is still a year or two away from getting launched so in the mean time, those seeking a more affordable wireless VR experience, will need to look at the just launched Oculus Go instead.At the event, Oculus also announced a new Rift for Business bundle for businesses to step into VR. The new bundle is priced at $900 and includes the Rift headset, Touch motion controllers, three room sensors, a remote and three Rift Fits.