Second Oculus Rift Dev Kit Includes Note 3 Front Panel

The second devkit of the Oculus Rift virtual reality glasses contains the entire front panel of a Galaxy Note 3. According to a teardown from iFixIt. Even the controller of the touchscreen has remained intact, according to the teardown.

The Galaxy Note 3 front panels were probably used to make it relatively easy to release a second prototype: only 45,000 copies of the devkit are made, so it would make little sense to have your own screen designed, iFixIt writes.

It’s unclear how Oculus, the company behind the virtual reality glasses that was recently acquired by Facebook, got the Note 3 front panels: the devkit costs $350, far below the cost of a complete Note 3. Oculus may get the front panels from Samsung, with whom the company previously entered into a partnership to release its own virtual reality glasses.

While the entire front panel has been taken over and even the touchscreen controller is present when not in use, one change has been made: the screen runs at 75Hz instead of the standard 60Hz, to allow for smoother moving images.

IFixIt also found 40 infrared LEDs with which the movements are tracked. According to the website, the second devkit is relatively easy to repair: on a scale of 1 to 10, the device scores a nine, just like its predecessor.

Source: iFixIt