YouTube VR will be available for Oculus Quest in time for launch

Ben Schoon | May 16 2019 - 9:30 am PT

Next week sees the official consumer launch of the Oculus Quest VR headset, and content is actively being prepared for the new platform. Today, Google has confirmed that YouTube VR will be ready for Oculus Quest in time for the product’s release.

Just in time for the May 21st release of the Oculus Quest, Google says that YouTube VR will be ready on the platform for customers to download right away.

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as YouTube VR is already available on other Oculus hardware including the Rift and Go. The app is also on Samsung Gear VR, Google Daydream, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR. As with those releases, YouTube VR on the Oculus Quest will grant access to proper VR videos as well as standard videos in a VR-optimized viewing experience.

YouTube’s arrival on the Quest is a pretty big deal in terms of content for the new device. After all, Google says that at least one million videos are available on YouTube in stereoscopic 3D with full 360-degree support. Notably, the Quest’s YouTube VR app will be limited to 60Hz, but it will support room-scale tracking.

You can pre-order the Oculus Quest from Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, and more from $399. The new headset will also support Google’s Tilt Brush VR experience.

In a blog post, Google further goes over some more details on its efforts in virtual reality. Specifically, the company highlights some of the award-winning VR content that’s available on YouTube including Crow: The Legend VR, NASA’s Cassini’s Grand Finale 360, and Isle of Dogs: Behind the Scenes VR.

The company also mentions that it’s currently accepting applications for the European YouTube VR Creator Lab – a three-month program that helps creators embrace the VR180 format.

As part of our efforts to continue democratizing VR content creation, we’re currently accepting applications for the European edition of the YouTube VR Creator Lab. This three-month, learning and production intensive helps creators embrace YouTube’s VR180 format.

Selected participants get to attend a three-day boot camp at a YouTube Space and receive advanced education from leading VR instructors and filmmakers, ongoing mentoring, a shiny VR180 camera to keep, and $20,000 USD in funding toward the production of their dream projects.