Facebook plans 'enterprise edition' of VR headsets

Facebook wants to sell more virtual reality headsets to businesses.

The company is working on an "enterprise edition" of its Oculus Go and Oculus Quest headsets, according to a new job posting that was first discovered by Variety.

The job listing is for a software engineer position on Oculus' AR/VR Enterprise team. Though light on specifics, it says enterprise editions of its headsets will launch in 2019.

"Starting with VR, we are building an Oculus Go and Oculus Quest Enterprise edition expected to launch in 2019," the description says.

Facebook has previously dabbled in this space. The company has offered Oculus Business, Rift bundles meant to appeal to businesses, since 2017. But a dedicated enterprise version of its hardware would be a significant expansion for Oculus. The job description suggests Facebook is working on partnerships with "enterprise-developer ecosystems" and other software platforms in order to create business-specific features.

While it's not necessarily surprising that Facebook is looking to expand the enterprise side of its VR business -- nearly every major headset maker has been trying to woo business users -- it's telling the planned enterprise editions are for the Oculus Quest and Oculus Go, both of which are standalone headsets that don't require a PC. Oculus Go, which we've called the "iPhone of VR headsets," is a $199 portable headset that doesn't require a phone or computer. Likewise, Oculus Quest is a self-contained headset that also incorporates positional tracking so you can move around your surroundings freely.

Now, it seems Facebook is hoping these all-in-one headsets will appeal to businesses, which may want to implement virtual reality, but don't necessarily want to deal with the hassle (and additional cost) of external trackers or high-end PCs. Oculus Quest also has an advantage over other headsets in that you can move around freely without buying a pricey wireless adapter or dorky VR backpack.

While we don't know exact timing for the planned enterprise headsets, it's likely we'll hear much more about Facebook's plans at Oculus Connect, the company's annual conference that takes place each fall.