Surprising things are hidden in the latest version of the Oculus Rift

iFixit has spent some quality time tearing doing the Oculus Rift Development Kit 2, and they've found some surprising things inside. The headset is covered in 40 infrared lights, which can be picked up by any camera that shows infrared. The header image of this article shows what the webcam sees to support positional tracking, the ability to move your head towards or away from objects in virtual reality.

It's pretty neat stuff, and completely invisible when seen with your eyes. The older Crystal Cove Oculus prototype used white dots on the headset; using infrared lights hidden behind the plastic makes the unit look much cleaner. It also keeps the tracking data safe; with no paint or stickers to peel you can't hurt the unit by handling it.

The real trick though is the screen: iFixit has shown that the hardware uses the stock screen from a Samsung Note 3, overclocked to run at a 75Hz refresh rate. There wasn't much done to hide the nature of the screen; it still has the Samsung logo, is still shaped like a phone, and even has the controller for the touchscreen. Pretty crazy, huh?

You should check out the rest of the teardown, it's pretty interesting stuff. That company was cagey when I asked about the source of the screens during an E3 meeting, and proof that Samsung is providing them with these 5.7 inch AMOLED screens gives some more weight to the rumor that Samsung and Oculus are working together on a portable VR solution.

Our DK2 is in the office, expect some coverage and hands-on thoughts very soon.