Some shops may have gone days without giving a single demo of the Oculus Rift headset.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg dons an Oculus Rift VR headset.
Ask any expert: You’ve gotta try virtual reality before you can understand its true potential.
So it wouldn’t be a particularly good sign if, say, Facebook was having a hard time getting people to try in-store demos of its Oculus Rift VR headset .
Business Insider reported Wednesday that Facebook is closing 200 of its 500 pop-up Oculus Rift demo locations across the United States, due to “seasonal changes. ”
“We’re making some seasonal changes and prioritizing demos at hundreds of Best Buy locations in larger markets,” an Oculus spokeswoman confirmed to CNET.
According to Business Insider’s sources, though, “seasonal changes” may be a euphemism. According to multiple unnamed Best Buy workers who reportedly spoke to the publication, it was common for the Oculus Rift pop-up stations to go days without giving a single demo.
It’s not clear why, though: One source suggested it was a lack of interest from the public, another software bugs, and a third that Best Buy wasn’t pushing people hard enough to try the headset.
(I can personally attest that whenever I walk into my local Best Buy store, the dummy headsets are left unmanned and it’s not clear how to actually try one on.
