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Facebook Inc.'s Oculus VR is in the early stages of developing a lower-end virtual-reality device, in a bid to broaden consumer interest, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said during a conference of Oculus developers Thursday.

Oculus is also spending $500 million to help developers create virtual reality content, the kinds of games, films and other experiences that could catapult virtual reality devices to a must-have.

The stand-alone device, which is in the prototype stage, won't require a personal computer like Oculus' current $599 goggles, called the Rift, which launched earlier this year, Mr. Zuckerberg said. But the coming product aims to do more than the smartphone-powered $100 Gear VR headset co-developed by Samsung Electronics Co. and Oculus.

Oculus is working to "unlock this completely new category of virtual reality product," Mr. Zuckerberg said during a keynote speech at the annual Oculus developers conference in San Jose, Calif. He provided few details about the product but hinted at the look of the new device by showing a video of a man in a headset moving freely in a room, untethered by the personal computer required to run the Rift.

Virtual reality devices have remained niche products because of their high cost, clunkiness and the absence of any most-have content on them.

This new device would be powered by a new generation of virtual-reality software that would be more social than the current technology, he said. Facebook said it has already invested $250 million to help developers create virtual reality content and plans to invest $250 million more to help developers create new types of content.

He added that Facebook is also starting a $10 million fund specifically for virtual-reality educational content.

Mr. Zuckerberg reiterated his belief that virtual reality will be the next big computing platform. Oculus, which Facebook snapped up for $2 billion in 2014 before it had launched a single product, plays a chief role in achieving that goal.

But over the last year, developers have grown disenchanted with Oculus, especially after the rocky Rift launch, which was hurt by shipping problems and a higher-than-expected price. Facebook now faces competition from Alphabet Inc.'s Google unit, HTC Corp. and Sony Corp.

"We had a little bit of a slow start earlier this year on Rift but that's rolling out quickly," Mr. Zuckerberg said. He added that Oculus plans to ship its Touch hand controllers for grabbing and moving virtual objects, also unveiled Thursday, by the end of the year.

Write to Deepa Seetharaman at Deepa.Seetharaman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 06, 2016 16:25 ET (20:25 GMT)

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