Oculus used its Game Developers Panel to announce that a second dev kit for its virtual reality headset Rift is now available for pre-order.

Rift dev kit 2 will cost US$350, and will ship in July, the company announced. Like Sony's new Project Morpheus, it will display at 1080p. Dev kit 2 is also lighter than the last model.

“The second development kit features many of the key technical breakthroughs and core elements of the consumer Rift including a low-persistence, high-definition display and precise, low-latency positional head tracking,” said the company in a mail to supporters.

“DK2 isn’t identical to the consumer Rift, but the fundamental building blocks for great VR are there. All the content developed using DK2 will work with the consumer Rift. And while the overall experience still needs to improve before it’s consumer-ready, we’re getting closer everyday — DK2 is not the Holodeck yet, but it’s a major step in the right direction.

“DK2 features a 1080p display, as well as the Crystal Cove camera with improved head-tracking. It also weighs 440 grams, which make its lighter than the first dev kit,” added the firm.

“Like the Crystal Cove prototype, DK2 uses a low persistence OLED display to eliminate motion blur and judder, two of the biggest contributors to simulator sickness. Low persistence also makes the scene appear more visually stable, increasing the potential for presence. The high-definition 960×1080 per-eye display reduces the screen-door effect and improves clarity, color, and contrast.

“DK2 also integrates precise, low-latency positional head tracking using an external camera that allows you to move with 6-degrees-of-freedom and opens up all sorts of new gameplay opportunities like peering around corners, leaning in to get a closer look at objects in the world, and kicking back on a virtual beach.”

Yesterday, Sony announced its virtual reality headset, codenamed Project Morpheus.