Facebook just announced a new browser for VR called ‘Carmel’

At the Oculus Connect 3 event, Facebook announced that it is developing a new VR browser called Carmel. The new browser and the VR avatars will shift to mobile-based VR experiences like The Samsung Gear VR in early 2017.

A report by TechCrunch points out that the new Carmel developer preview will run on any Oculus device and will allow users to browse the web inside their VR headset and instantly play WebVR experiences as well.

During the event, the company also spoke about the development of another type of VR headset, called the Santa Cruz prototype. Company CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed a video of a man wearing a prototype of the device, walking freely without being attached to a cord.

Additionally, the company said it has made progress with Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia to pair the Oculus Rift with cheaper computers. For example, one Cyberpower computer with an AMD graphic chip for use with the Rift starts at $499 and the company announced that Oculus Touch hand controllers will start shipping in December, and can be pre-ordered starting October 10 for $199.