• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, June 12, 2015

Preparing to fundamentally change the way people experience media, commerce and communication, Facebook’s Oculus VR unit just unveiled a completely redesigned Rift headset, and -- to make sure its content is highly compelling -- a close partnership with Microsoft.

Slated to hit shelves by the first quarter of 2016, the headset is expected to initially retail for about $1,500.

“When you put on the Rift, you’ll be able to experience immersive virtual environments that create the feeling of ‘presence’ -- like you’re actually there,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explains in a new post.

“You’ll be able to play games, watch movies and connect with your friends, all in ways that you’ve never experienced before,” Zuckerberg promises.

In partnership with Microsoft, Rift will ship to consumers with a wireless Xbox One controller, work natively with Windows 10 and play Xbox One games in the headset.

Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe and Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox, made the announce at an event in San Francisco, on Thursday. If consumers come for the ride, the potential for Rift seems endless.

Earlier this year, Facebook said it was testing “spherical videos,” which create a fully immersive 360-degree video experience for users -- similar to 3D games -- as part of the News Feed. The immersive videos are produced with two dozen cameras arranged in spherical form, Mark Zuckerberg told attendees of Facebook’s annual F8 developer conference, in March.

Initially, users will be able to experience spherical views with their mouse button, but the greatest potential for the new service is clearly connected to Oculus Rift. Facebook’s Oculus VR unit was recently bought by British start-up Surreal Vision for an undisclosed sum.

The British firm specializes in software that can quickly build 3D maps of physical environments.

Though not quite ready for prime time, Facebook this week also unveiled Oculus Touch -- a pair of wireless controllers, which will let users reach out and interact naturally with objects in the virtual world. By 2020, virtual reality will represent a $30 billion market -- while augmented reality will represent a $120 billion market -- according to a recent forecast from Digi-Capital.

Facebook dropped $2 billion on Oculus last year.