The Oculus virtual reality headset may be used for any number of other applications, but Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe says that its roots will always be in gaming.

Last week Oculus unveiled the Crescent Bay model of the Oculus Rift headset at the company’s developer conference, Oculus Connect. At the event they spoke about a variety of possible uses for virtual reality, but Iribe said that the heart of Oculus will always be in gaming.

“For a very long time the heart and soul of what drives virtual reality is going to be a video game 3D engine,” Iribe told Games Industry International. “This is not a film; this is a 3D game engine inside. So even when it’s a medical simulation experience or it is architecture or whatever it is, it is a 3D game engine running inside. That’s awesome, that is rooted in the game market.”

During the Oculus Connect developer conference held in Los Angeles on September 20, Chief Technical Officer John Carmack, Founder Palmer Luckey, and Oculus’ Chief Scientist Michael Abrash discussed many of the obstacles and opportunities facing virtual reality.

Carmack particularly stressed the significance of social interaction. “Getting that multiuser experience is our most important user-visible feature,” he said. “It’s surprising that it hasn’t been done so far. As the basics mature, I expect more of that to be going on…When you see grandparents using iPads to look at pictures of their kids. It’s going to be the same with VR. Everyone in the world will find something to do with it.”

Iribe said that the jump between Oculus Rift Developer Kit 2 and Crescent Bay is as noteworthy as the jump between Oculus Rift Developer Kit 1 and 2. It’s lighter, with enhanced ergonomics, 360 motion tracking and integrated audio, a new focus for Oculus.

It was not revealed when a consumer version of the Oculus Rift will be available, but stated that the Crescent Bay model comes close.

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