Oculus Rift released in the UK, letting people buy the world’s most famous virtual reality headset on the high street

The headset costs £549 and requires a super powerful computer – but you can just go to the shops instead

The virtual reality industry is trying to figure out why the technology for immersive games and stories has not taken off among consumers (Facebook)

People in the UK can now try on the Oculus Rift, the most famous virtual reality system, in their own towns.

The Facebook-owned system has now been released onto the UK high street and people can try it out in retailers like John Lewis, Currys PC World and Harrods. It can also be bought online at Amazon.

From all those places it will cost £549, though it will also require a very powerful computer to actually be able to run it.

The headset has been on sale in the US and online elsewhere earlier this year. But some people who bought the latter have yet to receive their units, with shipments blighted by supply issues.

Facebook hopes that the Oculus turns out to be the “future of social networking”, which is what boss Mark Zuckerberg called virtual reality earlier this year.

The Oculus Rift comes with a range of different games included. It also has an Xbox controller that allows people to navigate through them.

The Rift’s release date comes just weeks before the release of PlayStation VR, in October. Unlike the Rift and other competitors like the HTC Vive, that won’t need its own computer and will plug straight into a PlayStation 4.