One of the main differences between the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive is that the Vive offers a room-scale experience out of the box, whereas the Rift currently focuses on a seated-VR experience. However, with the upcoming release of the Oculus Touch controllers and the latest Oculus PC SDK 1.8 update, it appears that will all soon change.

According to a tweet by Oculus VP of Product, Nate Mitchell, a new feature will be added to the platform that will allow Rift users to safely experience room-scale VR while using the Oculus Rift, similar to the Chaperone system on the Vive. The new boundary system which Oculus is calling ‘Guardian’ is designed to display in-application translucent walls and floor markers when a user gets too close to the edges of the boundaries they defined.

Check out the image below showing the Oculus Guardian System in action:

The addition of this new boundary functionality to the Rift is a much-welcomed feature that has been in the works for quite some time and will allow developers to create new types of immersive experiences for the platform that go beyond just a seated and stationary position.

We expect to learn more about Oculus Guardian at the Oculus Connect 3 developer conference early next month.