The hardware landscape of Virtual Reality is rapidly taking shape, and no-where is that more apparent than CES this year. Oculus, the dominant voice in the market, will open up pre-orders on the consumer model of the Rift headset later this week; meanwhile HTC are also launching the Vive in the foreseeable future and have just activated their own developer portal website. Almost everything is in place to launch VR into the enthusiast consumer sector, save one factor: education.

Those in the know have been aware of the Oculus Rift recommended PC specifications for over six months, but there are still a troubling number of potential users who have no idea where to begin with respect to system specs. That's a problem - VR is far more demanding on PC hardware than almost any other consumer application, perhaps even more so than 4K gaming due to low latency and consistent frame rates requirements, and not just any old gaming rig will do.



Enter NVIDIA, who are seeking to step into the breach with a certification program that asserts a particular piece of hardware or system meets the minimum requirements.



The GeForce GTX VR Ready program applies to the products of partner AIC manufacturers (such as GIGABYTE, MSI etc.) and system builders, designating that the hardware in question is up to scratch (and awarding them a special badge for their troubles). Certification will also apply to notebooks with desktop-class NVIDIA GTX 980 graphics hardware, the only current laptop design which conforms to Oculus' minimum spec.

This program mirrors the NVIDIA BattleBox program for 4K-capable systems, although in this case the green team have a stringent set of requirements already laid out for them by a third party.

Naturally the program doesn't apply to AMD GPUs, for which you'll need to use your own wit and judgement. Despite this fact the program should be a welcome means of informing consumers long before consumer VR hardware reaches bedrooms across the world.

Learn more at NVIDIA's VR Ready Program microsite.