Anybody considering picking up an Oculus Rift..?

[ShleeDragon]

http://www.polygon.com/2014/1/17/5317958/valve-believes-mainstream-consumer-vr-is-another-two-years-away

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

I'm sure couple years after the release of Oculus Rift, more zombies will walk the streets...

 

[Asmo]

More pics and links related to Valve's presentation:


http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=753107


The ball is rolling, time to start thinking of ways to utilise and improve these things.


They say a fov of 110 degrees is desirable, but perhaps the extremities don't need to carry much detail, just remove the last traces of obvious 'border' on the edges - maybe a frosted reflective surface built around the optics could create the impression of borderless vision, until both optics and display panels can do the job?

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

Reality vs Illusion:

 

[Asmo]

You know you've dreamt it -

https://www.youtube.com/embed/G-2dQoeqVVo?feature=oembed

 

[Null]

Just needs a couple of variable speed fans either side of you, controlled by the software, to give the impression of airflow as you pick up speed!

I've played an arcade game that had that feature, can't remember title at present but will have a search around to see if I can find it.


Edit: Info I remember, futuristic racing game, 1-2 players on same machine, yellow machine, orange lay down type seats.

 

[Asmo]

Saw this one recently -

https://www.youtube.com/embed/jHscTRpz5WQ?feature=oembed

PC in a backpack, OR headset, gun controller and positional tracking like PS move.


Remember Quazar/Laser tag games? If they get the system above right, it could be the equivalent 'arena' gaming of the future.


Imagine a bare warehouse, with a grid of the positional tracking cameras suspended from the ceiling, safety padding on the walls.


You could have amazing multiplayer games played safely - you could see each other in-game very accurately.


You could have almost any kind of team game - say soccer for example, you'd appear to be in a packed arena (there could be actual observers online!) and the opposing team could even be in another similar setup, playing against you online.


A sort of force-feedback 'thumper' on the shoes could simulate ball contact.


Likewise Tennis, golf, you name it.


If the same setting had a set of temporary soft barriers they could erect, you could form a series of walls that match a game map's layout, and have Counterstrike games... for 'real'..

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

I need to buy a house to play games now? 

 

[Klumpen]

You know you've dreamt it -

https://www.youtube.com/embed/yto4Fx6eIfM?feature=oembed

I always wanted to fly and yes, I actually dreamt about it a lot at night,

but I fear, that you need to buy a current Windows or this DRM-Steamboxstuff for it.

 

[Asmo]

Zelda VR!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/6gzXHUyfdyM?feature=oembed

What next? Ant Attack?

 

[Asmo]

Promising snippet about the forthcoming Elite-Dangerous - apparently 10% of alpha players have or are using an Oculus Rift to play, OR support was added at the request of backers:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a557248/elite-dangerous-almost-10-percent-of-alpha-users-play-with-oculus-rift.html

Playing with Oculus Rift allows the players to move their head around the ship's cockpit, tracking ships and objects outside the standard field of view, and accessing menu options to the side without pressing dedicated buttons

Elite in VR - with those graphics! That'll make for a few late nights.
http://www.youtube.com/#/results?q=elite%20dangerous%20oculus&sm=3

 

[WizardStan]

I'm still torn between wishing I hadn't cancelled my developer system and being glad I did so I can better appreciate (afford) the consumer release.

 

[pmprog]

I'm still looking forward to the consumer release. Are there any ETA's yet on when we might see them?

 

[ekianjo]

2015 most probably.

 

[SNESFAN]

I do want one, but I'm fine waiting for the consumer release. That extra dimension of tracking, with the ripoff MS kinect movement tracker, and the higher resolution and higher refresh rate screen sounds like it will be well worth the added wait. I'm sure they know that also, I think it's a wise move.

I said early on in this thread I previously owned the best consumer 3d vr headset about 8 years ago. The e-magin 3d visor. It offered 800x600 resolution and pathetic degrees of FoV compared to the rift. And that device blew all the other consumer devices out of the water at the time by a large amount 40 degree vs 30. The experience then was pretty cool but not quite what I was hoping.

http://www.3dvisor.com/

(not a plug, just a reference)

The rift sounds like this is set to be almost triple the FoV 110 degrees vs 40. Instead of 100 inch screen tv in your living room (3d visor), this sounds like it's going to be center row at the imax. While maybe not "lost in virtual reality" I bet this will be really f*ing neat. I do fear a bit even with the added resolution that the "grid lines" that they are talking about, won't fully go away. That was an obvious problem on the 3d visor as well. Those things will probably be the things holding back the "fully immersive" experience, but it does really sound like a giant step forward vs what was possible almost a decade ago.

I used to dream about playing halo at the imax, my friend even tried to get that setup for me but it fell through at the last moment, but I think that might just happen here in the near future.

 

[WizardStan]

Oculus Rift announces Dev Kit 2

Including all the features they've come up with in the past year, it's basically what will be the consumer release, apparently. Just needs some bug fixes and polish, but who knows how long that'll actually take.

Exciting! Almost want to get this now, but know that if I hold off a little longer still the consumer release will be even more worthwhile.

 

[pmprog]

Hmmmm, I'm very tempted. Do you think there'll be much more improvement in the consumer than this dev kit? Obviously, there'll be some, but if they've sorted out the screen resolution, it might be enough for me to warrant buying it now

Why is there now an external camera thing? Is it required?

 

[WizardStan]

Why is there now an external camera thing? Is it required?

It gives you full freedom of movement. Without the camera it can just tell roll, pitch, and yaw: turn or tilt your head, but always stationary. With the camera it can also tell relative position: lean forward to look closer at something, lean sideways to look around a corner, duck under a table, etc...According to the announcement, things developed for the DK2 will work on the consumer release but that doesn't mean things developed for the consumer release will work on the DK2. The screen and tech seems all locked down, but maybe they'll add something else. And the case and all that will definitely see some improvements. The final price might even come down a little due to mass production.

 

[pmprog]

Thanks.

 

[Asmo]

Worried your rig might not be the best for your inevitable plunge into silky-smooth VR?


In answer to your prayers, NVidia gives you - in exchange for $2999.00 -

http://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2014/03/25/titan-z/


That'll do nicely. Now, about the price...