Adventure Gamers - Forums

Oculus Rift is on GDC. Some impressions (it never gets old ):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pkQMydTDv5c
http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/gdc-2013-you-win-oculus-rift-im-a-believer-now/

The summary of feedback on developer version, so far, would be: resolution is a bit too low, better pixel density would be nice, it can cause motion sickness if games are too fast or badly optimized for VR… but immersion is astounding and something we never experienced before.
And the best part? It seems to be best suited for exploration games such as Dear Esther and Myst.

The list of games supported by Oculus Rift driver vorpX:
http://www.vorpx.com/games/

And here’s a quote:
“On a sidenote: if you haven’t played Bioshock Infinite so far, save it for the Rift! I started it last night on my DIY-prototype, and the first 1.5 hours or so, which consist mostly of exploring the environment, are simply amazing.”

Detailed look and demo, hmmm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=P50fvL_EWYY

nomadsoul - 04 April 2013 03:41 PM

Detailed look and demo, hmmm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=P50fvL_EWYY

One of the best OR reviews yet.

Btw, did anyome seen this: http://www.roadtovr.com/2013/03/30/gdc-2013-oculus-rift-razer-hydra-tuscany-unity-demo-4401 ?
Just one word comes to mind: awesome

EDIT: somebody added support for OR positional tracking (OR alone, tracks only head movement, but no leaning or bending) with the help of Hydra and here’s what he has to say:
“I have been getting pretty motion sick from all my demo testing so I was very keen to see how much this was due to lack of positional tracking. For sure adding the tracking made a huge difference”

It seems like positional tracking will be a must for consumer version of the Oculus Rift.

That’s great to hear!

Monolith - 05 April 2013 05:29 AM

They already confirmed Positional tracking will be in the consumer release.

Are you certain? I’ve only heard that it’s “one of the things they’re working on” or that they’d “like it to be in the consumer version.” I haven’t really heard an official confirmation or even a commitment to a particular tech yet.

The effective resolution seems to be a major letdown in the developer kit, and the consumer version promises only a marginal improvement. I understand that they are using smartphone displays (which explains Rift’s low price), which might not experience any major breakthroughs in pixel density for years to come, simply because there is no demand for even higher resolutions on a smartphone.

I really hope this doesn’t turn out to be the issue that will ultimately make the Rift a neat toy instead of the Next Big Thing.

Actually, I think pixel density is a bigger issue than resolution.
However, reading the positive and enthusiastic reactions from people who already have developer kit (developers and non-developers alike) I have no fear of VR being just a gimmick.
It’s a start. Consumer version will be a bit better already, but I have no doubt the tech will improve greatly over the next couple of years.

Text adventures were the first try at creating a virtual world, then came 2d graphics, then 3d… VR just seems such a logical next step. Of course, it’s still at its infancy, so it’s a bit rough around the edges… but so was 3d graphics 15 years ago (and many (myself included) saw it as only a gimmick at first).
You can argue VR is more of an interface than a graphical thing… however, it’s still all about immersion.

Igor - 05 April 2013 11:38 AM

It’s a start. Consumer version will be a bit better already, but I have no doubt the tech will improve greatly over the next couple of years.

That’s the thing though, since Oculus VR is highly dependent on affordable screens, it has to be using the same screen manufacturer as Samsung and Apple do. Thus, the latter companies, not Oculus will dictate the maximum resolution of such screens for many years to come.

Unless, of course, it proves such a success that it becomes a major customer for the screen manufacturer or even becomes one itself—and my worry is that given the current resolution it won’t be able to achieve critical mass.

Some day, this won’t be an issue of course, but it might take a while. Like, a long while.

EDIT: and yes, I’m obviously talking about the resolution given the Rift form factor, not just the resolution as an abstract number for any screen size.

kuze - 05 April 2013 11:56 AM

Unless, of course, it proves such a success that it becomes a major customer for the screen manufacturer or even becomes one itself—and my worry is that given the current resolution it won’t be able to achieve critical mass.

We can only speculate at this point, but I do think it has a fair chance to be THE next big thing. I’d even say it’s inevitable.
Despite its obvious shortcomings, the feedback so far is almost all on the very optimistic and positive side. That’s a rare thing for any new tech, even more so for a VR helmet- those usually got hammered down with no mercy
Another promising thing is all the big-name support it’s gaining already… with only a couple of hundreds dev kits out so far! If that’s not amazing, I don’t know what is. Everyone are so enthusiastic about it, it’s inspiring.

OR probably won’t be alone on the market for long. There’ll be some strong competition out soon (I do hope OR will maintain the leadership, though). And once that happens, I don’t doubt VR will start to dictate the evolution of screens.

Edit: and here is a great consumer review (be sure to read comments too): http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/1btne8/rift_and_vr_first_impressions/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter