Oculus Rift unboxing and article

Looks like some crazy input lag on that.
I Got a Hydra last week and with a game that's fully integrated its as close to 1:1 motion control I've ever used. The one downside I have with it is it has to be pretty close to the wands for best results. And looking at that vid he has his base pretty far back which may be causing a slight delay in the movements.
 
Also wanted to comment on the new 7 inch screen they are using. They have stated that while the pixel density won't be as high, the new screen is better in many ways including faster fill rate, less motion blur and lag and it's brighter.

I remember them saying they were going back to the smaller screen for production but I'm pretty sure they said in a later interview that the 7" screen was way better so they would stick with that (albeit in a higher resolution). Either way, I loved the concept design but if it stays pretty much how it looks now I wont complain.
 
Also wanted to comment on the new 7 inch screen they are using. They have stated that while the pixel density won't be as high, the new screen is better in many ways including faster fill rate, less motion blur and lag and it's brighter.

How will it have less pixel density when the same resolution will be packaged in the same "FOV"? Sure screen has less DPI, but different eyecup lenses will transform image to has essentially the same "virtual size" as 5" model.
 
TF2 oculus wiki describes the following console variations for the parameter "vr_moveaim_mode":

0: aiming and steering with your face, the mouse just rotates your "hips". This is a good mode for use with a control pad.
1: aiming with your face, steering only with the mouse. This mode may be buggy and "drift" after a while.
2, 3, 4: slightly different versions of aiming with the mouse within a "keyhole" in your view. 3 is the default that TF2 ships with.

So there's support for variations on freelook and mouseaim.

You can change other VR specific comfort settings like apparent distance of HUD, 1st person taunts, IPD, neck length. It's a pretty interesting read.

http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Oculus_Rift_User_Guide
 
The dev kit is 1280x800, with the horizontal resolution split in half (so each eye receives 640x800). The retail Rift should be 1920x1080 (960x1080).

I'm planning on selling the devkit Rift when the consumer Rift is imminent. I'm sure someone will want it, even if I only get a hundred or two for it. Then again, I might keep it so that I can A/B the two and really see the difference.

Thanks for that info, very helpful.

I'll probably just wait, and live vicariously though all of you. IMO this is the real next gen for gaming. Can't wait to try it.
 

They really show you what it's going to look like when they point the camera inside the Rift. It's like looking at the world through the screen that most of us have in front of the windows (or doors) on our houses.

Edit: Reading the article, I hope the blurriness isn't that bad. I could see that causing headaches. I'd prefer pixelation over blur.
 
Random brain storm but I would love to see this running with the forthcoming Kinect system for the new XB, besides producing the virtual world it could scan you and you could see your own body generated. Would be great for racing and flight sim games.
 
That's a lot more support than I thought. I'm seriously tempted about picking up one of these.
You can make a custom profile for any game yourself with the sixense motion creator program. It just emulates the mouse. Works really well. But games like portal 2 and tf2 that have true integration and the freelook crosshairs are even better.
 
So I've been wondering for awhile, since this is still something that goes on your face, and your eyes are pressed against it, do you see a large amount of black around the edges of your view due to peripheral vision? Akin to using binoculars which are pressed against your face?
 
The 7-inch screen impressions are really harshing my buzz. = (

Some aspects are better than the 5.6" screen, and some are worse. I'd say it's probably an even trade.

So I've been wondering for awhile, since this is still something that goes on your face, and your eyes are pressed against it, do you see a large amount of black around the edges of your view due to peripheral vision? Akin to using binoculars which are pressed against your face?

From everything I've read, you don't see the edge of the screen at all.
 
The 7-inch screen impressions are really harshing my buzz. = (

How so? The dev kits were always going to have a lot of pixelation. It was always something backers were going to have to look past. Plus the 7 inch screen has better image quality in other ways, like faster pixel switching (very important), brighter colors and better contrast, etc. The 7" screen even has less space between pixels to help with the screen door effect, even if the pixel density is slightly lower. Bottom line is that the package we are getting is MUCH better overall than what we would have gotten in December. I can't believe such a minor issue regarding ONE ASPECT of the screen is bumming people out so much.
 
Took awhile, but I finally found a list of games with support for the Hydra: http://sixense.com/products/motioncreator.

There is a forum as well with lots of community development of support for other games, I found Crysis 3 as an example of a new game.

I'm seriously considering this to pair with Rift now..

I don't see the benefit of this. It just seems like two Wii nunchucks. The only difference between it and a game pad being the ability to use motion to move the camera, which would be less intuitive than a thumbstick.

Am I missing something?
 
I don't see the benefit of this. It just seems like two Wii nunchucks. The only difference between it and a game pad being the ability to use motion to move the camera, which would be less intuitive than a thumbstick.

Am I missing something?

Well if you combined it with the rift you can aim entirely independent of where you are looking, so your head would move the camera and the hydra would control you're movement/aiming
 
Well if you combined it with the rift you can aim entirely independent of where you are looking, so your head would move the camera and the hydra would control you're movement/aiming

Wouldn't the same be possible with a game pad? You would have to implement the ability to have weapon aim and head aim different, the input wouldn't change that. The other thing is your arms would start to tire keeping them raised surely?
 
Funny that based on the impressions, it seems the rift is actually not the most natural fit for first person games lol! Due to the fact that you control only half or your movements. Maybe in the end it will be way better for every other games ;)

But seriously i wonder if you have the same probem with a third person game for exemple. The camera will move to follow the player, not to replace his view.. Hm i wonder..
 
How so? The dev kits were always going to have a lot of pixelation. It was always something backers were going to have to look past. Plus the 7 inch screen has better image quality in other ways, like faster pixel switching (very important), brighter colors and better contrast, etc. The 7" screen even has less space between pixels to help with the screen door effect, even if the pixel density is slightly lower. Bottom line is that the package we are getting is MUCH better overall than what we would have gotten in December. I can't believe such a minor issue regarding ONE ASPECT of the screen is bumming people out so much.
Source on less space between pixels? The articles I've read have been negative about how pronounced the "screen door" effect is, and Luckey even apologized for it.

I know the consumer version will have it fixed, but I want my dev kit nowwwwwww = (

#zerothworldproblems
 
Funny that based on the impressions, it seems the rift is actually not the most natural fit for first person games lol! Due to the fact that you control only half or your movements. Maybe in the end it will be way better for every other games ;)

But seriously i wonder if you have the same probem with a third person game for exemple. The camera will move to follow the player, not to replace his view.. Hm i wonder..

It was never going to be able to control all of your movements. I don't read these as not being a natural fit for first person(lol) gaming, but people having to, well...relearn how to walk, so to speak, because the effect IS so convincing.
 
Funny that based on the impressions, it seems the rift is actually not the most natural fit for first person games lol! Due to the fact that you control only half or your movements. Maybe in the end it will be way better for every other games ;)

But seriously i wonder if you have the same probem with a third person game for exemple. The camera will move to follow the player, not to replace his view.. Hm i wonder..

I think the best fit for gameplay right now is where the player is in a fixed cockpit or similar position, with independent head movement. It should be great in games like Hawken and Project Cars until devs figure out how to make other games work well with it.
 
I don't see the benefit of this. It just seems like two Wii nunchucks. The only difference between it and a game pad being the ability to use motion to move the camera, which would be less intuitive than a thumbstick.

Am I missing something?

It functions just like a mouse. Would you say a thumbstick is as precise as a mouse for a fps?


Actually let me add it has 4 modes 2 of which emulate mouse movement one of which is a hybrid of the two mouse modes and the last can be used like a controller with both sticks being used.
 
Funny that based on the impressions, it seems the rift is actually not the most natural fit for first person games lol! Due to the fact that you control only half or your movements. Maybe in the end it will be way better for every other games ;)

But seriously i wonder if you have the same probem with a third person game for exemple. The camera will move to follow the player, not to replace his view.. Hm i wonder..

Well it's definitely meant for first person games, just not your typical run and gun FPS games where you're jumping and running around like a madman.

With the incredible sense of visual immersion that the rift now creates, there is currently a disconnect between the visual experience and the physical experience. We don't have any practical mode of controls that give you the physical immersion that matches the oculus's visual immersion.

That's why this is something that still needs to be developed. No one really knows what the best current method of controls are for the rift. When you feel like you are actually inside a world and the character model's body looks like it's your own, manipulating it with analog sticks or a keyboard and mouse feels empty. It's a tough problem to solve but it just goes to show how incredible the rift's visual experience actually is.
 
I was just saying that cause i'm a strong believer in the fact that what's awesome about the rift is not to "be" the character, but more to "see things like they are there", and that means experiencing things at true scale while still being spectator of it.

Basically i'm more excited to play a street fighter with this thing than a Doom. Cause videogame is mainly about seeing things that you controls for me.

It's just worrying to see everyone so focused on the fps aspect. not that it won't be great, but that would be so sad if the rift was never used for something else.
 
I was just saying that cause i'm a strong believer in the fact that what's awesome about the rift is not to "be" the character, but more to "see things like they are there", and that means experiencing things at true scale while still being spectator of it.

Basically i'm more excited to play a street fighter with this thing than a Doom. Cause videogame is mainly about seeing things that you controls for me.

It's just worrying to see everyone so focused on the fps aspect. not that it won't be great, but that would be so sad if the rift was never used for something else.
Yeah the spectator aspect(3rd person/birds eye etc) will be glorious too. I hope people will remember that. :)
 

A little off-topic, but was anyone else kinda bothered the by interviewer in the video? He couldn't seem to decide if he was speaking to the Oculus guy or the camera. About 40% of the time he was speaking as if the guy wasn't there, 40% was like an interview and the remaining 20% he spent fiddling with the devkit while the guy was speaking to him. Seemed kinda rude.

Anyway, Rift is looking great. Do we have an ETA on the consumer version? Given how quickly smartphone displays are improving, I think it's a pretty safe bet that they'll have a best-of-both-worlds display (higher res, lower latency) available in time for the proper release.
 
A little off-topic, but was anyone else kinda bothered the by interviewer in the video? He couldn't seem to decide if he was speaking to the Oculus guy or the camera. About 40% of the time he was speaking as if the guy wasn't there, 40% was like an interview and the remaining 20% he spent fiddling with the devkit while the guy was speaking to him. Seemed kinda rude.

Anyway, Rift is looking great. Do we have an ETA on the consumer version? Given how quickly smartphone displays are improving, I think it's a pretty safe bet that they'll have a best-of-both-worlds display (higher res, lower latency) available in time for the proper release.

Yeah I noticed that, you could tell he was already thinking about the next question before the guy could finish talking. And at the end he just reminded us of his name and the name of Oculus Rift while ignoring the other guy as if he wasn't there lol.

Maybe already asked him the questions before the recording and already knew the answers, that would explain his rudeness.
 
Sorry if this has been answered a million times elsewhere, but when are the consumer models roughly targeted for release?

Thinking about all the games I need to replay when they do. Portal series and Dishonored are no brainers. Probably Half-Life 2 as well for its sections with heights, the bridge on Highway 17 especially. That part still sometimes makes me afraid to fall, I can only imagine the feeling with a Rift strapped to my face.
 
Sorry if this has been answered a million times elsewhere, but when are the consumer models roughly targeted for release?

2014.

Thinking about all the games I need to replay when they do. Portal series and Dishonored are no brainers. Probably Half-Life 2 as well for its sections with heights, the bridge on Highway 17 especially. That part still sometimes makes me afraid to fall, I can only imagine the feeling with a Rift strapped to my face.

I still havent played Bioshock 1. :D That will be wild, to experience destroyed utopia with full immersion. Hopefully it will get Rift support.
 
2014.

I still havent played Bioshock 1. :D Hopefully it will get Rift support.
Sometime next year at the earliest.
Danke gents, bit further than I was hoping, but I definitely don't want to jump on a dev kit just 'cus I'm feeling impatient. Have all my games, they're not going anywhere, it'll be worth the wait.

Wonder if using these can induce motion sickness in those not ordinarily predisposed to it.
 
I was just saying that cause i'm a strong believer in the fact that what's awesome about the rift is not to "be" the character, but more to "see things like they are there", and that means experiencing things at true scale while still being spectator of it.

Basically i'm more excited to play a street fighter with this thing than a Doom. Cause videogame is mainly about seeing things that you controls for me.

It's just worrying to see everyone so focused on the fps aspect. not that it won't be great, but that would be so sad if the rift was never used for something else.

Oh certainly. I think people will be surprised at how the Oculus can improve 3rd person games and genres. Imagine a strategy game where "you" are floating over the battlefield and you can freely look around in all directions from above while controlling your army, still using your mouse/keyboard to actually grab units and control things. It could work just as well in a SimCity type of game too.
 
Wonder if using these can induce motion sickness in those not ordinarily predisposed to it.

You can get motion sickness, and many people will, but you can also get through it by playing in shorter sessions.

Valve wrote about it in the TF2 wiki. It should be noted that TF2 is rather fast-paced as far as modern first-person games go, so most games will be easier to acclimate to.

VR is awesome and immersive, but it can't fool all your senses all the time. This can lead to something very similar to seasickness or motion sickness, which can lead to nausea, sweating or headaches. Our advice is as follows:

Start slow. For the first few sessions, plan to play for no more than ten minutes in VR.
Calibrate the device for your eyes. Having the correct IPD helps a lot.

Start with some of the slower characters, such as Heavy or Medic. Avoid the faster or close-range characters such as Scout, Pyro, or rocket-jumping with the Soldier - they can produce particularly intense experiences in VR.

Stop if you feel unwell. You cannot "push through" motion sickness, it just continues. If it gets bad it can last a long time after you stop playing. As soon as you feel uncomfortable, take the HMD off, take a break and do something else for a while.

Many people find that over time they become used to the effects - they get their "VR legs" - and can play for longer without feeling unwell.

Some very lucky folks never get any effects at all and can play for many hours. You are freaks and the rest of us are very jealous of you.
 
Tasty screen door effect on camera... hope it's not actually like this to the human eye.

jvE45VW.png
 
Glad to hear the Consumer version is probably next year, I was impatient thinking it was only a matter of months.

I'm dying to see an Amnesia mod though. Also surprised there's seemingly no footage of a racing game supporting it, first person views tend to be standard in them. And you're already sitting down in your chair IRL. And you could have a wheel accessory. Perfect fit.
 
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