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Oculus Rift Kickstarter [Ended, $2.4 million funded]

thuway

Member
The Oculus Rift contains a 1280 x 800 screen split in two — 640 x 800 for each eye.
Ehh I'm better off waiting for the inevitable OLED, 1080p, version.

What the rift has done though is light fire under Sony's ass to get their shit together.
 

DieH@rd

Banned
No. There are no suitable OLED (or higher res) panels in the correct size available at this point in time.

Carmack mentioned that he has tested 120hz OLED on Oculus Rift, but who knows if that screen will ever become cheap enough for the populus. He even mentined that Iphone retina screen is better than this default screen [faster response time, less ghosting].

200 backers already.
 

Klyka

Banned
So, wait, someone explain this to me real quick:

So i put on the Rift and start playing Doom3.
So I play it with keyboard and mouse? If so, then the mouse moves the camera, right?
So, what does the headtracking do? Also, won't having the mouse move the camera be really fucking irritating when you do super fast movements? It's basically like sitting with your nose up to a screen, isn't it?
 

CaLe

Member
So, wait, someone explain this to me real quick:

So i put on the Rift and start playing Doom3.
So I play it with keyboard and mouse? If so, then the mouse moves the camera, right?
So, what does the headtracking do? Also, won't having the mouse move the camera be really fucking irritating when you do super fast movements? It's basically like sitting with your nose up to a screen, isn't it?

You don't need a mouse anymore, you can use your head to move the camera around. Along with a gamepad, you can strafe and shoot.

But yeah, you could also use a mouse I guess.
 

Durante

Member
Ehh I'm better off waiting for the inevitable OLED, 1080p, version.
I wish that was inevitable!
Anyway, even if it does happen, The 275$ is worth it for me to get it at least a year earlier and to some day show my grandkids how I participated in building the future.


What the rift has done though is light fire under Sony's ass to get their shit together.
If you're talking about the HMZ, it has an entirely different, almost incompatible goal. The reason the Rift can achieve its revolutionary VR performance is that it completely ditches legacy content, something Sony could never do.
 
I don't understand. They've got all these millionaires endorsing the project but none of them want to put their money into it?
 

Klyka

Banned
You don't need a mouse anymore, you can use your head to move the camera around. Along with a gamepad, you can strafe and shoot.

But yeah, you could also use a mouse I guess.

I figured it'd be gamepad. Ok so you play standing up then I guess? Or on a rotating chair?
 

Durante

Member
So, wait, someone explain this to me real quick:

So i put on the Rift and start playing Doom3.
So I play it with keyboard and mouse? If so, then the mouse moves the camera, right?
So, what does the headtracking do? Also, won't having the mouse move the camera be really fucking irritating when you do super fast movements? It's basically like sitting with your nose up to a screen, isn't it?
The best control scheme, and the one in Doom 3 BFG, works like this:
You use the mouse (or a stick) to move your aim and camera.
Head tracking only moves the camera.

Also, it isn't really like sitting with your nose up to a screen. There are optics in this thing. Ideally, it's like looking around in your room.
 

HoosTrax

Member
The best control scheme, and the one in Doom 3 BFG, works like this:
You use the mouse (or a stick) to move your aim and camera.
Head tracking only moves the camera.
This is kind of hard to wrap my head around.

I mean, I have TrackIR, so it makes sense to me from a flight sim or racing sim point of view -- where you're looking and where your vehicle is going/shooting are two separate things.

So does it mean that the headset changes the view without changing where the gun is pointed (which makes sense to me)? And the mouse still controls where you're aiming?
 

Klyka

Banned
So it can move the camera without moving the aim, kinda like in ARMA2?

So if I see an enemy on the left, I turn my head AND the mouse?
Hm, I see.
 

shira

Member
The best control scheme, and the one in Doom 3 BFG, works like this:
You use the mouse (or a stick) to move your aim and camera.
Head tracking only moves the camera.

Also, it isn't really like sitting with your nose up to a screen. There are optics in this thing. Ideally, it's like looking around in your room.
Wouldn't a wiimote or move controller be better than a mouse.
 

Durante

Member
So does it mean that the headset changes the view without changing where the gun is pointed (which makes sense to me)? And the mouse still controls where you're aiming?
Yes. I guess when you do want to turn with the mouse you need to hold some button. (for the case where your range of head motion is exhausted)

Wouldn't a wiimote or move controller be better than a mouse.
Why?
 

1-D_FTW

Member
I personally hope that the next HMZ will just have better latency, this seems to hacky.

I ordered in the second wave in February(?) and the serial number on my model was still under 1000. That was an extremely niche product.

Clearly Sony is introducing some 1080P oleds for their new cameras. And an HMZ using those, running at 120hz (which Carmack seems to imply can be driven rather easily if you want to let it), zero input lag (again something that's not difficult if it's a priority), and with ergonomics designed for the entire world would be pretty incredible. But that's a whole lot of ifs. And given how niche the original truly was, and given Sony's awful financial situation, I'm not putting any money on an HMZ 2.0 ever seeing the light (and especially not with all the above mentioned elements).

Look at those quotes again. Carmack. Cliffy B. Gabe. Michael Abrash. The heavy hitters are all excited. This thing has the potential to be much better. The FOV alone is a huge distinguisher.
 

HoosTrax

Member
Wouldn't a wiimote or move controller be better than a mouse.
I can tell you as someone who has a lot of lightgun games for Wii -- the Wiimote is not as accurate as a mouse for FPSs. It feels more immersive, but it's not more accurate.
 

jack.

Banned
Some more info from John Carmack in the comments:

Technical comments based on the prototype unit I have been using and conversations with Palmer:
The display is a single 1280x800 panel; each eye only sees a 640x800 image stretched across the huge field of view. The perceived resolution is therefore much lower than even previous generation consumer HMDs. If you are looking for high resolution, this isn't for you. For immersion, the high FOV is much, much more important, though.
It is not wireless.
The prototype was analog VGA, but I think the kickstarter versions are DVI.
Everyone commented on how light the prototype was, especially compared to the Sony HMD.
The early prototype could not be worn with glasses. If you modify it to stand off far enough from the face to allow glasses, the fov will be reduced a lot. One reason it can be so light is that it has smallish lenses very close to your eyes. With the limited resolution, you don't really need 20/20 effective vision.
I hope someone experiments with the kits and builds a variable focus version, but the standard system is fixed focus.

Seriously considering pledging for this. It sounds pretty cool.
 

Durante

Member
Yeah, I'd like to get some hard numbers on the weight. If it's really that light that would be an important advantage.
It's believable since the optics are much more simple.
 

HoosTrax

Member
The early prototype could not be worn with glasses. If you modify it to stand off far enough from the face to allow glasses, the fov will be reduced a lot. One reason it can be so light is that it has smallish lenses very close to your eyes.
$300...

...+ $2000 for Lasik (contacts dry out my eyes when I'm gaming)
 

DieH@rd

Banned
I will be buying this when:
- they make consumer friendly package with better screen
- game developer support comes for new games
- anti-fisheye shader injector for older dx9 games is released
- 250e price max

This VR project cant fail, its too good to fail. They just need to spread the world, find better screen, gather developer support and showcase it with some awesome new badass game [HL3, Doom 4, some new Epic Games project].
 

shira

Member
I can tell you as someone who has a lot of lightgun games for Wii -- the Wiimote is not as accurate as a mouse for FPSs. It feels more immersive, but it's not more accurate.
But you are going to be sitting down. If you were lying down or in a gravity chair I think it is better immersion

Playing ps3/wii games feel so much better lying down on my hmzt1. My preference I guess.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
$300...

...+ $2000 for Lasik (contacts dry out my eyes when I'm gaming)

How bad are your eyes? Because he makes a good point about bad vision. With that resolution, you'd be better off if you didn't have 20/20 vision since then the pixel grid wouldn't be so distracting. A little "off focus" might actually be to your benefit;)
 
This could make me ditch my triple screen setup whenever they release a wrapper for all DirectX games that support FOV hacks.

Very excited about this.

So this is like 2 things at once right? its a 3D experience with a really big FOV, so you can see way more than a 16:9 screen?
 

ghst

thanks for the laugh
i hope carmack's next pet project allows for separate camera and body movement ala track ir: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZluGLQ6X4MQ

i imagine implementation into current track ir capable engines wouldn't be a huge leap. i guess there are performance concerns though, or carmack just wanted to work with code he knew inside out.
 

Durante

Member
So this is like 2 things at once right? its a 3D experience with a really big FOV, so you can see way more than a 16:9 screen?
Yes. It's a 110° FoV, and it's a stereoscopic 3D implementation without any of the artifacts commonly associated with that (since there are separate pixels for the left and right eye).
 

HoosTrax

Member
How bad are your eyes? Because he makes a good point about bad vision. With that resolution, you'd be better off if you didn't have 20/20 vision since then the pixel grid wouldn't be so distracting. A little "off focus" might actually be to your benefit;)
Hmm that's an interesting point. And I can read books without glasses. So at the distances we're talking about, it might not be an issue just to ditch the contacts and glasses.
 
Hm. Just messaged a buddy about going halfsies on this. Despite my lack of ability in creation, it could be a fun way to begin the learning process.
 

Haint

Member
Even though it's not explicitly spelled out, I'm assuming the $300 version is assembled based on the $275 tiers comments? Hope they make the December date, would make a great Christmas present.
 
If I were to buy this, is there anything else I can do with it other than play Doom 3 BFG and play with the SDK?

As im not interested in the SDK part and im sure I would beat Doom pretty fast?
 

jack.

Banned
If I were to buy this, is there anything else I can do with it other than play Doom 3 BFG and play with the SDK?

As im not interested in the SDK part and im sure I would beat Doom pretty fast?

Probably not out of the box. That will be up to the other people with the SDK.
 

Durante

Member
If I were to buy this, is there anything else I can do with it other than play Doom 3 BFG and play with the SDK?

As im not interested in the SDK part and im sure I would beat Doom pretty fast?
You'll be able to download (probably flaky, not-quite-well-tested and only half-working, at least at first) community-based interceptor drivers that will allow you to play lots of popular games with it, with varying levels of support.

However, with how popular this is getting, I'd be surprised if those drivers don't achieve a reasonable level of stability and functionality for many existing games.

However, Oculus isn't guaranteeing any of this, so don't blame them if support for your favorite game fails to manifest.
 

yogloo

Member
I want to back this but worry about international shipping. I wonder how hard it be to get through customs.
 

schwupp

Member
if all those guys endorse the product - why arent they funding it?
250k of gabes steam dollars wont hurt him a bit.
 

Alexlf

Member
if all those guys endorse the product - why arent they funding it?
250k of gabes steam dollars wont hurt him a bit.

To be honest I think they might be. The original price was going to be ~$500, so the fact that it's so low now implies at least some level of funding/partnership.
 

yogloo

Member
This thread should be renamed to something more descriptive too. Most people won't care about oculus, but They would care about a 3d vr headset endorsed by carmack.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
This looks pretty cool, but I don't think I'm in just yet. I'll wait until this kind of thing is a bit more mature with more support before I take the plunge.
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
I hope sony endorses this and helps carmack with production. This is big. It's so much better than what Sony has right now.
In some ways it isn't. I wish this had screens like HMZ does, but then who knows how much it would cost.
I really think there's going to be a problem with resolution with these visors, but for the price it's hard to complain.
 

Haint

Member
if all those guys endorse the product - why arent they funding it?
250k of gabes steam dollars wont hurt him a bit.

From what I gather the Kickstarter was just to gauge and identify public interest. I think Palmer has mentioned the consumer version is not dependent on the KS and would go forward regardless of what happened (implying he has some type of financial backing).
 
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