Post by Eorl @ 10:36am 20/03/14 | 22 Comments
Oculus showed the hardware to the press yesterday at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, and the hardware has changed quite a lot. Gone is the multiple cables to connect the headset to computer, instead the devs have opted for a single cable that includes an HDMI and USB connection. The exposed infra-red lights seen in the Crystal Cove prototype have also been hidden behind the black plastic, making it look far closer to what a retail product is expected to be.
DK2 isn’t identical to the consumer Rift, but the fundamental building blocks for great VR are there. All the content developed using DK2 will work with the consumer Rift. And while the overall experience still needs to improve before it’s consumer-ready, we’re getting closer everyday — DK2 is not the Holodeck yet, but it’s a major step in the right direction.The new development kit has also implemented precise, low-latency positional head tracking through the use of an external camera that allows you to move with 6-degrees-of-freedom. Other changes include updated orientation tracking, a built-in latency tester, an on-headset USB accessory port, new optics, elimination of the infamous control box, a redesigned SDK and further optimized Unity and Unreal Engine 4 integrations.
Like the Crystal Cove prototype, DK2 uses a low persistence OLED display to eliminate motion blur and judder, two of the biggest contributors to simulator sickness. Low persistence also makes the scene appear more visually stable, increasing the potential for presence. The high-definition 960×1080 per-eye display reduces the screen-door effect and improves clarity, color, and contrast.
Those eager to get their hands on the next rendition of virtual reality can find the pre-order page over here. Currently Australian gamers eager to get their hands on virtual reality are looking at $460USD, roughly translating to $508AUS.
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Posted 11:20am 20/3/14
Discussion here:
http://www.ausgamers.com/forums/general/thread.php
Posted 12:22pm 20/3/14
I would have preferred to discuss it in the thread that got the news in earlier, looks like some one got all jealous and locked it.
Posted 01:06pm 20/3/14
Posted 01:23pm 20/3/14
I'm really keen on getting one as the dev kit we've had in the office is so awesome to use, but that price is quite hefty. I'd need to upgrade from my 570 so it would end up costing nearly $1000 just for the VR experience. Hopefully both OR and Sony take on that note and tune down the price tag to actually make virtual reality a possibility.
Posted 01:34pm 20/3/14
For what this device offers and all the extra's for about $500 i see this as a bargain. A decent high end monitor would cost at least that and this is so much more. Cant wait to see what will happen to this project in the near future seeing how far they have come in just a year since DK1
Posted 01:51pm 20/3/14
It's just the typical Academic/Google/sciency style advertising look.
Visually the videos have very carefuly use of angles, strong depth of field, strong saturation indoors, etc to make the scene feel warm. In terms of content they usually switch between people who describe different aspect of the system without getting too bogged down in details, with action videos in between showing what they're talking about. In almost every video of this style, I also see Da Vinci style mockup sketches lying around in a "design" area, as if everyone is a f*****g artist. They want to look trendy and technical simultaneously, and it works. It's a professional job, very unlikely to be something the devs themselves put together.
Then you look at typical beer, banking or racq insurance ads on TV and the first thing you notice is usually desaturation of colour - not sure why they all go for that. In fake viral vids you have over-use of camera-focus shift and shaking, to simulate a handi-cam - which actually makes it look more fake.
Anyhow, back on topic - the thing I'm looking forward to the most apart from higher resolution and lower latency is the position tracking. It felt unnatural and gave me motion sickness when I kept trying to peer around objects unsuccessfully in the DK1.
Posted 01:59pm 20/3/14
Posted 04:59pm 20/3/14
Posted 05:32pm 20/3/14
You may be disappointed.
The Rift works best (most immersion, minimised motion-sickness) if your head and body movements / feedback correlate exactly 1:1 with what you see / are doing in the game. That is, you ideally turn your head 49 degrees to your left, and your view in the game turns 49 degrees as well with no delay.
If you're driving around in-game and not receiving the correct feedback (i.e. turning forces, etc) by your body, you will likely get dizzy. I played a demo car-game on the DK1 for about 5 minutes before I had to put down the headset. This is also the reason why games with mouse-aiming don't really work well on the Rift. The quick manipulation of your viewport by the mouse and your head movements aren't matched up and you get disoriented very rapidly.
Posted 05:37pm 20/3/14
Posted 05:44pm 20/3/14
agreed, I don't understand why people are b****ing about the price. This is revolutionary technology, it's a f*****g bargain! Well the concept is not new but we now have the tech to make this s*** epic.
Posted 05:57pm 20/3/14
With the Rift, or in general?
Several people I've passed my Rift to have boasted about how they never get motion sickness, so "this should be fine". But after 10 minutes they calmly put the headset down and tell me "umm ... yeah that's enough for now", and then they quietly go away and sit still for a while. I'm not exaggerating.
Posted 06:06pm 20/3/14
Was this due to latency though? Or the res?
Way too much latency is just a laugh, no latency is perfect, but that little bit of latency (in the 15-40ms range) f**** with you. Like vsync input lag, but worse because you have nothing else to look at.
---------------
Second question: What software do you have access to at the moment to use the Rift on (as in games, etc)?
Posted 07:06pm 20/3/14
emphasis on DK1 which is pretty crappy compared to the latest prototypes that greatly reduce if not negate motion sickness altogether.
Posted 07:24pm 20/3/14
See rest of post below ... it was mainly due to actions that overrode head movement (e.g. mouse aiming, turning in a car, etc). Though most (even the non-technical people) complained about low resolution and lowish FOV. No one really said anything about the lag - it must be something that most people don't specifically notice.
No. Emphasis on not having a 1:1 correlation between what's happening in the game and your body movement / input, which is inherent in vehicular style games.
From the VR Sickness blog post at http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/vr-sickness-the-rift-
(emphasis mine)
Posted 07:53pm 20/3/14
Haven't had the chance to try the rift, I'm dying to though do any of you guys know places in Melbourne I could give it a go. As for motion sickness in general I was on a Cruise ship and it ran into really rough seas the thing was moving side to side like crazy and I was fine...
Posted 08:08pm 20/3/14
you just missed this by a couple of weeks (It was FEb 13th - 16th) pabs:
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2014/02/this-insane-way-tOR try contacting these guys? Virtual Reality and Oculus Rift Demonstrations. They are in Melbourne: http://virtualreality.com.au/
OR Oculus Meetups - Google Maps locations:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=216
Tho maybe now its just best to wait for DK2 versions to land?
Posted 08:12pm 20/3/14
Cheers Rulz, I'm spewing I missed it. I'll wait for D2 and look into it. Have you tried it yourself?
Posted 01:25am 21/3/14
Posted 09:37am 21/3/14
Posted 09:46am 21/3/14
Posted 09:55am 21/3/14
hehe... "I'm not sick... I just need to take a break for a sec"