Since the earliest days of the Oculus Kickstarter, the Rift has been shaped by gamers, backers, developers, and enthusiasts around the world. Today, we’re incredibly excited to announce that the Oculus Rift will be shipping to consumers in Q1 2016, with pre-orders later this year.
The Rift delivers on the dream of consumer VR with compelling content, a full ecosystem, and a fully-integrated hardware/software tech stack designed specifically for virtual reality. It’s a system designed by a team of extremely passionate gamers, developers, and engineers to reimagine what gaming can be.
The Oculus Rift builds on the presence, immersion, and comfort of the Crescent Bay prototype with an improved tracking system that supports both seated and standing experiences, as well as a highly refined industrial design, and updated ergonomics for a more natural fit.
In the weeks ahead, we’ll be revealing the details around hardware, software, input, and many of our unannounced made-for-VR games and experiences coming to the Rift. Next week, we’ll share more of the technical specifications here on the Oculus blog.
Virtual reality is going to transform gaming, film, entertainment, communication, and much more. If you’re interested in building a next-generation VR game or application, everything you need to start developing for the Rift is available at the Oculus Developer Center.
E3 is just around the corner — this is only the beginning.
Mashiki Amiketo wrote on May 7, 2015, 05:48:HorrorScope wrote on May 6, 2015, 22:45:
It had nowhere near the tech, push or wow comments you get today vs back then. It was less than Money For Nothing Gfx and terrible gameplay at an amusement park costing you a bundle per minute.
Remember the old Mechwarrior setups? They weren't all that either. Well games survived and large scale pvp/coop took off at home vs arcade and continually improved to awesome. But if we were stuck in a Mech or VR world of 1998, yes guaranteed fail.
Dunno about that, for the tech of the time it was big, there was a huge, huge push by several companies, and there was lots of 'wow' comments then just as now. I remember quite a few computer and video game stores that had live demos of it. So I guess we'll see, but I expect that it's going to be a niche product.
Mashiki Amiketo wrote on May 6, 2015, 22:28:Talisorn wrote on May 6, 2015, 19:07:
Anytime I hear someone say that VR is a gimmick, I KNOW they haven't actually tried it. It's not a gimmick. It's a game changer!
Your comment reminds me of what people were saying in 1998, it was a gimmick then. I've tried them then, tried these now.
HorrorScope wrote on May 6, 2015, 22:45:
It had nowhere near the tech, push or wow comments you get today vs back then. It was less than Money For Nothing Gfx and terrible gameplay at an amusement park costing you a bundle per minute.
Remember the old Mechwarrior setups? They weren't all that either. Well games survived and large scale pvp/coop took off at home vs arcade and continually improved to awesome. But if we were stuck in a Mech or VR world of 1998, yes guaranteed fail.
Talisorn wrote on May 6, 2015, 21:23:Cause again providing different focal lengths for different eyes should actually be an issue? I plug in OR and tell it my left eye is 13/20 and right 18/20 and it can't compensate - with the investment they've had????????
I'm not sure how many ways I can say this. I'll keep it simple:
No. The Rift does not do this.
The slightly more complex answer is:
No. The Rift does not do this. In an effort to keep the response time from movement input to what the eye sees, they need to keep computations to an absolute minimum. Anything more than 20ms and you get motion sick. So to change the rendering of different screens based on what each eye requires is not worth it (that's 20ms from moving your head to input to the game then do what the game wants then display the result). Frankly, it's easier to accommodate glasses.
Mashiki Amiketo wrote on May 6, 2015, 22:28:Talisorn wrote on May 6, 2015, 19:07:
Anytime I hear someone say that VR is a gimmick, I KNOW they haven't actually tried it. It's not a gimmick. It's a game changer!
Your comment reminds me of what people were saying in 1998, it was a gimmick then. I've tried them then, tried these now. I'm still not convinced that it's going to go mainstream either, I expect it'll end up just like the "3d TV" craze that they tried pushing a few years ago...lots of awesome...no content. Then again PC gaming is generally 10-15 years ahead of the home market so who knows.
If they can fix the nausea problem that I get from using them, that'll be great. But even the range of 3D glasses make me sicker than hell, and that's because I've had a serious brain injury in the past.
Anyway, regardless of whether or not it goes mainstream or remains niche pushing the boundaries of what we have is always good.
Talisorn wrote on May 6, 2015, 19:07:
Anytime I hear someone say that VR is a gimmick, I KNOW they haven't actually tried it. It's not a gimmick. It's a game changer!
ForgedReality wrote on May 6, 2015, 17:58:Mordecai Walfish wrote on May 6, 2015, 12:44:ForgedReality wrote on May 6, 2015, 11:07:
Valve's solution already looks 10,000 times better.
nobody has seen what cv1 is going to look like or what input mechanism and sensors it will ship with.
Also, nobody is going to be using a mouse and keyboard for vr gaming, nor has anyone suggested that this is going to be a thing. "Hardcore" pc gamers who can't wrap their head around the concept of using a differeent set of input devices need not apply. This is a paradigm shift in gaming, not just a new monitor with some fancy sensors. CES will be very interesting this year with some major players all showing finalized designs and I'm excited for the amount of competition and potential out there.
The Vive doesn't use a mouse and keyboard, so I'm not sure what you're getting at...
We've already seen lots of people getting motion sickness from the current Oculus. Valve seems to have at least solved this problem.
Cause again providing different focal lengths for different eyes should actually be an issue? I plug in OR and tell it my left eye is 13/20 and right 18/20 and it can't compensate - with the investment they've had????????
Talisorn wrote on May 6, 2015, 21:02:Lorcin wrote on May 6, 2015, 20:59:Talisorn wrote on May 6, 2015, 20:35:
Only if you go the optometrist and get an set of lenses made especially for you ... and there won't be too many geared up to doing that. There is no special magic that the Rift does to fix up your vision.
So your saying they can't accept that vision is offest by +/- an ammount and adjust for such?
For me it feels far more likely that OR could adjust their focus length than a dude on your high street could fashion you perfectly curved pieces of glass which improve matters.
It doesn't work that way. And neither do eyes. Many people have different strengths for each eye.
Lorcin wrote on May 6, 2015, 20:59:Talisorn wrote on May 6, 2015, 20:35:
Only if you go the optometrist and get an set of lenses made especially for you ... and there won't be too many geared up to doing that. There is no special magic that the Rift does to fix up your vision.
So your saying they can't accept that vision is offest by +/- an ammount and adjust for such?
For me it feels far more likely that OR could adjust their focus length than a dude on your high street could fashion you perfectly curved pieces of glass which improve matters.
Talisorn wrote on May 6, 2015, 20:35:
Only if you go the optometrist and get an set of lenses made especially for you ... and there won't be too many geared up to doing that. There is no special magic that the Rift does to fix up your vision.
Cyant wrote on May 6, 2015, 19:49:
The optic inside the RIFT can be set up for your vision so you will not need your glasses while you use it.
Slick wrote on May 6, 2015, 19:14:Talisorn wrote on May 6, 2015, 19:07:zombiefan wrote on May 6, 2015, 09:14:
Meh. Still a gimmick. Great for racing games/flying sims/rollercoaster tech demos, but I'll keep waiting for holodeck/brain implants.
Anytime I hear someone say that VR is a gimmick, I KNOW they haven't actually tried it. It's not a gimmick. It's a game changer!
3D gaming (active-shutter 120hz displays) was a game-changer, and now companies like Tridef are bankrupt, and haven't updates a game profile on their site (for paying customers) in almost 2 years.
I own a 3D screen, and hardly ever use it, unless it's for a single player game that i'm like, you know what? this would be AMAZING on 3D. and then it just doesn't work, cause no one supports this shit anymore. 3D is already dead in the water. and now we have 3D HMDs stepping up, which also won't get the support they need. at least not in this lifetime.
and if you tell me plain ol non-HMD (head mounted display) 3D gaming is a gimmick, obviously you've never played skyrim in 3D. whole new wealth of respect for 3D modelers.
ForgedReality wrote on May 6, 2015, 17:58:
The Vive doesn't use a mouse and keyboard, so I'm not sure what you're getting at...
Zanthar wrote on May 6, 2015, 18:30:
Text neck comes from looking down at your phone, unless you plan on looking at your VR feet all day long I can't see how the two would be related.
Silicon Avatar wrote on May 6, 2015, 19:09:
I wear glasses. Where do these devices put me? Are they good enough to go comfortably over glasses or would I just have to sit there with eyestrain? That is the deal-breaker for me.
Talisorn wrote on May 6, 2015, 19:07:zombiefan wrote on May 6, 2015, 09:14:
Meh. Still a gimmick. Great for racing games/flying sims/rollercoaster tech demos, but I'll keep waiting for holodeck/brain implants.
Anytime I hear someone say that VR is a gimmick, I KNOW they haven't actually tried it. It's not a gimmick. It's a game changer!