Oculus Rift over 100k DevKits sold -is ISI going to support with rf2 integration ??

On this pic it looks as if there was a forward facing camera, but in other pics of the developer kit it isn't that clear weather the OR has a camera (at least that's what I think it is) built in or not. Did you notice any on your company's device? And can you comment on the actual fov without moving the head, any feeling of wearing blinders?

 

I have no idea if there is camera, but the device does look like one in the picture. Hard to say what the fov was, it seemed natural however. Maybe it could have been little larger / wider to my preference. There are very small black borders around your vision, but they are quickly blurred away and easy to ignore. You just tend to keep your eyes in the middle of the screen, there is no urge to move your eyes around the screens. Thus making the borders to go away.

 

There's no camera on the Oculus Rift Dev kit.

 

As can be seen in that video the one thing I see as an issue with the rift is the same as when using tracker. The lack of motion feedback makes it quite difficult as you don't feel the direction the car is traveling. Turning your head makes it very hard to keep control of the car as you don't get the feeling in a real car of the direction its traveling relative to where you are looking.

3d may improve this a little but I still think this is one of the main issues with head tracking in car sims and why its easier to drive a 3 screen setup. The 3 screens makes it easier to relate the direction of travel of the car relative to where your looking as your physically sitting down in front of the first screen and turning your head to apex isn't as challenging because you can easily see where straight ahead is. Using tracker I always have trouble but this is also due to it not always re centering properly so even when you look straight ahead again the view may be a few degrees off which can make it very awkward when exiting corners.

However I am avoiding a 3 screen setup as I think the rift and others that come after it are a better solution not needing the expense of 3 screens and the hardware needed to run it porperly. If the tracking is very accurate and it has no re centering issues I find with trackir this should be easy enough to get used to. The feeling of depth with good tracking and no need for virtual mirrors, much more hardware friendly then a high end 3 screen 3d setup and I think my computer setup will easily handle anything running on the rift with a single titan gfx card so I hope it ends up working well and the low red isn't going to be the biggest killer of the setup.

With screen tech in mobiles getting 1080p screens in 5 inch and under screens there will surely be not too long until we get 1440p or higher res small screens to use in a future rift which will really help. If its under 1080p then the GPU makers won't really like it if it takes off rendering those sli setups useless if most simmers and gamers end up using such displays. The gfx card makers will be the first to push for higher res versions to justify peoples need to upgrade their gfx cards.

Oled at 120p in this setup at 1080p res smooth with the benefits of that screen tech and no ghosting or motion blur of LCD will be a big step away from LCD monitors and the negatives they have.

 

I can imagine the first sensations of driving with the Rift will be extremely weird! Its definatley one of those things you'll get used too after a while but once you do and you've got your head movement right with the on "screen" display then I think its gonna be an amazing experience. Even changing from a 19" to a 28" widescreen monitor proved a new experience for me and something I had to get used too, thing is with Rift its one of those gadgets I'd prefer to "try before you buy" once the main Sim games are supported...if they ever will be!

 

So instead of spending thousands on a multi monitor setup and multi gpus just to push them at max settings. I can take that cash and finally purchase a motion simulator.

I'm really excited about this product. Its a must have for any first person simulation racing or flight. I don't see how it could work with first person shooters because your view tracking doubles as your reticule and I don't see myself turning 360 degrees in my chair to turn around and run the other way. However I could be missing something in that sector, maybe just have to learn to get used to a different control scheme which I'm open to try.

I'm not worried about trying to see my keys or buttons either. Been gaming for 20 years. I know where my buttons are, and the beauty of PC gaming is complete customization. All of my FPS use the same keys I've used since Doom and I tailor all my racing sims to the same key and button scheme as well.

No offense to the guys worrying about not seeing there controls but you shouldn't be looking down at the keyboard during a race to begin with, lol.

How much do they plan to sell this device for?

 

True...I think one thing we tend to forget, because we've been doing it so long is that even driving on a computer with a wheel takes some getting used to at first. Look at how many "newbs" try a driving game with a wheel controller for the first time and can't control the car for sh*t (regardless of their racecraft).

 

But the point is once you got used to it, you wont be able to go back

 

They seem to be aiming at a final price under $300 for the rift, at that price I will get one for sure as it would still be great for a try. I hope its going to be use able enough to make it my main sim display as the concept sounds great. If it was a $1000 dollar thing then I'd only get it if I was sure I'd be using it lots but at the suggested pricing I'd buy it and even if Ibwouldnt use it all the time it would be a cool gadget to play with at times and I wouldn't care too much if I didn't use it all the time.

 

I understand the price shouldn't be high. But I am still hoping for a higher res rift version. Maybe similar to GPUs. Mid-range Rift with 1920x1200 (<$300) and high-end Rift with 2560x1600 res (>500$), so midrange GPUs like nvidia 760 can handle the midrange rift and high-end GPUs for high-end rifts.

 

Good post, agree (notice when we all agree with somebody that it equals considering it a good post? )

 

I'd buy it at that price, of course with a bit higher resolution which I hope the consumer version will have.

I kind of like the idea of having games using the technology innovatively. I would like a world to lose myself in... I can imagine it would be very easy to get sucked into a virtual world. Unsure whether driving games will truly fit. We have been so used to using sims with a fixed view to drive, so it might be difficult to get used to the "real" way of driving.

 

Hit the nail on the head there Woodee, one reason I loved MMORPGS is the way you can just get lost in its own world, same went for the GTA series and Far Cry 3 recently...that sensation of time running away with you whilst you came to grips with another game world. The Rift could well do that as essentially "you're there" at the track in the car driving round, brilliant!

I would also add the perfect sound system would be a must to truly get lost in the race world also, decent headphones or 5.1 surround sound for me is a must now and to have all outside world noises mute and your eyes fixated soley inside the Rift then I can see that being exactly what we're talking about here!

$300 is decent enough, hope theres no massive shipping charges to the UK though...

 

I just wanted to clarify: does ISI currently have a devkit or are there simply plans to acquire one in the future?

 

yay mine switched to processing so only a week or two now.

 

As has already been said, we've asked for one. No we don't currently have one. They don't have enough.

 

Its quite funny how many non devs have bought and likely received a dev kit yet actual big time devs cant get their hands on one because of this. The ironic thing is all these non devs that have got kits and likely wont know what to do with them have a fairly useless toy until the real devs get them and add support to their software.

I would also think that oculus should priorities delivery to those more important such as ISI as support in such games/sims is what will really boost sales of their retail version and I would assume is the main point of having a dev version. Its fine for others to get some to play with if there are enough left over after the proper devs get their hands on them but the way it is atm, regular users are just delaying the time it will take to get more support within programs as devs cant even get their hands on them.