There's been lot of buzz around the Oculus Rift, one of many exciting projects that Kickstarter brought to the world’s attention. It's a gaming virtual reality headset and there have been plenty of those in the past, so what makes the Oculus Rift so special? We are probably facing a revolution in gaming and gaming-like experiences. Oculus Rift is probably just the beginning. The question is whether you want the red or the blue pill, because once you've swallowed, there will be no going back.
The Oculus Rift doesn't just put a screen in front of your eyes like the Zeiss Cinemizer. That's good for watching movies, but it's only a little more immersive than a monitor and headset when you start playing games, even with motion tracking enabled. The Rift takes over your whole field of vision. Never before has there been such immersion in gaming worlds, not even using the biggest 4K TV and best surround sound system.
When we tried one of the first Oculus Rift prototypes we were initially impressed with the involvement, but the low-resolution of the screens dispelled the illusion somewhat, something the new version of the Rift attempts to solve with its full-HD specs.
I tried the HD version of the Oculus Rift with Half-Life 2 and Surgeon Simulator, a bonkers take on the multitude of uber-serious sims, up for a quick go of Garbage Truck Simulator anyone?
Surgeon Simulator puts you in a first person view where you control a pair of disembodied arms and hands and attempt to conduct ham-fisted transplants. It’s available on Steam for £6.99 and ensures plenty of hilarity.
Surgeon Simulator wasn't made for the Oculus Rift, but it might as well have been. The cartoonish graphics and first person mode is perfectly suited to it. Your arms move in front of you as you reach and grasp for life-saving tools. Turn to your left and your entire field of vision shifts so you can stare at your table of surgical implements while still keeping an eye on your victim, sorry patient, using your peripheral vision.
It’s all feels so natural and within seconds you’ll be looking left and right, up and down as if you’ve been using the Oculus Rift for years.
Importantly the quality of the all-encompassing image is great – bright, vivid and sharp.
The motion can be a little disorienting, particularly on the Zero-G space level of Surgeon I was playing. The good thing is that I didn’t feel queasy at any point, as some users have. Rather the biggest disorientation occurred when removing the headset and finding I had turned on my seat by about 180 degrees, while chasing a floating bone-saw, without realising it. It took a couple of seconds to readjust to the sights and sounds of the real world.
Half-life 2 was an altogether different proposition. It’s been a good few years since I played the classic first-person shooter and there was a further complication as I was hooked up not just to the Oculus Rift but also to the Virtuix Omni, a contraption that makes your legs power your in-game avatar.
It was by far the most absorbing gaming experiences I’ve ever had, much more so than even the best driving simulators. Looking left and right for the spider-like Antlions jumping out of the sand caused a sweaty brow and a feeling of anxiety much higher than playing behind the safety of a monitor and mouse/keyboard combo. Turning your head is much slower than flicking the mouse so you feel truly exposed from the sides, and even more so from behind. It took several minutes (and a few embarrasing deaths) before I got into the swing of things and was able to use the Oculus as an aiming tool. Once I had I was despatching the pesky aliens with ease.
The news isn’t all good for the Oculus Rift. It’s is a bulky product and, while as much weight as possible has been shaved off, it weighs close to 400g. The weight is well distributed using light straps and you won’t notice if you’re having a quick blast. Leave it on for half an hour or so and you’ll feel it though. Thankfully you won’t pay a blind bit of notice while playing. It’s so immersive that you won’t notice that your neck is getting tired or your brow is sweating until you’re finished and have taken it off.
It's unlikey you'll be able to put in the gaming hours with the Oculus Rift that you would in front of a conventional telly, it's just too much of a sensory overload. However it's not about quantity, it's about quality and the Rift provides an experience like no other and at $300 it's also not too expensive either.
Like the Wiimote before it the Oculus Rift is a truly exciting gaming innovation. However the Wiimote only helps provide the illusion of immersion, the Rift gathers you up and wraps you into the game-world like never before.
What also bodes well is the level of support it’s getting from game developers. A Rift that’s only compatible with a couple of games will be a passing fad, but with a constant stream of developers adding their support it looks like it will have a long life ahead of it.
It’s an understatement to say that we look forward to testing it the final product fully in the future.
When we tried one of the first Oculus Rift prototypes we were initially impressed with the involvement, but the low-resolution of the screens dispelled the illusion somewhat, something the new version of the Rift attempts to solve with its full-HD specs.
I tried the HD version of the Oculus Rift with Half-Life 2 and Surgeon Simulator, a bonkers take on the multitude of uber-serious sims, up for a quick go of Garbage Truck Simulator anyone?
Surgeon Simulator puts you in a first person view where you control a pair of disembodied arms and hands and attempt to conduct ham-fisted transplants. It’s available on Steam for £6.99 and ensures plenty of hilarity.
Surgeon Simulator wasn't made for the Oculus Rift, but it might as well have been. The cartoonish graphics and first person mode is perfectly suited to it. Your arms move in front of you as you reach and grasp for life-saving tools. Turn to your left and your entire field of vision shifts so you can stare at your table of surgical implements while still keeping an eye on your victim, sorry patient, using your peripheral vision.
It’s all feels so natural and within seconds you’ll be looking left and right, up and down as if you’ve been using the Oculus Rift for years.
Importantly the quality of the all-encompassing image is great – bright, vivid and sharp.
The motion can be a little disorienting, particularly on the Zero-G space level of Surgeon I was playing. The good thing is that I didn’t feel queasy at any point, as some users have. Rather the biggest disorientation occurred when removing the headset and finding I had turned on my seat by about 180 degrees, while chasing a floating bone-saw, without realising it. It took a couple of seconds to readjust to the sights and sounds of the real world.
Half-life 2 was an altogether different proposition. It’s been a good few years since I played the classic first-person shooter and there was a further complication as I was hooked up not just to the Oculus Rift but also to the Virtuix Omni, a contraption that makes your legs power your in-game avatar.
It was by far the most absorbing gaming experiences I’ve ever had, much more so than even the best driving simulators. Looking left and right for the spider-like Antlions jumping out of the sand caused a sweaty brow and a feeling of anxiety much higher than playing behind the safety of a monitor and mouse/keyboard combo. Turning your head is much slower than flicking the mouse so you feel truly exposed from the sides, and even more so from behind. It took several minutes (and a few embarrasing deaths) before I got into the swing of things and was able to use the Oculus as an aiming tool. Once I had I was despatching the pesky aliens with ease.
The news isn’t all good for the Oculus Rift. It’s is a bulky product and, while as much weight as possible has been shaved off, it weighs close to 400g. The weight is well distributed using light straps and you won’t notice if you’re having a quick blast. Leave it on for half an hour or so and you’ll feel it though. Thankfully you won’t pay a blind bit of notice while playing. It’s so immersive that you won’t notice that your neck is getting tired or your brow is sweating until you’re finished and have taken it off.
It's unlikey you'll be able to put in the gaming hours with the Oculus Rift that you would in front of a conventional telly, it's just too much of a sensory overload. However it's not about quantity, it's about quality and the Rift provides an experience like no other and at $300 it's also not too expensive either.
Like the Wiimote before it the Oculus Rift is a truly exciting gaming innovation. However the Wiimote only helps provide the illusion of immersion, the Rift gathers you up and wraps you into the game-world like never before.
What also bodes well is the level of support it’s getting from game developers. A Rift that’s only compatible with a couple of games will be a passing fad, but with a constant stream of developers adding their support it looks like it will have a long life ahead of it.
It’s an understatement to say that we look forward to testing it the final product fully in the future.
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