As seen on The Verge.
By Nathan Ingraham
While the hardware may be straightforward, the experience of using the Rift is anything but. Strapping on the Rift and stepping into that virtual, 3D world was a lot like seeing a 3D movie for the first time — it’s initially a shock to your system. The Oculus team says that lag and latency in the final dev kit will be improved over what I tried, and that’ll probably go a long way towards improving the experience. It certainly wasn’t bad, just rather jarring. Being able to turn completely around in 360-degrees was another surprise — and a delight. Of course, in most games, you won’t be looking all the way around, but the level of immersion is extremely high.
In the demos I tried, the trickiest thing was deciding between using the right analog stick on the Xbox 360 controller to look around versus actually turning my head. While trying Unreal Tournament, the Oculus team told me that I’d have better luck if I actually looked in the direction of my enemies, making for a slightly tough adjustment period. And while exploring a snowy medieval town in the Epic Citadel tech demo, I probably bumped into the wall more times than I would have using a standard monitor and control scheme.
THERE’S A DEFINITE ADJUSTMENT PERIOD AND LEARNING CURVE
But the immersion trumps all, even despite the Rift’s relatively low resolution. Walking into a church after being out in the open sky felt claustrophobic and enclosing, and the feeling of looking around a vast outdoor world while in reality sitting at a desk was both jarring and fascinating. There’s going to be a definite adjustment period and learning curve for those diving into the world of the Oculus Rift, but those who manage to make the transition may find themselves getting lost in that world pretty quickly.
The story behind Oculus is almost as interesting as the Rift itself — founder Palmer Luckey spent several years developing his own VR headset because the options on the market just didn’t meet what he was looking for, and he initially meant to sell it on Kickstarter as a disassembled, DIY kit. That all changed after ID Software’s John Carmack heard about Luckey’s project — Luckey actually let him borrow his headset back over the summer, and the buzz it generated turned Oculus Rift from a DIY project into something with much grander aspirations. To learn more about the genesis of Oculus, where the company goes from here, and a look at the Rift in action, check out our interview with Luckey and VP of Product Nate Mitchell.