Oculus Rift

[norbs]

Ok, here we go.

Woodsy and Flinty will probably both be able to confirm that I really struggled to explain the feeling the Rift gave me. I am not usually one to struggle to get the words out of the head meat, but this one has me farked.

I have been introduced to a guy that works at a local computer shop because he wants to get into sim racing. He is a young bloke with more money than sense. I found out this morning he bought 2 of the new Rifts. One in his name, 1 in his sisters. he has the first release and the 2nd release. I used the 2nd release.

His PC is full of the latest shit, but to make it as comfortable as possible, we dropped his 980Ti into my PC and connected it up to that. he did all the config shit, which meant I just had to sit down and follow his instructions. At one point he was twisting it around in the air. Apparently calibrating the tracking, Im not sure. I should have taken more notice of the set up, just to see how hard it was.

He did swap out the lenses because he wears glasses normally, but took them off to use the Rift. (Forgot to mention that Flinty) No idea why or how that works.

Once it was ready to go, i sat im my seat and got ready to go. First thing was a Superman demo. Then we did something called Dread Hall which scared the fuck out of me! then it was Assetto Corsa.

So, the Superman thing. When i first put the Rift on, I had it on for about 5 seconds and took it back off. The shift from real life to VR life was too much for me to cope with. it was a reflex i have seen too many times with SCUBA diving beginners. I have no idea why i reacted that way, it just caught me off guard. We had a laugh and i put it back on and i was fine. Flying about was a great intro as I could look around and the head tracking was great. it didnt seem all that accurate, moving further than I seemed to be moving my head. I had no issues with motion sickness despite going upside down and sideways and generally being a tool.

Dread hall took the wind out of my sails and I quickly pulled the pin on that. I am too old to have the shit scared out of me.

Then. To AC.

One thing to mention, constantly having to take it off to do things on the PC also pissed me off. But maybe he was doing it to give me a rest. By the time i was ready to get into the car in AC, i had gotten sort of used to having the thing on my head, but it was getting hot.

So, apparently the menus in AC dont work, which i had probably heard, but another wrinkle for me.

To the Escort! Into the game and fuck me, i was spellbound. You see YouTubes of people sitting in the car and looking around, and now I know why. I was transfixed. I reckon i just sat in the car for 5 minutes looking around, and out the window, or so it seemed.

Then i was off. Again, it blew my tiny little mind. At first i was just looking ahead, because that is what i always do. Then i spied something at luccaring I hadnt seen before and my head turned as I flew past and i promptly steered into a barrier. For no logical reason. I reckon it took another 5 minutes before i was comfortable, but then it was great. it really, really was great. Looking left and right to see other cars, looking up at the rear view morror or out to the side mirror was superb. I could really see why people loved these things. it takes immersion to a whole new level.

Now i hate to do a jeremy Clarkson here, but it was about 15 minutes into driving that I started to become agitated. I didnt even realise it at first. Apparently I was fidgeting with the Rift and the straps. Then i wanted to rub my eye. Then the feeling of claustrophobia started to kick in. To the point I was getting near to being in a panic. I pulled the car over (that tells you how much it sucks you in, i didnt want to jump out of a moving car) and took it off. I was instantly at ease again. I felt a bit embarrassed when he asked what was wrong. "Ah, nothing, just thought I heard some one on the drive" i got up and walked around and was surprised that my heart rate was elevated. And even more surprised that i didnt want to put the bloody thing on again.

i did though, just to see if i could work out what the fuck was wrong with me. I drove again for about 10 minutes in the Le ferrari and the same thing. I was anxious. The inner caveman was worried about being bashed, or considering how good looking I am, raped. The absolute disconnect with the outside world was too much for my 48 year old brain to cope with. That and the total immersion of the VR world. in the 2nd run int he hyper car i had a huge off at Bridgehampton and shat myself and let go of the wheel.

I took it off and told him that was enough. Apparently not, i had to have a go at the rollercoaster demo.

it was fucking tremendous (apart from the surprise about halfway through) My stomach actually got that weird feeling you get over a hump. How is that even possible? I was laughing and squealing like no 48 year old man should. And this to me is the thing with the Rift. In short demos, it really is an eye opener (sorry about that). The Superman demo and the rollercoaster are just amazing. really, really amazing.

But i wouldnt want it for that sort of thing. I would want it for racing, and i doubt i could cope with detaching myself from reality for more than 20 minutes at a time. maybe my old brain isnt elastic enough to be able to cope. i have no idea.

It wasnt a hot day, but i also found myself quite hot in it. That could have been a physiological thing though from stress or fear. i dont know. The new one might be better.

I am certainly not saying not to buy it. if i could cope and had the money, i would be all over it. Sadly I cant and i dont, so it isnt for me just now.

I hope that helps some people. As i said to Woodsy, if you get a chance at EB or somewhere like that, give it a try, it really is stunning technology.

[Righteous]

Nice write up Norbs. I'm a bit prone to motion sickness on some occasions. I can't read when in a car, and some of those old school motion simulator things can set me off and that's mostly why I held off on the dev kits.

From what I've read, that side of it is much, much better on CV1 and besides the negative points you mentioned, I just need to try it for myself. If it's awful and I can't handle it, I'll be able to sell it off I'm sure, but there's far more positives so far.

I've read that initially people have issues with them but you adapt after time. Fingers crossed.

[wobblysauce]

As above, Of trying a DK1 and 2, it feels good, cant wait to use the release version.
It is some thing most people are going to need to get used of, and not just jump into 8hr session..
With glasses there are different lenses for all but extreme focals.

As with price, it was also feature creep, that said it has gotten better then when they first started.

Standard do you get car, sea, train sick or can not read while in them, if yes take it slow and or take the nausea pills.
Motion tracking looks much better even, just watching videos of it, and less need to do the tracking centre reset.
Time, like driving training, more smaller sessions are better then large ones.

[Shaun]

Completely agree with the detatching yourself from reality part norbs. It is a huge mindfuck. Also the same as you i was running headphones so i couldn't even hear the real world. When i was home by myself with my own dk2 i enjoyed it more as there was no worries of a friend hitting me etc not that it happened when i tested my friends. Its an amazing feeling looking around the car hitting apexs etc. I'll give the consumer version a miss for a while as my pc is certainly not going to be up to the task (gtx 680) but one day I definitely will purchase another. Sorry for the wall of text lol

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

[r8response]

Oculus Rift shipping date pushed back to June for new pre-orders

Oculus Rift preorders kicked off yesterday with a somewhat eye-watering $599 price tag and an estimated shipping date of March 28. Despite the cost they sold out immediately, which pushed the estimated shipping date back for later purchases to May. Now that shipping date has gone back even further, and those who preorder from hereon probably won't see their hardware mailed out until June.

If you didn't get in early, you'll be waiting 6 months now.

[Santaria]

I want this so, so bad. Ever since I remember VR in my youth I've wanted VR in the home. It won't be for a long while in my home, that's for sure. New CPU, GPU and then the Rift will set me back a lot of cash that I just can't afford these days. Hopefully as the technology I proves it'll get cheaper and that'll be my time to shine, haha.

Sent from my Nexus 5

[wabbit]

Hopefully as the technology I proves it'll get cheaper and that'll be my time to shine, haha.

Well that and the almost complete lack of competition is another factor. It's always about charging what the market will bear. If they can sell every unit they can make (minus the typical percentage for warranties, promo units, etc.) then good on them and it's priced correctly for now. Until other major players get involved with equally good devices.

[DarrenM]

According to the compatibility tool my 780Ti meets the recommended spec. Didn't expect that. I was planning to get a 980Ti but maybe it'll stretch until the pascal cards come out.

[wobblysauce]

The app is just a list of products, ID scan and if on, it says compatible.

Like the CPUs, if you can get at least 9300 I think it was, in the section of 3dmark you should be fine, cant remember the GPU number off hand.

[Righteous]

According to the compatibility tool my 780Ti meets the recommended spec. Didn't expect that. I was planning to get a 980Ti but maybe it'll stretch until the pascal cards come out.

Same plan here. I'll just ride it out till the next gen of cards. My old titan just squeezes in recommended specs.

[wobblysauce]

Aussies..

http://uploadvr.com/nitero-wireless-vr-2016/
Nitero Promises Wireless Desktop VR Product by the “Second Half of 2016”

And cheaper then cords, just depends on battery time.

[Sarsippius]

Norbs I wouldn't be too concerned, you hit it pretty hard for your first time ever, it takes time to get acclimatised to it. I've actually barely tried anything much outside of iRacing but I find sims work well because you have the cockpit surrounding you, a point of reference. These days I use the DK2 for long periods in endurance races, two hours at a time, in the Spa 24hr race I did 4x two hour stints in the same day, the rift wasn't an issue at all.

On another note I recently bought the Gear VR, it works well but I'm not sure how much I will end up using it. It's interesting as a comparison to the DK2 though, it's definitely clearer and the SDE while still present is much better and less noticeable, if the CV1 is another step up on that then I'll be happy.

[GT VIRUS]

Norbs I wouldn't be too concerned, you hit it pretty hard for your first time ever, it takes time to get acclimatised to it. I've actually barely tried anything much outside of iRacing but I find sims work well because you have the cockpit surrounding you, a point of reference. These days I use the DK2 for long periods in endurance races, two hours at a time, in the Spa 24hr race I did 4x two hour stints in the same day, the rift wasn't an issue at all.

On another note I recently bought the Gear VR, it works well but I'm not sure how much I will end up using it. It's interesting as a comparison to the DK2 though, it's definitely clearer and the SDE while still present is much better and less noticeable, if the CV1 is another step up on that then I'll be happy.

Have you tried the GearVR with iracing, and what phone are you using with it?

[wobblysauce]

Some tried explaining the difference to, be a UI environment/viewer vs a cockpit experience.

[DexterPunk]

I loved using the DK2 at work. I got to look inside the head of a 2000 yr old Egyptian mummy that I made into a 3D file from CT scans. That was pretty epic!

I have no idea how I'll cope with movement though. I guess I'll probably have to buy one and find out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NeilPearson]

I couldnt handle the movement. I got so sick. I tried it with both iRacing and LFS and AC and found it all the same. in LFS especially, If I would crash the view reacts violently. and it caused me to get sick. my brain caught up i wasnt actually in the car. then it would try to work out my real world surroundings and the virtual. Not cool..

[Sarsippius]

Have you tried the GearVR with iracing, and what phone are you using with it?

You can't use it with iRacing, it's mobile apps only. I have a Galaxy S6 but it tends to overheat after a while, some have more issues than others but it seems the S6 and S6 edge are more prone to it. The Note 5 is meant to be totally fine.

[wobblysauce]

Nvidia demos prototype lightfield VR glasses
http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/nvidia ... asses.html

For people that get motion sick, look into it.


NVIDIA teases its prototype VR headset using Light Field tech at VRLA
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/49899/nvi ... index.html



AMD, Nvidia jostled for headlines at the VRLA expo this weekend
http://hexus.net/tech/news/graphics/899 ... o-weekend/

[r8response]

Poor Tasmania, seems OR won't ship directly there.

Hello James,
Thank you for your recent pre-order of the Oculus Rift! Currently, we are unable to fullfill your pre-order for the location you've provided.

In order to maintain your order status, we ask that you please update your shipping address to an alternate address on the mainland of the country provided. You may update your address at https://shop.oculus.com/history

We request that you ship to a permanent address on the mainland. Please note that we do not support freight forwarding or provide support with customs, fines, or confiscation that may arise from attempts to export the unit from the mainland. Warranty will apply to the original fulfillment location.

If you do not have a permanent address on the mainland of your country, we will be unable to ship your order. We kindly ask that you wait while we work on making Rift available in more locations around the world.
Please respond with a confirmation of the address update completion by March 11, 2016, otherwise your pre-order will be cancelled.

Thank you for understanding,
Morty Oculus Support

[Bauer]

they had no problems sending the dev kit to Tassie. seems wierd

[c.j]

I read that today, good way to lose customers. I am wondering if I would be better off going with the Vive because of the connection between Valve and Steam?

[DexterPunk]

I have wondered the same, although we use Oculus at work for various stuff... I'm not sure if it would be an advantage to stick with that hardware or have an alternative to try things on.

I'm sure anyone here from Tassie who wanted to order one would get help from ARSE members. I'd be happy to send it along for someone.

[Shaun]

Yep me too. At a small I'll use it for a week fee haha

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

[Righteous]

Elite is confirmed to be ready for launch.

I'll have one thing to play at least.
https://www.oculus.com/en-us/blog/elite ... ft-launch/

[Cursed]

I might even spring for the Horizons season pass now.

I wonder how they're going to handle the Australian shipping - whether they'll do it as a large lot or do them piecemeal. The logistics of shipping a large batch out to the antipodes, to then drip-feed them doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I suppose we'll just wait and see.