What is it? The Oculus Rift is a virtual reality helmet designed by a man named Palmer Lucky in 2012. It was under his supervision that Oculus VR is developing a device that at the end of 2015 was already sold to all gamers around the world.
Like snow on his head, but not snow, but a helmet. Review on Oculus Rift
It's no secret that the appearance of a full-fledged device was only a matter of time. The development of such a device has been carried out for a long time, and, moreover, by different people, and the results were different. In 2012, for the first time, a helmet was created that allows you to enter the virtual reality space, which was most similar to what we mean by presenting such a device, both visually and technically. The name of this device is “Oculus Rift,” a review of which will now be done.
Despite the novelty of the idea, the project gained sufficient popularity, and also received reviews from some famous people, and the company Oculus VR itself was already acquired by far from the last person on the Internet - Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the Facebook social network. As you know, with such strong social and financial support, the OR helmet has a considerable chance of success, especially since the so-called development kit is already available for tests. About him a little lower.
In 2013, sales of the first kit, which was called the “Oculus Rift DK1”, were first launched. In general, the result of 5,000 sold copies can be called acceptable for the "alpha version" of the product. Let's look at what he was, with what, so to speak, it all began.
The first version of this interesting device, which had the code name "DK1", was sold for several months and had a price of 300 dollars. The helmet had a 7-inch LCD display with a resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels and a refresh rate of 60 Hz. Given the technical features of the device, the basic resolution for each eye was 640 by 800 pixels. In this case, the picture stood out in both eyes at the same time, but was corrected using lenses to increase the field of view. Also, with the help of lenses, the image took a spherical shape for improved perception of the image by the eyes and its realism. The field of view was 90 degrees horizontally and 110 diagonally. These figures are approximately two times superior to the capabilities of any other similar devices. The approximate weight of the gadget was 330g, but subsequently it was reduced.
To better understand how this all works, check out the gambling addiction test:
As for the connection, the Oculus Rift DK1 connected several cables to the computer. Firstly, the image was displayed via the DVI or HDMI port. Secondly, data from the tracker (a sensor that detects head movements in the helmet) was transmitted via USB. Thirdly, it was a power adapter that was connected to the mains via an external controller. This small device was the link between the computer and the Oculus Rift; He also allowed turning the helmet on and off, adjusting the brightness, etc.
Oculus Rift DK2
At the time of the release of the second version of the helmet, namely the Oculus Rift DK2, the product has undergone some changes. Firstly, a new resolution was announced for the device - Full HD or 1920 by 1080 pixels. The refresh rate has also increased - from 60 to 75 Hz. This was achieved through the use of a display from Samsung. After such an upgrade, the image quality significantly and naturally improved. Also in this version, they decided to abandon the external controller and transferred all communication to active HDMI and USB cables. The tracker also overtook some changes, due to which the position of the helmet in space began to be determined more precisely, the delay time of the device as a whole was reduced.
The price of the Oculus Rift DK2 in the summer of 2014 was $ 350. So, the development kit has been available for some time, as before. But, like last time, a couple of months later, the third version of OR was announced.
In September 2014, it became known about the upgrade of the device, which now bore the name "Crescent Bay". This is the third virtual reality helmet released by Oculus VR, which is still for developers.
Among the innovations of the device, the creators called an increase in display resolution (there are no specific numbers), the addition of built-in removable headphones to the standard package of the product, as well as an improvement in the tracker. This made it possible to track the rotation of the helmet by almost 360 degrees. The overall weight of the device has also been reduced.
At the time of November 2014, three versions of the virtual reality helmet were already released: Oculus Rift DK1, Oculus Rift DK2, and Oculus Rift Crescent Bay. The price for them ranged from 300 to 350 dollars. But what about the general public? The first version of "Oculus Rift" for the general public, for mass sales, is already being developed and is called the "Consumer Version" or "CV1". Unfortunately, the release date of the product to the masses is unknown. And although the developer, Oculus VR, promises a final price of around $ 300, according to some reports, the price tag for a new helmet for virtual reality can jump to an incredible $ 1,000 apiece.
In this video you can see Oculus Rift DK2 in action.
Having talked about the device itself, we practically forgot (no, did not forget, just put it off) to talk about what it is intended for. Basically, Oculus Rift is planned to be used in the gaming industry. Many games, such as Half-Life 2, Minecraft, already have support for Oculus Rift, and some gaming publications have already managed to test the new device in action. And although the helmet has certain negative consequences for the body (work is already underway to eliminate the causes of such consequences), however, reviews about the device are mostly positive.
In addition to specific games, developers of some platforms for their development (engines) have already announced support for Oculus Rift in their products. So, it will be possible to see in the helmet in a completely different way games developed in the future on such engines as CryEngine, Unity, Source, Unreal Engine 3 and 4, as well as others.
As you know, there will be many platforms for using this device for virtual reality “Oculus Rift”. The project is developing at a frantic pace, and has already gained some popularity. Judge for yourself - the Norwegian military has already experienced it in experiments, and NASA astronauts have tested it in emulation of walks on Mars. In addition, the Oculus Rift helmet received several awards at E3 2013.
A step into the future has already been taken, gentlemen. The time is not far off when computer games, cinema, and other industries will appear before us in a new format, and Oculus Rift is direct proof of this. Write in the comments how you feel about this project? Would you buy a virtual reality helmet for your favorite bunker (Dota 2) or for the new Batman: Arkham Knight? We hope you were interested. See you again, friends!
(1 ratings, average: 5,00 out of 5)
Loading...
