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I got a chance to stop by the Oculus Rift booth at the Pepcom event and finally check out the device. If you are unaware, the Oculus Rift is a virtual-reality headset that started off as a Kickstarter project. Palmer Luckey, the creator of the device, was on-site and happily shared his thoughts and ideas on where the future of the Oculus Rift lies.
Palmer believes that VR in gaming is the future; having two of gaming’s most influential icons in idSoftware’s John Carmack, and VALVe’s Gabe Newell certainly backs that belief. Interestingly, Luckey only spent a grand total of around four hours with the elusive Gabe, and that is all it took for him to back the Rift!
The prototype looks like a ski mask, and is just as easy to put on. The 1280 x 800 resolution display is split in half for each eye. The Oculus Rift connects to a box hub that outputs the signal via HDMI/DVI.
I got to try out the Epic Citadel demo, and it is nothing short of astounding. Palmer spoke very passionately on how immersive he wants the experience to be, and it truly is. As brilliant as it is though, the Oculus Rift will need some getting used to, especially if you are a relatively new gamer. The movement will definitely throw you off; but again, it is a prototype after all.
It looks promising and works quite well – two very important steps in selling VR technology. 3D gaming is considered a gimmick by some, but the Oculus Rift VR definitely is not. If you get a chance, try it; you will not be disappointed.