If you are a gamer or
someone who tracks the goings-on at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas, you may be familiar with the Oculus Rift. If not, allow me to introduce
you.
The
company developing the device, Oculus VR, says,
“The Oculus
Rift is a next-generation virtual reality headset designed for immersive
gaming.” The device is a kind of head-mounted display with motion-tracking that
allows the wearer to very naturally move their head to change their view in the
virtual space. Imagine looking behind you in a first person shooter game by,
well, looking behind you. In this way, the wearer visually becomes immersed in a virtual space (such as a game or a
virtual world).
Oculus VR initially used
Kickstarter to raise a few million to build a prototype virtual reality headset.
The early results were good enough to attract a lot more interest, and the
company recently was able to raise another $75 million in funding, intended to
take their evolving prototypes the rest of the way, to an affordable consumer
peripheral for gamers and virtual world enthusiasts, perhaps by late 2014 or
early 2015.
I’ve
not yet had a chance to try an Oculus Rift prototype, but I’m very interested.
It seems to me that there are many possible applications, with games being only
the most obvious. Beyond games, the Oculus Rift could have a role to play in
the user experience in virtual worlds like Second Life, where a user could use
the goggles to fully see the virtual world from the perspective of their
avatar’s eyes. By moving their head to pan the view in any direction rather
than using keyboard commands, the immersive experience could be very much
enhanced.
Another
possible application might be to experience Google Earth and Google Streetview
in a much more direct way. Ultimately, it could allow people to experience real
world locations that they cannot get to because of practicalities or expense
(think of visiting a remote rain forest), because of their physical abilities
(think about the physically challenged experiencing the climb to the summit of
Everest), or because of physics (shall we fly around the Eiffel Tower?).
If
the goggles are too bulky or heavy, that might really take away from the
natural experience. As I say, I have not tried them myself. They would appear
to be somewhat large. But it seems to me that it’s only a matter of time until
the technology allows for the goggles to become smaller and lighter, and for the
immersive applications for Oculus Rift (and the competitors that are sure to
follow) to become more compelling.
Have
you experienced the Oculus Rift? Why not leave a comment and tell us about it.
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