A comeback for virtual reality? Inside the Oculus Rift

Niall Firth, technology editor

(Image: Oculus VR)

I tiptoe through the courtyard as snowflakes float from the sky.I glance to the left and see a few knights having a chat by the fruit stall. I look up and see a tattered awning above my head. I look down and realise I don't have a body.

This rather disconcerting moment took place during a test of the prototype Oculus Rift gaming headset that its backers hope is going to rescue virtual reality from the technological scrapheap. Developed by hardware hacker Palmer Luckey - a self-confessed VR obsessive who has collected 43 different VR headsets in his bid to create the perfect experience - the immersion it creates is quite remarkable. It became a crowdfunded Kickstarter project after Luckey gave an early prototype to legendary games creator John Carmack.

Now, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, the small company says it is about to start sending developer kits to gaming software programmers, the first stage in creating a product that really makes gamers feel they are living in the world they are exploring.

"The VR dream has been around a while, but the hardware has never been ready," says the firm's Joe Chen.

So what's changed? Luckey says that having a high frame rate (Oculus Rift processes 60 frames per second) is vital to helping gamers suspend their disbelief. His headset uses head-tracking algorithms that can predict how a gamer is about to move, enhancing the feeling of actually "being there". We want nothing less than immersion," says Chen.

In the demo at CES, I walk around the medieval scene using Xbox controllers, able to look all around me just by turning my head. The only downside is a slight feeling of sea-sickness if you move too quickly, something I experience as I try to turn on my heels and move quickly off in a different direction. But the exhilarating feeling it provides is undeniable. Virtual reality might be on its way back, after all.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/276bbe6b/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Conepercent0C20A130C0A10Coculus0Erift0Evirtual0Ereality0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

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