Hardware & Technical Will you be buying Oculus Rift hardware?

[Mazhurg]

Fully intend on getting a Rift, whether E: D supports it as other games will. Also I do wear glasses (myopia) and presbyopia at the distance of the lenses, however the developer has indicated that corrective support will be available for those.

As a retired flyer, I had my fair share of industrial Sims and know that the disconnect (<20ms) lag is easy to adapt to. Might take a few tries for some, but eventually you adapt.

 

[Mazhurg]

not necessarily at lunch.

It's the most exciting new hardware in a long time.

I don't intend on eating one either...

 

[Knarlfin]

I'm pretty sure extensive use of the Rift will give you headaches as your eye is looking at a screen that is a few millimetres away from it's surface. Your eye isn't meant to concentrate or focus on something that close for too long even looking at a monitor for long periods is bad for your eyes and you should always concentrate on a far point in the room for a moment once in a while, something that not a lot of us do.

I'm not convinced either, for pretty much the same reasons, and I'm usually the first to try out new kit.

I do not like the idea of the Rift nor it's promotional video as it is just a lot of people in industry shouting 'yeah this is great!'.
This got Kickstarter funding didn't it?

That worries me too. If it was so good, with so many industry big-wigs behind it, why didn't they fund it?

 

[Goran]

TrackIR is working great for me right now in combo with large TV, and it doesn't cause headaches or nausea, so I don't think I would invest in such a device until it's perfected.

 

[Slawkenbergius]

I'm pretty sure extensive use of the Rift will give you headaches as your eye is looking at a screen that is a few millimetres away from it's surface.his is great!'.

Apparently the opposite is true. When using the Rift your focus is in the distance, unlike staring at a monitor a few feet away, so there is much less problem with eyestrain.

Whether or not the 3D gives you headaches in another thing.

 

[Mazhurg]

Wait, so even though the glass of the goggle screen is only an inch or so away from your eyes, your eyes dont focus continually on the glass?

If the technology is similar in presentation to night vision goggles, you are indeed looking at a miniature TV, however the presentation to your eyes makes it seems like it is in the distance (hard to explain).

The one drawback (which will should not happen with the Rift as it is not giving you real vision) is that because you are looking "trough" (and at) a screen you gain no true distance vision. In other words, if you were wearing NVGs and try to pick / grab an object ahead of you it would be difficult initially (until you get used to the difference) as you would try to pick the object too close or far.

 

[StarTux]

I will also wait for OR to be released to the consumer and let it mature a bit before taking the plunge.

 

[Cristari]

Apparently the opposite is true. When using the Rift your focus is in the distance, unlike staring at a monitor a few feet away, so there is much less problem with eyestrain.

Whether or not the 3D gives you headaches in another thing.

If the technology is similar in presentation to night vision goggles, you are indeed looking at a miniature TV, however the presentation to your eyes makes it seems like it is in the distance (hard to explain).

The one drawback (which will should not happen with the Rift as it is not giving you real vision) is that because you are looking "trough" (and at) a screen you gain no true distance vision. In other words, if you were wearing NVGs and try to pick / grab an object ahead of you it would be difficult initially (until you get used to the difference) as you would try to pick the object too close or far.

I'm totally unconvinced of this logic, your eye needs to focus on something or it's just a blur and if it's not focusing on the tiny tv screen in front of it then what is it focusing on and how the hang do you see anything that's blurred!

You do realise that NVG are only used for short periods of time and only when necessary. Most if not all game players are sad enough to sit at their PC's all day. Do you think the MOD would let their Marines use NVG for 24hrs straight?

 

[Steve O B Have]

That's a no from me - it makes controlling your game that much more difficult because you can't see anything beyond the display. You can't see the keyboard so communicating and controlling the game interface ends up being a goggles on/goggles off process which would just drive me up the wall. It's a nice idea and it will come into its own further down the line but as it stands it'd be awesome for first person shooters but within a context of a game like Elite I struggle to see that it would be comfortable. The other thing that it doesn't have is the same movement that I get out of my TrackIR with the depth, i.e. leaning forward and backward.

If the UI of Elite: Dangerous ends up being a bit more simplified or more conducive to being able to play it without having to move across the keyboard then I'd consider it but at this point I'd prefer TrackIR compatibility.

 

[Mazhurg]

I'm totally unconvinced of this logic, your eye needs to focus on something or it's just a blur and if it's not focusing on the tiny tv screen in front of it then what is it focusing on and how the hang do you see anything that's blurred!

You do realise that NVG are only used for short periods of time and only when necessary. Most if not all game players are sad enough to sit at their PC's all day. Do you think the MOD would let their Marines use NVG for 24hrs straight?

As a pilot that has used NGVs extensively, I can assure that you do not "look" or focus on a tiny tv as it is too close to focus on. Your eyes (and brain) are tricked and will focus "through". As I said above it's hard to explain.

As for short periods of time; usage of 4 hours or more are not uncommon (in the flying community at least) and it is becoming very prevalent in some specific flying communities. The problem with endurance is not with the vision system, but the weight / balance of the equipment.

 

[Mazhurg]

That's a no from me - it makes controlling your game that much more difficult because you can't see anything beyond the display. You can't see the keyboard so communicating and controlling the game interface ends up being a goggles on/goggles off process which would just drive me up the wall. It's a nice idea and it will come into its own further down the line but as it stands it'd be awesome for first person shooters but within a context of a game like Elite I struggle to see that it would be comfortable. The other thing that it doesn't have is the same movement that I get out of my TrackIR with the depth, i.e. leaning forward and backward.

If the UI of Elite: Dangerous ends up being a bit more simplified or more conducive to being able to play it without having to move across the keyboard then I'd consider it but at this point I'd prefer TrackIR compatibility.

If, on the other hand you were to integrate the OR and the leap motion, you could have an in-game virtual control panel and therefore no need to google on/off. Control sticks, if placed at a specific location can be learned by spacial memorization. We do it when driving, flying or even touch typing.

 

[deMangler]

Good to see this tech finally becoming mature. Having waited for years though I will now wait until there are more options and the price drops a bit.

 

[Steve O B Have]

If, on the other hand you were to integrate the OR and the leap motion, you could have an in-game virtual control panel and therefore no need to google on/off. Control sticks, if placed at a specific location can be learned by spacial memorization. We do it when driving, flying or even touch typing.

This is true. Don't get me wrong - the immersion that these offer is awesome but I think I'll be waiting to both see if it gains a decent support from developers and also for a subsequent version. Jumping on the early adopters for these products rarely brings advantages, both from capability and pricing perspectives.

A big part of using this will depend on how friendly the UI is going to be on games controllers. If you can play the game with almost solely joystick/gamepad and use VOIP for comms then it'd be a winner.

 

[N2]

Wait, so even though the glass of the goggle screen is only an inch or so away from your eyes, your eyes dont focus continually on the glass?

Yes , this it seem counterintuitive, but from what I understand it is more similar to looking through binoculars,where you also do not focus on the glass because you cannot see the glass , your eyes focus in the distance, it should be even more relaxing than the monitor screen.
The Oculus is not 2 screens in front of your eyes , there are optics(lenses) in between.


From the Oculus FAQ :

The Rift is causes very little eye strain, particularly compared to other standard displays or headmounts.
Normally, when you take a break from using a monitor or TV, the idea is to give your eyes a chance to focus and converge on a distance plane. This is a natural position of rest for your eyes.
With the Rift, your eyes are actually focused and converged in the distance at all times. It's a pretty neat optical feature, for sure.

PS: Also , in theory Oculus' 3D should also be much more comfortable than normal stereo glasses , because it project a separate image for each eye (so no flickering) , unlike normal stereo that obturates left/right eye while displaying right/left image (for me the flickering is more than obvious)

You can't see the keyboard so communicating and controlling the game interface ends up being a goggles on/goggles off process which would just drive me up the wall.

Hmm , this though seems like a legitimate concern. I'm not sure but I think Palmer said that its not so close to the eyes that you can't look straight down at your desk.
Related quote from Palmer: "The current Rift optics do not go past the nose"

 

[Cristari]

As a pilot that has used NGVs extensively, I can assure that you do not "look" or focus on a tiny tv as it is too close to focus on. Your eyes (and brain) are tricked and will focus "through". As I said above it's hard to explain.

As for short periods of time; usage of 4 hours or more are not uncommon (in the flying community at least) and it is becoming very prevalent in some specific flying communities. The problem with endurance is not with the vision system, but the weight / balance of the equipment.

I bow to your experience.

I still doubt that I would go to the expense of buying this just for one game though and as Steve has mentioned the use of this and keyboard co-ordination is a definite turn off for me. The use of other systems in order to gain in game control might be a solution but further expense that isn't really necessary.

K/M or PS3 controller & a dual screen monitor set up will do me fine I need to be able to see who is on TS and veiw web pages as well as play the game.

 

[Zplintz]

I don't intend on eating one either...

Yeah thanks for pointing that out Mazhurg

Post edited.

 

[Kerrash]

Short answer: Yes.

Even if Elite does not support it. The Oculus is something I want to play with anyway. Being a dev I may even hack some mod together for it

 

[Ashley Barley]

I won't be getting one straight away but, providing it works well and is supported by enough games I will definitely give it a try. Hopefully they'll show it off at an event I can attend, like Eurogamer or something, then I'll be able to make a more informed decision.

 

[Completely Harmless]

Once it is an, for me, affordable consumer product, yes, I would be interested. As it stands now, no.

I got TrackIR, which I hope is supported, and if OR comes down to that level ($150) then I'd consider (saving up for) it.

 

[BacchusZA]

Once it is an, for me, affordable consumer product, yes, I would be interested. As it stands now, no.

I got TrackIR, which I hope is supported, and if OR comes down to that level ($150) then I'd consider (saving up for) it.

I doubt you'll see it drop to the same kind of price as TrackIR, given it's head-tracking *and* 2 displays, and the tech behind integrating them, all bundled together. With a bit of luck though, the commercial product won't be dramatically different in price to the $300 dev kits, and will hopefully (though unlikely) be cheaper.
If it is around the $300-400 mark, it looks very appealing to me, as that's roughly what I could expect to pay for a decent mid-range graphics card, and the third monitor I'll need for an eyefinity setup, and given a choice I think I'd rather go with the OR, rather than an eyefinity setup.