Wow! Ocurlus Rift First Impressions and Questions

[Javert]

Hi all,

I'd just received my OR (delivery was much quicker than expected and took less than a week, even though they advertised 6 to 8 weeks).

After some faffing about, I managed to get the rift working and then, after some more faffing about, I finally managed to get it working in ED. The first few times I switched ED over to rift mode, I could see the screen in the rift perfectly well that said "Accept settings yes or no", but when I clicked accept, the screen went completely black and no input had any effect. This happened a few times, and then it miraculously started working even though, as far as I could tell, I hadn't done anything different.

There really is a wow effect using the rift, especially when you are flying close up to another ship or an asteroid. There are little moments of amazing immersion where you just feel like you are there. The 3D effect really gives a sense of scale to the objects in the game. The motion tracking is also very natural and instant, so this gives a real sense of being there.

However there are some obvious limitations and I'm wondering whether these are just part of this technology being in its infancy, or something to do with the way I've set it up:

1) Is it normal that I can "see" the pixels? When I'm playing both ED, and when I use the demo screen where you are in an office in the rift config, I can actually discern individual pixels so it's kind of like I'm looking at the scene through a very thin wire mesh. When I'm actually playing and getting involved, I don't really notice it, but as I say it's kind of like everything is behind a gauze.

2) Is it normal that I have to move my head rather than my eyes? It seems like only what is right in front of the centre of the field of view is in focus? If I move my eyes to look left or right, everything is blurred. For example, if I am out in space, if I move eyes to the right or left, the stars have little lines coming out of them (being short sighted, this is the effect I would normally expect if I am not wearing wearing contact lenses or glasses with blurring of sharp objects - however I'm wearing contact lenses), and also all the text on the screens is out of focus unless I move my head so that it's right in the middle of the screen.

3) Even on the DK2, the text is actually quite hard to read even when you get it right in front of you. It's just about readable but I have to keep moving my head all the time. Is this normal?

4) I actually found that I felt a bit weird and queazy a few times. I wasn't expecting this because I have never suffered from motion sickness in boats, planes or cars. Is this normal at first, and/or could this be a setup issue?

5) I noticed a few apparent bugs like when I was in the station services screen, the interface sometimes seems to lose track of where I am, and I can't select anything until I press loads of keys randomly, then it seems to come back again.

6) I'd appreciate to know for those of you using X52, what X52 keys you have mapped certain missing controls to that are critical like Frameshift, Landing gear, Heatsink and so on. These controls are not mapped in the standard Saitek X52 settings.

cheers
Patrick.

 

[Adam Lusardi]

1 That's the screen door effect.
2 Yes it gets blurred due to the lens effect.
3 Yes I have that too my eyes seem to work better if I move "over" the text.
4 I have very good sea legs and I get that, great feeling isn't it .
5 I get this in the switch to the galaxy map.
6 No idea.

 

[Mark D]

..... The first few times I switched ED over to rift mode, I could see the screen in the rift perfectly well that said "Accept settings yes or no", but when I clicked accept, the screen went completely black and no input had any effect. This happened a few times, and then it miraculously started working even though, as far as I could tell, I hadn't done anything different .....

Hi Patrick,

I occasionally get something similar to this. I found the HMD was displaying an image outside my field of view - F12 brought it back. May not be the same problem, just an idea.

Cheers
Mark

 

[saviornt]

1) Yes. As the above mentioned, its called the screen door effect. What your seeing is the space between the pixels (PPI). It will improve with the consumer version of the Rift.

2) Yes, although, you may want to get your IPD checked at an optometrist, as having the incorrect IPD and/or lens installed could cause that. Also, the HMD has headtracking, not eye tracking. Eye tracking might come with the 3rd release of the consumer headset (CV3). Microsoft has spilled the beans about their R&D into it.

3) Yes.

4) Welcome to the club. The more you use it the less you'll get VR sickness, however, don't overdo it. Ginger helps (motion sickness pills / ginger ale)

5) Try resetting the Rift (F12 by default).

6) Voice Attack. Get it now. I have an x55 and rudder pedals, and still have to use VA for stuff. You can also customize the buttons to do what feels natural to you. For me.. FSD is mapped to when I say (into the mic), "engage hyper drive" "engage warp drive" "hyper drive" "warp drive" (I have it physically mapped to the button Q or something.. voice attack recognizes the command and sends the button press(es) to the application

 

[Cmdr Irenicus]

2) Is it normal that I have to move my head rather than my eyes? It seems like only what is right in front of the centre of the field of view is in focus? If I move my eyes to look left or right, everything is blurred.

4) I actually found that I felt a bit weird and queazy a few times.

This is why I will never ever use this kind of device. Feeling sick, blurry images, can't use your eyes to look around (which makes it pretty much useless IMO)....and end up with eye damage, headaches and worse....no thanks.
I understand there is a lot of hype around these devices but I predict it will not last. Much better with a screen and freedom to look around at other things in the room, like my cup of coffee! lol

 

[Javert]

What is IPD? Are you saying it's something about my eye itself, that I need to check with an optician? I do get a full eye test every 2 years where they check peripheral vision.

Anyway, the effect I'm seeing here is that if I move my eyes slightly sideways, everything in the rift is more blurred, if I then move my head to bring that place into the centre of the view, it's not blurred any more (or at least it's about the best it gets).

When I did the IPD calibration, I noticed that the first green lines was way off far far beyond the left hand side of the Oculus screen - I was confused at first because I could not see the green line at all. I'm not sure if that is normal. (I could see the green line on the computer monitor, but not on the OR until I adjusted it way to the right).

If the IPD is calibrated wrongly, what will be the result?

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This is why I will never ever use this kind of device. Feeling sick, blurry images, can't use your eyes to look around (which makes it pretty much useless IMO)....and end up with eye damage, headaches and worse....no thanks.
I understand there is a lot of hype around these devices but I predict it will not last. Much better with a screen and freedom to look around at other things in the room, like my cup of coffee! lol

Well it's kind of weird because actually it is an amazing device and you do get a feeling of immersion. You can look around with your eyes rather than your head towards the edge of the screen, but there is a noticeable blurring effect unless you are looking right at the centre of the view.

 

[Frank]

This is why I will never ever use this kind of device. Feeling sick, blurry images, can't use your eyes to look around (which makes it pretty much useless IMO)....and end up with eye damage, headaches and worse....no thanks.
I understand there is a lot of hype around these devices but I predict it will not last. Much better with a screen and freedom to look around at other things in the room, like my cup of coffee! lol

Yeah! That's right. Because there aren't any activities that make you feel sick and dizzy, make your eyes go blurry, and then leave you with sore eyes and a headache. I predict any activity that has these effects certainly won't last long. And there definitely won't be any establishments open at night solely for the practice of such an activity.

 

[Foxis]

IPD is inter pupillary distance, ie the distance between the center of your pupils. I would recommend everyone seriously using the rift to get that measured by a professional. It is important to get that exactly right as an incorrect value will add quite a bit to VR sickness.
ED is quite mild as an experience so you should get used to it quickly. Do shorter stints and do not try to push through any discomfort.

 

[cherbert]

I'm sure if you were really in a Cobra Mk III flying through space you would feel a bit queezy.

You get used to it. In fact I rarely feel bad in Elite because the seated position just feels natural. You might be feeling sick due to lack of framerate - try lowering Shadows and setting Blur and Ambient Occlusion to off.

As for moving your eyes.. I admit to not noticing. Have you setup your IPD properly? The lenses on the DK2 are a bit fussy compared to the DK1. Hopefully this will be improved with the consumer version.

The pixels... after a while you forget they are there.

I play it every evening - spent 4 hours in it last night. I can't play on a monitor anymore.

Try going out and doing some mining in an Asteroid field in the warm orange glow of a Sun. So immersive and so relaxing. I also recommend anyone using a Rift to try flying in the Eagle. The panels are very close to you and text is so much more readable.

 

[Frank]

If you find it impossible to correct for your IPD just with software, there is a bloke out there that might be able to help you...

[video=youtube;UmiKSFt7jC0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmiKSFt7jC0&feature=youtu.be[/video]

He seems to have a realistic view in how much help these adapters can offer, and, as he points out, there's no point in mass-producing these things as they will be obsolete very shortly (hopefully).

 

[Spectre Alpha]

If you find it impossible to correct for your IPD just with software, there is a bloke out there that might be able to help you...

[video=youtube;UmiKSFt7jC0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmiKSFt7jC0&feature=youtu.be[/video]

He seems to have a realistic view in how much help these adapters can offer, and, as he points out, there's no point in mass-producing these things as they will be obsolete very shortly (hopefully).

How silly to say that you can't have a sense of presence unless you use a crutch. May be true for people that cannot focus their attention well.

 

[Smack332]

1) Is it normal that I can "see" the pixels? When I'm playing both ED, and when I use the demo screen where you are in an office in the rift config, I can actually discern individual pixels so it's kind of like I'm looking at the scene through a very thin wire mesh. When I'm actually playing and getting involved, I don't really notice it, but as I say it's kind of like everything is behind a gauze.

2) Is it normal that I have to move my head rather than my eyes? It seems like only what is right in front of the centre of the field of view is in focus? If I move my eyes to look left or right, everything is blurred. For example, if I am out in space, if I move eyes to the right or left, the stars have little lines coming out of them (being short sighted, this is the effect I would normally expect if I am not wearing wearing contact lenses or glasses with blurring of sharp objects - however I'm wearing contact lenses), and also all the text on the screens is out of focus unless I move my head so that it's right in the middle of the screen.

3) Even on the DK2, the text is actually quite hard to read even when you get it right in front of you. It's just about readable but I have to keep moving my head all the time. Is this normal?

4) I actually found that I felt a bit weird and queazy a few times. I wasn't expecting this because I have never suffered from motion sickness in boats, planes or cars. Is this normal at first, and/or could this be a setup issue?

5) I noticed a few apparent bugs like when I was in the station services screen, the interface sometimes seems to lose track of where I am, and I can't select anything until I press loads of keys randomly, then it seems to come back again.

6) I'd appreciate to know for those of you using X52, what X52 keys you have mapped certain missing controls to that are critical like Frameshift, Landing gear, Heatsink and so on. These controls are not mapped in the standard Saitek X52 settings.

1) This will most likely be gone, or at least significantly better, when The CV is released.

2) This bugged me at first, but I notice it less now. I think a correctly set IPD, as has been discussed here, helps a lot as well.

3) The text is actually quite good for me. Beta 2 improved this significantly. I play with all settings on high, and AA on. Again, make sure you have IPD set up correctly

4) I get this when I use the mouse to move my head, like the Tuscany demo. Have not noticed it in ED. It does get better with time, though.

5) I have not seen that yet.

6) I use the X52 pro. Got an excellent setup from Vingetun (member on this forum). Not sure it will work on the X52, but you can try sending him a PM.

 

[Ref Minor]

This is why I will never ever use this kind of device. Feeling sick, blurry images, can't use your eyes to look around (which makes it pretty much useless IMO)....and end up with eye damage, headaches and worse....no thanks.
I understand there is a lot of hype around these devices but I predict it will not last. Much better with a screen and freedom to look around at other things in the room, like my cup of coffee! lol

Of course you won't, that's why you are browsing the VR forum, because you have zero interest.

 

[Frank]

How silly to say that you can't have a sense of presence unless you use a crutch. May be true for people that cannot focus their attention well.

The bloke isn't saying that the DK2 only works with this crutch. He's made a product for people on the tail-end of the bell curve for IPD's. There's a very good chance that this information is not needed but I provided it just in case. I stated this on the text above the video.

PatrickW, I take it you've tried using the other set of lenses?

 

[Adam Lusardi]

How many experiences in RL leave you with blurred vision, sick in your mouth etc. I've had lots and this just gives me that.
I would love to try it with a dynamic seat.

 

[saviornt]

This is why I will never ever use this kind of device. Feeling sick, blurry images, can't use your eyes to look around (which makes it pretty much useless IMO)....and end up with eye damage, headaches and worse....no thanks.
I understand there is a lot of hype around these devices but I predict it will not last. Much better with a screen and freedom to look around at other things in the room, like my cup of coffee! lol

1) You can look around with your eyes, that's not the issue. The issue is due to chromatic aberration kind of falling apart at the edges of the lenses. This could be resolvd with eye tracking though. This is only a real problem (for me) with text / thin lines

2) The Rift actually doesnt cause eye damage as you would think. The reason is because when your eyes are relaxed on the screen, you are looking into the horizon. This is vastly different from looking at a monitor, where your eyes are converged on a very close object, not at the horizon.

3) Headaches and other physical effects are three-fold. First, making sure the Rift settings are correct, the second being that you have a computer that can run it well. The 3rd is with the software companies (drivers, applications) to reduce lag and "odd effects" as much as possible. If you used the Rift with non-VR games, you would know what I mean by odd effects (shadows not displaying on the ground, or in one eye, etc..)

4) I had the same problem with a cup of coffee.. my solution was a gas station coffee cup and a straw. Oh, and proprioception and knowing where I last set my cup. Walk around your house with your eyes closed. You should be able to and not run into anything. If you can't.. you should practice that in case of RL emergency (Lights go out, natural disaster, police entering your house with a flashbang, etc..)

 

[Gomisan]

I'd just received my OR (delivery was much quicker than expected and took less than a week, even though they advertised 6 to 8 weeks).

That's crazy! I'm jealous, I waited months!!!!

There really is a wow effect using the rift, especially when you are flying close up to another ship or an asteroid. There are little moments of amazing immersion where you just feel like you are there. The 3D effect really gives a sense of scale to the objects in the game. The motion tracking is also very natural and instant, so this gives a real sense of being there.

There's sure is. I feel I can fly closser and see more than I ever could before.

However there are some obvious limitations and I'm wondering whether these are just part of this technology being in its infancy, or something to do with the way I've set it up:

A bit of both. What you outline below is, as other have said, expected for the DK2.

1) Is it normal that I can "see" the pixels? When I'm playing both ED, and when I use the demo screen where you are in an office in the rift config, I can actually discern individual pixels so it's kind of like I'm looking at the scene through a very thin wire mesh. When I'm actually playing and getting involved, I don't really notice it, but as I say it's kind of like everything is behind a gauze.

Normal, called screen door effect, and yes, in the heat of combat or docking yo forget all about it.

2) Is it normal that I have to move my head rather than my eyes? It seems like only what is right in front of the centre of the field of view is in focus? If I move my eyes to look left or right, everything is blurred. For example, if I am out in space, if I move eyes to the right or left, the stars have little lines coming out of them (being short sighted, this is the effect I would normally expect if I am not wearing wearing contact lenses or glasses with blurring of sharp objects - however I'm wearing contact lenses), and also all the text on the screens is out of focus unless I move my head so that it's right in the middle of the screen.

Yes, a limitation of the extreme lenses that must be used. i'm sure this will get better as the technology evolves.

3) Even on the DK2, the text is actually quite hard to read even when you get it right in front of you. It's just about readable but I have to keep moving my head all the time. Is this normal?

Yes. lean in to view the text, it helps a lot. Remember F12 to reset your view when you're leaning back and comfy.

4) I actually found that I felt a bit weird and queazy a few times. I wasn't expecting this because I have never suffered from motion sickness in boats, planes or cars. Is this normal at first, and/or could this be a setup issue?

Simsickness. Motion Sickness. VR Sickness. Dont try and tough it out. Short doses of VR and you'll start to get used to it. if you try and tough it out it can last beyond the session and you'll feel uncomfortable for days possibly. Framerate, Refresh rate, these contriburte to it. Also actions that dont match yours, eg when control is taken from you in some VR games, or you use mouselook. Try and get your FPS to 75 and make sure your refresh rate is also 75hz.

5) I noticed a few apparent bugs like when I was in the station services screen, the interface sometimes seems to lose track of where I am, and I can't select anything until I press loads of keys randomly, then it seems to come back again.

Use F12 to reset your view. or even better use VoiceAttack and create a 'reset view' command that does this.

6) I'd appreciate to know for those of you using X52, what X52 keys you have mapped certain missing controls to that are critical like Frameshift, Landing gear, Heatsink and so on. These controls are not mapped in the standard Saitek X52 settings.

use Voice Attack


And there you have it. Looks like Patrick you got your Rift about the same time as me, and a very similar experience. This is all perfectly normal for the DK2, and we need to keep in mind that this is a Dev kit, and the consumer retail versions will be a world apart.

People have mentioned the IPD, but I'm not sure it got explained. (unless I missed a post) My understanding is that it's the distance between your pupils. There's a config tool that is in the Rift Runtime SDK, it allows you to configure this in software. make sure you do this, and then duplicate that value into the Elite config, as detailed elsewhere in this forum. It affects your focus and convergence, so the actual 3D effect and how much work your eyes need to do. You shouldnt be going crosseyed, you should be able to just relax your eyes.

Enjoy.

 

[saviornt]

The SDK measured my IPD as 62.. my actual IPD (as measured by optometrist) is 59.5

Get it professionally measured.

 

[BigDuke6ixx]

This is why I will never ever use this kind of device. Feeling sick, blurry images, can't use your eyes to look around (which makes it pretty much useless IMO)....and end up with eye damage, headaches and worse....no thanks.
I understand there is a lot of hype around these devices but I predict it will not last. Much better with a screen and freedom to look around at other things in the room, like my cup of coffee! lol

Why on earth would you prefer to look around the room when instead you can actually be in the ship and look around that? Also, the other issues will be fixed for the customer version. Why are some people wedded to their monitors? Seems crazy and Luddite to me

 

[vanfanel]

Why on earth would you prefer to look around the room when instead you can actually be in the ship and look around that? Also, the other issues will be fixed for the customer version. Why are some people wedded to their monitors? Seems crazy and Luddite to me

You know what I find amusing? This is the second person on this forum that said they wouldn't use the rift because they need to see their coffee. lol They don't seem to understand the point of VR or they don't like the idea of VR ..."can't use eyes to look around" and so I'm curious as to why they hang around here.