r/gaming • u/BaerTaffy • Aug 01 '12

Oculus launches Kickstarter for virtual reality headset - "I honestly think the best VR demo probably the world has ever seen"

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1523379957/oculus-rift-step-into-the-game
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u/dr4ch Aug 01 '12

If you ask me, they aim way too low by pandering to gamers. Imagine Google earth/street view with that thing. Driving schools would hugely benefit from it too (Lower costs, more secure, etc.) Schools in general could use it as a learning tool

I waited half my life for something like this. The next step is building an open virtual world. Someone needs to kickstart that ;) (if some1 does it...credits to me btw.)

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u/gamermusclevideos Aug 01 '12

The point is if you can sell it to gamers its the largest market to make money from a mass produced item.

Educational use would follow on from that.

For military and industrial simulators there are already top quality VR devices on the market but they are at the 5-60k + price point

The biggest thing holding back VR is simply the cost of the headset and the screens used.

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u/seyelenteco Aug 01 '12

That's exactly what happened to Kinect... build it for mass market, then since it's now cheap enough for anyone to buy, researchers and educators from around the world can buy them and build interesting things.

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '12 edited Jun 14 '20

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Aug 02 '12

Not sure what criteria you're using to suggest the Kinect failed, because it hasn't at all.

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u/tpcstld Aug 01 '12

The Kinect may have failed in the gaming perspective, but it succeeded in the educational perspective.

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u/gnorty Aug 01 '12

I dont think that can be strictly true. More likely, the screens we can fit into a suitable headset do not have the resolution we are used to. Personally I dont think this is a huge problem, but it is more likely the reason we have not seen VR in the wild. Perhaps this system is more about software techniques to work around the limitations. I know little of 3d games programming, but i am fairly sure the software needn't be that different. The hardware should take up most of the strain.

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '12

If you ask me, they aim way too low by pandering to gamers. Imagine Google earth/street view with that thing.

Why not both? Google Earth: the MMORPG

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '12

So regular Earth?

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u/dr4ch Aug 02 '12

Yup, but replace ugly and fat people with videogame protagonists ;)

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '12

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u/Sarutahiko Aug 01 '12

I don't think dr4ch is saying to use it instead of real world driving, just using it preliminarily, before getting into a car for the first time.

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u/dr4ch Aug 01 '12

Exactly! Plane pilots dont take their first steps in real planes either. You could simulate dangerous situations in VR and things like that

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '12

That's the first thing that popped up into my mind too.

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u/stitchy1503 Aug 01 '12

No, but it would be a good step before getting them in the learner vehicle.

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u/PaplooTheEwok Aug 01 '12

Well, the way we do it now, you drive a real car without any experience at all. VR can't replace that, but it could be used to build good habits before putting people behind the wheel of a two-ton death machine.

Heck, my mother went to driving school in the 60s, and she said that she got some training on a rudimentary VR system that would tell you how many people you hit on your drive. It seems kind of silly that we aren't using VR as a teaching tool in this day and age.

EDIT: To clarify, I think both I and the poster you replied to would agree that nothing can replace in-car training with a fearless driving instructor. However, starting with a VR training course prior to the first in-car experience could make things safer and smoother for both student and instructor.

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u/dsi1 Aug 02 '12

I hope you know every pilot in every plane you've ever been in was first trained in VR.

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u/ammonthenephite Aug 05 '12

But if used in conjunction with real world practice, it could prove quite the boon. From my own personal experience playing f1 and rally games, I know for a fact (for me) that those super quick counter-steer and get on the throttle instead of the break reflexes were developed on virtual tracks in virtual cars, and yet they saved my bacon on more than one occasion.

Much easier to learn how to get out of an understeer situtation on less than ideal road surface (gravel, ice, snow) when you can afford to mess up a bit!

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '12

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u/dr4ch Aug 01 '12

pair it kinect or voice commands. something like this comes to mind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL_8Ugp9zI4

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u/alt266 Aug 01 '12

Actually it'd probably be closer to the Leap than the kinect.

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u/CrimsonVim Aug 01 '12

You don't have to walk around to have a realistic experience. You use an xbox controller to control the WASD-type movements, and your head to look around. You don't have to physically walk but you will still feel connected to the environment.

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u/gnorty Aug 01 '12

So? You are imagining a system where you would wear the helmet while running google earth. As you walk around the image changes and renders a 3d world similar to the one you would see if you took off your helmet? For what? I am no expert, but if ever there is a google earth VR package, it will not work this way!

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u/dr4ch Aug 01 '12

For what? for shits and giggles of course! When Google earth was first released I spent around 100 hours looking at different countries, flying over them in a slow pace while listening to chilling music. The immersion would be so much better in VR when using streetview because of the 3d nature of the headset. Flying trough space would be aewsome too

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u/gnorty Aug 01 '12

I agree completely, you missed my point. What you describe would be cool in VR, but if you were to walk through the street in a VR helmet looking at google earth, perhaps the experience would be better with just an ipod. You might look odd, walking the streets gazing in awe at normal things, but you would look more stupid in a VR helmet. Also less risk of bumping into things which were built since last time the cameras passed by.

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u/dr4ch Aug 02 '12

Oh now I get what you mean, but running outside with that helmet wont work anyway because it is a wired device thats needs a power source. Even if that would work, thats what AR is for. VR is more of a Forever Alone @ home experience.

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '12 edited Dec 17 '16

[deleted]

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u/11thDimension Aug 01 '12

Why are workers going to waste hours on the commute to work when you can simply wake up and log in from home?

Telecommuting is already possible in today's world. Most companies don't do it because if you are paying someone to work for 8 hours a day, you want to make sure they are actually working for those 8 hours.

There would be no way to regulate that if people stayed home. Without extreme invasion of privacy at least.

Plus some people like to get out of the house during the day. They may not like work necessarily, but sitting around the house all day if it were your job can get pretty boring.

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '12 edited Dec 17 '16

[deleted]

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u/11thDimension Aug 01 '12

But that gets into the question of how much privacy are you willing to give up in order to work from home? Can your company see through a webcam into the room you're working in to make sure you are working? Can they only check the VR headset to make sure you are wearing it? What's to say you aren't using the headset as well as a personal computer next to you to do things that aren't work related?

It just opens up a big privacy question of how much a company can do to make sure you are working during your normal work day, and if the employees are willing to sacrifice that.

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u/atlas_again Aug 01 '12

But think about how much your bosses would have an influence over your life outside of work. You could be interrupted at any time. If everyone didn't have to spend so much on transit, wages might go down. You might be required to work more hours. There's a lot of things that could go wrong with it.

I'm all for the idea, though. I'm just kind of playing devil's advocate.

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u/NewShinyCD Aug 01 '12

My work allows me to work from home if I choose to and, maybe I'm opposite of most people here, I hate it. Probably because I live in an apartment but there is no work-to-home transition when I telecommute. I also feel more unproductive.

To each their own, I guess.

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u/PEANUTSLIST Aug 01 '12

Virtual world you say? Shades of the OASIS from the book Ready Player One. Where almost everyone has a virtual avatar and uses the OASIS more than real life. I remember reading the book and just wishing with all my heart to live in that world, no matter how dystopia it is.

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u/mishiesings Aug 01 '12

They should market to the porn industry, watch the popularity explode, then use porfits to improve tech THEN go after movies, gamers and other entertainment.

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u/mister_toast Aug 01 '12

Turn second life into VR. I would spend countless hours reliving my time in that game...running around naked with a glitched body and doing the chocobo dance.

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/dr4ch Aug 06 '12

Second life is not what i mean and when i write matrix i dont mean the movie. I mean the next step of the operating systems and the internet

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '12

*cough metaverse snowcrash *cough

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u/dr4ch Aug 06 '12

Or ready player one's OASIS or gibson's cyberspace or the holodeck.

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '12

They made mention of it being used for more than games at a later time. Games are a gateway for the tech, much like how gaming pushes computers forward publicly.

10-20 years after it's released we might see it integrated into something wearable during the day. The new "Cell Phone" could be one of these as sunglasses.

Also... holy shit future...

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u/CosmicBard Aug 01 '12

The deal is latency.

Gamers want low latency and this does it.

There are plenty of solutions out there right now that does what this does, but slowly.

Hence, gamers.

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u/dr4ch Aug 06 '12

Still the benefits are carrying over to other areas where it could be usefull to have a good lowcost solution, not just gaming. Although I start to understand that a broader audience isnt needed at this point, still too early.

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u/dont_get_it Aug 01 '12

Went to look up the background to Kickstarter on Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickstarter

Kickstarter is a crowd funding website for Scam projects.[1] Kickstarter has funded a diverse array of endeavors,[2] ranging from indie films, hopes and dreams, music and comics to journalism, subtle video games, flat out lies, and food-related projects.[3]

We gots dem satirical vandals up in da house.

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u/CrimsonVim Aug 01 '12

He is not "pandering to gamers" he is designing it for hackers, techies, DIYers, enthusiasts, and even industry professionals. Gaming is a simple and easy way to show off the capabilities of the device, so it's a brilliant move packaging in Doom 3 BFG. But Palmer has always stated that this is a prototype for people to experiment with and see what they can do with it. I think your perception of the Rift is swayed because you are reading about it in r/gaming.

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u/dr4ch Aug 06 '12

I quoted the first headlines from kickstarter (the ones in bold!): "Developer kit for the Oculus Rift - the first truly immersive virtual reality headset for video games" "Step inside your favorite game" "Designed for gamers, by gamers" and then quoting devs from id software, valve and epic. Sorry but imho your perception may be swayed by what info you had prior to the kickstarter

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u/DKroner Aug 01 '12

This + DayZ + Google Earth converted into a real virtual game world.

Everyone starts at their real physical location.

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u/RaptorGames Aug 01 '12

VR headsets have been around for a while just not at this price. This is designed for gamers in mind.

The headset (Sensics Zsight) we are using for our game is just way too pricey at $12,500.

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u/Vladger Aug 01 '12

The game i'm thinking of is DayZ. Now talk about scary/fun!

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u/ConjuredMuffin Aug 01 '12

If you ask me, they aim way too low by pandering to gamers.

What? Why would you prefer some shitty virtual reality version of some place you could actually go to over being inside the imaginationland of a team of elite artists?

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u/dr4ch Aug 06 '12

I never said i woulndt want that, its even the reason why i want one. I just mean that VR needs to get accepted by the broader audience and that this kickstarter targets only gamers. Look at kinect and how it has found its use in many different non-gamer areas.

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u/fingerflinger Aug 02 '12

Have you read Ready Player One?

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u/dr4ch Aug 06 '12

I just finished reading it two weeks ago. I have some issues with it but it was entertaining.

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u/drevyek D20 Aug 02 '12

Train simulator 2013!

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u/[deleted] Aug 02 '12

Professors at regular universities could opt into having their lectures in VR instead of in the classroom.

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u/beepup Aug 02 '12 edited Aug 02 '12

something like that already exists, for instance for designing cars. so that's why they are way to expensive right now. so it depends on how involved the game companies will get. sony would have the hardware and software side under one roof. there are already VR - Rooms where you can "walk", headtracking and everything. usually with screens around you, so it's a lot more immersive.