First Impressions From Rift Owners

[mm0zct]

Diffuse wall bounces should be ok, FOV of the receiver is likely to be pretty wide, the only reason it would be constrained at all would be to reduce interference between multiple transceiver pairs, and isn't the side of the project I'm associated with at all. I'm pretty sure walkabout VR isn't a market they had at all considered, they're more interested in the bandwidth to portable/mobile devices in office environments and housing blocks where there is massive congestion of the 2.4GHz wireless spectrum for WiFi networks.

If I remember correctly the receiver in the demo is set deep in the hole purely so they _can_ do the hand occlusion demo, because otherwise the diffuse reflections off nearby objects are still enough to get some signal and the video will keep playing.

[brantlew]

One of the best first-impression videos I've seen. (and a nice article as well)

http://kotaku.com/kotaku-takes-the-ocul ... -486679107

[RoTaToR]

aaah, aaah, aaah,....

I like the superman at 09:00

[GeraldT]

One of the best first-impression videos I've seen. (and a nice article as well)

http://kotaku.com/kotaku-takes-the-ocul ... -486679107

agreed - i like the personal style. and it was the first time someone explained how the "moving head forward" towards a virtual object feels. makes totally sense that objects feel like they move away from one, but I really wonder what one can do with that effect as a gameplay mechanic.

[3dvison]

One of the best first-impression videos I've seen. (and a nice article as well)

http://kotaku.com/kotaku-takes-the-ocul ... -486679107

I very much liked it also.
But I kept looking at the Case to the Rift, they had left on the floor. I was thinking for sure, someone was going to trip over it while wearing the Rift...LOL

[Thodder7]

Amazing. The UDK editor, loading the "VCTF-Necropolis" mapp and using the console commands to add bots is GOLD.

[Nexius]

I got a Rift today, and am already concerned that I'm subjective to motion sickness! First impressions:

The one I received is pre-owned. When I first put it on I thought there were quite a few dead pixels and other screen issues, luckily it was simply specks of dirt on the screen and lenses. A tiny speck on the LCD panel or lens can be quite distracting when you use it, so keeping this stuff clean and dust free is essential.

I wasn't quite sure on the optimal set-up. It seems I generally have to set my display to Duplicate for most demos, so my 1920x monitor gets downsized to 1280x.. That's not really a negative as it's very easy to switch back when I'm not using the Rift. A shortcut to keep in mind, on Windows 7, is that you can press 'Windows Key + P' to instantly toggle between single display (e.g., 'Projector' is my default for only my PC monitor) and Duplicate or Extend. So you need not go into the display properties each time.

The first demo I tried was Tuscany. Incredible! The first experience actually being able to look around a virtual world was really remarkable. I spent a little while just watching the puff balls float around in the air. Climbing up the stairs and looking up at the rafters then down to the ground felt very surreal. I tried it also with the Hydra briefly but definitely need to practice more to get used to such controls.

Quality-wise, I was already well aware of its limitations. When you are looking at things in the distance it's pretty blurred and jagged looking. The screen door effect is also pretty prevalent, but again something that the mind seems to mask soon enough. I actually think the "seen through binoculars" was much less prevalent than I had anticipated. My eyes are right up to the lens (type A) and it is not bad at all, almost full view. I had anticipated much more black space as if cupping your hands up to your eyes, but that wasn't the case at all. I haven't yet tested the other lenses.

Next up I gave the RiftCoaster a whirl. What a trip!!! This proved the most immersive that I have tried so far, and I couldn't help but laugh as I descended that first drop. I happened to have had a fan blowing at me during the time, which made the simulation all that more authentic. I road it a few times in a row, and tried once standing up but ended up sitting before I went down. I went back for more a little later. With a little more polish (e.g., a body when you look down, better head tracking orientated to the angle of the track) I could definitely see this becoming a popular game with more coasters etc.

I then tried a bunch of other random demos. The helicopter one was another that stuck in my mind. I can imagine how intense the flying demo that's a WIP must be. In either case, after about 30-45 minutes of play my stomach felt unsettled so I quit. That was several hours ago and I still don't feel quite right--yet am craving more so will probably jump back on. I hope that I'm not someone who feels woozy after playing each time and that I'll get more used to it. In real life I never get motion sick and love rollercoasters etc. but it's a strange experience moving around without your body actually moving.

[TheHolyChicken]

A shortcut to keep in mind, on Windows 7, is that you can press 'Windows Key + P' to instantly toggle between single display (e.g., 'Projector' is my default for only my PC monitor) and Duplicate or Extend. So you need not go into the display properties each time.

I love you.

[Alkapwn]

Anyone know the easiest way to make the wireless HDMI LG receiver battery operated? Since the tutorial requires splicing the proprietary cable that comes with it for use with a universal adapter. what would be the best battery setup to use with this?

[xhonzi]

Anyone know the easiest way to make the wireless HDMI LG receiver battery operated? Since the tutorial requires splicing the proprietary cable that comes with it for use with a universal adapter. what would be the best battery setup to use with this?

Wrong thread?

[Laserschwert]

In either case, after about 30-45 minutes of play my stomach felt unsettled so I quit. That was several hours ago and I still don't feel quite right--yet am craving more so will probably jump back on.

Exactly the same here, except that I only tried 3 demos so far (RiftCoaster, First Law, Museum of the Microstar) for a total of only 10 minutes. Now, about 3 hours later, I'm still feeling nauseous and slightly dizzy, but can't wait to get home and try some more stuff. I hope it'll get better with time and experience.

[Machinima]

One of the best first-impression videos I've seen. (and a nice article as well)

http://kotaku.com/kotaku-takes-the-ocul ... -486679107

did you see that guy driving on the motorway with no hands on the steering wheel talking to his friend...

[Tirregius]

One of the best first-impression videos I've seen. (and a nice article as well)

http://kotaku.com/kotaku-takes-the-ocul ... -486679107

did you see that guy driving on the motorway with no hands on the steering wheel talking to his friend...

They have not implemented arms in that demo yet.

[mitorious]

Hi.

Not a Rift owner but got a chance to try one on Friday thanks to jazz (WormSlayer) who was kind enough to bring one along to the watershed in Bristol to demo to 20-30 people.

Right, first of all, I'm just about old enough to remember gen 1 virtuality systems (I was highly unimpressed) and I've been an enthusiastic gamer since the late 80's, one-time java programmer and AV enthusiast.

So, with no interest in HMD's till Carmack demo'd the Rift, how did it appeal to me?


First impressions:

Awesome build, super robust and easy to put on. Everybody seemed to have no issues throwing it on and getting pretty acceptable results, regardless of glasses etc. this seems to be a major positive for mass market acceptance. Also the unit was crazy light for its size. I was expecting a much heavier unit overall, the Rift seems to be lighter than a FoV2GO with a nexus 4 shoved in.

Ok the first demo I got to try was the impressive First Law x-wing style space shooter with 360 game pad controls.

To be quite honest the first thing that hit me was the quality of the screen. It's really pretty bad. Jazz explained that he has been able to improve things by playing with the colour controls of the graphics driver but certainly it really didn't seem great. FOV was fairly impressive even though we didn't have time to adjust the eye cups correctly so slightly less FOV as well as slightly less screen door which didn't seem that bad for someone who used to use non HD projectors.

The real issue with the screen was terrible motion blur and poor colour saturation, poor black levels and contrast.

Despite all that I forgot about it within seconds!!

I was in a frikkin space ship for godsakes!


So that was good, as others have said the demo isn't sized rift and you feel like a midget but the sensation of panic as jazz maliciously piloted me towards an asteroid and loop-de-looped was quite palpable.


On to Tuscany. Really looking forward to this as its one of the demos that impressed me most with its simplicity slimy viewing it in a FOV2GO. Again it was superb.

The firs thing that hit me was the sense of scale, I could easily tell the size if the room I was in for the first time in a game ever. It seems a small thing but the immersion was incredible. Also the hydra controls were extremely impressive; it was easy and intuitive and seemed like it wouldn't take much to make them the clear default choice for gaming, possibly including fps shooting.


Right, some comments:

I play most of my games on a 1080p D-ILA projector with a fixed frame 106" screen at a distance of barely 2 metres. When I first got it first person games made me queasy. For immersion however it isn't a patch on the rift. Considering I've spent thousands on my dedicated cinema room, the future makes me VERY excited.

Motion sickness, didn't get any at all, which may be due to my big screen gaming predilections. There does seem to be a magic point where FOV suddenly makes you feel immersed and the Rift just has it. Many others felt kinda weird after a couple of minutes in Tuscany (the demo, not the place)

Also, felt very weird moving around in Tuscany, like I was driving a tank a little bit. Could probably get used to it though. Hydra needs to go wireless, less important for the Rift.


Overall positives:

Head tracking - flawless
Build and design - amazing first effort, dead comfy
FOV - obviously could improve but still amazing, felt like I was wearing googles which kinda makes sense!
Price - it's obvious palmer has gone for a simple and low cost which I think is great to drive adoption

Negatives

The screen - it's junk. A 1080p oled would be incredible
Controls - really hope oculus mandate or include hydra controls for developers to target.
Positional tracking, would be the final point to make it stunning


Overall I'm dead happy, thanks Jazz!!

(Written on my phone, apologies for strange typos and error corrections)

[BOLL]

SO I JUST GOT IT! TRIED IT DURING LUNCH HERE AT WORK!

So very quickly.

An issue I have not seen many people or any people comment about, it totally crushes my nose. I would guess too high a nose bone, or something like that. Super duper uncomfortable! I can move it around to be better, but I think I will try to fit some kind of padding.

Other than I only have access to my Airbook Mac right now. This means choppy frame rate and few demos to try out, but that aside. The presence is awesome. The sense of scale totally sublime. And the stereoscopy is hard to realize it is even there until something comes up close, it is so natural.

Sure, it is low resolution, but I am one person that has tried VR 10+ years ago when it was really horrible. (University demo) I cannot wait to try it with Half-Life, if I get it running on this here Appleputer.

[Tirregius]

An issue I have not seen many people or any people comment about, it totally crushes my nose. I would guess too high a nose bone, or something like that. Super duper uncomfortable! I can move it around to be better, but I think I will try to fit some kind of padding.

Oh boy. I was a bit concerned about this possibility. I've got a pretty volumous honker myself. Not massive, but I have a wide and fairly high bridge. I'm very slightly nearsighted so I was hoping I might be able to get away with the long eyecups and that that might prevent any fit issues. Can you adjust the optics back from your eyes and have it fit well? not an ideal solution, but if that's al you can do, sobeit.

I'm so hoping I'm not going to put this on and feel like I'm screwed with my facial geometry. please tell me this doesn't seem to be a dealbreaker in any way forsome folks.

[BOLL]

Can you adjust the optics back from your eyes and have it fit well? not an ideal solution, but if that's al you can do, sobeit.

I'm so hoping I'm not going to put this on and feel like I'm screwed with my facial geometry. please tell me this doesn't seem to be a dealbreaker in any way forsome folks.

Yeah, actually, we were just too eager to try it out. It probably says so in the papers that comes with it (still haven't read them...) but the screen assembly adjustment screws were not set at 0 when it arrived, it was as compact as possible. When I adjusted them to zero there was no longer a problem doh! Sorry for the scare!

Also experienced my first nausea now, after running around like crazy in HL2, with no calibration or adjustments done, haha. I am an expert on getting sick in cars though, so no surprise there. I never get sick in roller coasters though... never o_O

[unsilentwill]

Youtuber livestreamed his first test, around 8:00 minutes in here: http://www.twitch.tv/bashurverse/b/403968786

Shows some great reactions, and a decent amount of misinformation too.

[Tirregius]

Yeah, actually, we were just too eager to try it out. It probably says so in the papers that comes with it (still haven't read them...) but the screen assembly adjustment screws were not set at 0 when it arrived, it was as compact as possible. When I adjusted them to zero there was no longer a problem doh! Sorry for the scare!

No problem! Sweet

Thanks for getting back, Boll. Enjoy!

[PatimPatam]

Received my DK this monday (order 46XX), awesome as expected! No problems with nausea at all, even when turning and strafing like mad with the 360 controller.

Only disappointing bit was finding out i do have a bit of a weird face apparently. I don't use glasses, but even without any I have to separate the lenses as far as possible from my face using the adjustment screws in order to make it usable, thus losing out on some precious FOV.

If i try adjusting it just a tiny bit closer (even on the first "click") then the angular top end of the "nose hole" in the plastic molded part sits right on the middle of my nose bridge, which is really uncomfortable; after only 5 or 10 minutes it leaves a nasty red mark. It would be great if on the DK2 or the consumer version Oculus could find a way to bring the lenses closer to the eyes for people with big/high nose-bones like mine, but i understand it's probably not going to be easy!

[Endothermic]

One thing i've experienced I don't think i've seen anyone else say, is quite often if I breath through my nose then the lenses (mostly the right in my case) will fog up so may have to do something about the design around the nose if that happens with too many people.

And i'm not sure if its the Rift SDK or the actual application, but in quite a few of the demo's if I have v-sync disabled then even though it's running at 90+ fps, when I turn even slowly it looks slightly jittery. Can't notice it in all but can in quite a few like motm, planet1, firma, oculus bots. Tuscany, first law, rift coaster and some others it's smooth as with no v-sync disabled.

Enable v-sync and all the ones that looked jittery are smooth as.

[Popopinsel]

And i'm not sure if its the Rift SDK or the actual application, but in quite a few of the demo's if I have v-sync disabled then even though it's running at 90+ fps, when I turn even slowly it looks slightly jittery. Can't notice it in all but can in quite a few like motm, planet1, firma, oculus bots. Tuscany, first law, rift coaster and some others it's smooth as with no v-sync disabled.

Enable v-sync and all the ones that looked jittery are smooth as.

Are you sure you're not talking about tearing with V-Sync disabled?

[Endothermic]

Yes it's jittering not tearing, other demo's I can notice alot more tearing but it doesn't have the jittering

It's like watching a movie when they do a fast pan but it's not that pronounced. You look at the edge of something as you're turning and you see it slightly jitter while you turn. Turn on v-sync and it now moves smooth as without a hint of jitter when you turn.

Motm and Planet1 are the two I can really notice it in most, most other demo's I can notice a lot more tearing however the actual turning looks just as smooth whether v-sync disabled as it does with it enabled.

[TheHolyChicken]

Yes it's jittering not tearing, other demo's I can notice alot more tearing but it doesn't have the jittering

It's like watching a movie when they do a fast pan but it's not that pronounced. You look at the edge of something as you're turning and you see it slightly jitter while you turn. Turn on v-sync and it now moves smooth as without a hint of jitter when you turn.

Motm and Planet1 are the two I can really notice it in most, most other demo's I can notice a lot more tearing however the actual turning looks just as smooth whether v-sync disabled as it does with it enabled.

What you are describing sounds like it is due to the effect described by Michael Abrash in his talk "Why VR is Hard", presented at GDC. The whole talk is worth a read, but the section explaining this phenomena starts here (you'll need to read a good number of pages to have it properly explained):
http://www.roadtovr.com/2013/03/31/gdc- ... des-4415/8

[Tirregius]

Yes it's jittering not tearing, other demo's I can notice alot more tearing but it doesn't have the jittering

It's like watching a movie when they do a fast pan but it's not that pronounced. You look at the edge of something as you're turning and you see it slightly jitter while you turn. Turn on v-sync and it now moves smooth as without a hint of jitter when you turn.

Motm and Planet1 are the two I can really notice it in most, most other demo's I can notice a lot more tearing however the actual turning looks just as smooth whether v-sync disabled as it does with it enabled.

This can be "microstutter" caused by inconasistent frame times. Depending upon how the rendering engine is handling I/O, etc., those inconsistent frame times can cause timing interference with other things.. Could be a device driver or anything polled for data or even the renderer itself.

edit: if I run the tuscany demo with no aa, the frame rate skyrockets, but I encounter microstutter. I crank up the supersampling, and the frame times are evidently more consistent...no microstutter.

Try bogging down the gpu with some 8x supersampling and see what happens.

[theriftreport]

Hi All,

Eventually got around to signing up after lurking for the last month or so as I wanted to share my first impressions. Rift arrived on Wednesday (I actually got this one off ebay for a reasonable (ish) quote, as I have two pre-ordered for the company, but they were only ordered in January and April, so started getting too impatient lol. Happy to answer questions, I will put my day one reactions here...

It has been an incredible afternoon. As mentioned, and most probably already know...this is the development kit, it does have limitations and those expecting to just put this on and be in a photo realistic 'other world' are in for a shock.

BUT...

screw me. The sense of scale is breathtaking. I have spent the last couple of hours just flying around some asteroids in a very basic 'space' demo (First Law). You can look around the cockpit, but just floating close to an asteroid and then following it with your head as it floats above or to the side of you...well, it astounds me and I feel we are on day one of a new way of immersing in a virtual world. As mentioned above, most of the demos at the moment are very simple, created by individuals as proofs of concept etc (although I haven't tried TF2 or Half Life 2 yet, that could be interesting). So they may not have the best textures, or be complete games, or whatever, but flying a helicopter around an island and then landing while the sense of scale is EXACTLY as it would be if you were in a real helicopter, well it's mind blowing.

The screams of horror / delight as my other half tried the roller coaster demo were almost worth the price of admission alone (it did take two attempts as she took the goggles off just before the first drop initially, but I coaxed her into having another go). Yet again, it's just a very simple demo put together quickly using existing assets. What could the big boys do with technology like this? It's not just the gaming landscape that interests me in terms of where this could go, but it is all experiences; flying, therapy, abstract mind bending fun...and games too of course. There are a world of possibilities and we are just at the very beginning of this journey.

Let me back a little. The unit comes nicely packaged. The case it comes in, while cheap, is pretty sturdy and the whole thing is incredibly light. The headset is very comfortable once you get it adjusted. Although I may try one of the other lenses (it comes with 3 sets) just to see what difference it makes in terms of focus as I feel my eyes aren't what they once were. However, regardless of that, a change in lens is not going to perform miracles on this screen. Yes, it is low res, yes, it has significant motion blur, yes, you can't see details that well due to the resolution, yes, you can see the individual pixels without looking for them, yes, you will probably get motion sickness if you're not careful. But look beyond that, look into the future, step into the new world.

The head tracking is fantastic, there may be some latency but you don't notice it, it works exactly as it should. The sense of scale blows my mind. I think that is the one element it is really hard to describe until you experience it. I guess it isn't that hard to describe, its generally the same scale as REAL LIFE lol. So look around you, that should give you some idea! I guess it depends on the demo etc, but I have had two or three very compelling experiences with software that has been knocked together in a few days in most cases. As I thought before I tried it, I really believe cockpit based experiences (or essentially anything that doesn't involve walking) may provide the best experiences initially . It's much easier to make the 'connect' if you are sat in a chair in the real world and sat in a helicopter or spaceship in the virtual world....that's not to say that there won't be compelling experiences with all kinds of game types.

I'm not really that interested in watching videos etc on it at the moment, the resolution isn't really up to it (but once that is fixed I think it could provide an IMAX like experience at some point in the future, and it is very good to not have to deal with ghosting issues etc, the sense of 3D through this with things that have been specifically designed for it is fantastic).

There are so many elements I want to dive into and discuss, not just games....I wrote my dissertation at Uni 20 years ago on implications of Virtual Reality...and then the technology just didn't progress in the way I imagined. UNTIL NOW.

Today, was my first true VR experience. I have taken the red pill. I will be going back in. I am so giddy with excitement for the future. It's a dev kit, the screen isn't great and you probably aren't going to be playing full games in this for hours at a time on a daily basis until the consumer version comes. However, as each day passes new content appears so it will be an exciting time to be a rift owner for sure. But if you have a passion for toys, new technology and things that can blow your mind, and you are awaiting delivery, then I don't think you will disappointed. It will only get better from here.

I'm in the rabbit hold and I love it down here. I'm going to take the dog for a walk (in the REAL WORLD) and will then come back and probably just fly a helicopter and spaceship for a few hours. Tomorrow I take it to the office to video some reactions and become a youtube sensation, or not. Happy Days. Oh Happy Days, More to follow....any questions please ask and I will do my best to address them later.

PS I haven't suffered from motion sickness at all yet, although I have been careful. I did feel slightly dizzy when strafing in the Tuscany House demo, so I changed my approach to playing it and would rotate on the spot before moving forwards. My guess is a better screen and positional tracking should sort motion sickness for many. Didn't feel any sign of it in the space, helicopter or roller coaster demo. Although my fiance did have to lie down for an hour after riding the coaster, but she does the same thing after looking at the 3DS for a minute so that was predictable!

Some Hours Later

Mind Blown!!!! I mean really really blown. Over the last 15 minutes I've seen the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Once you relax into it (and get the lens a comfortable distance from your face) well, it's just incredible. The other big change was being on the sofa in a darkened room and wearing headphones. And realising I could look directly above and behind, leaning over the sofa and the view is consistent. MInd boggling.

Good God, this is immense, it really just felt that I was sitting on the sofa floating through some alien galaxy. I mean this kitis insane....really

The key was getting the lens a little further from my face so everything just became a little sharper and easier on the eyes. The other part of the puzzle was moving to the sofa in a darkened room which has made a huge difference. It really is an incredible illusion. But I now understand the 60fps thing. Not everything is equal. And so far the space demo First Law is the winner, rock solid frame rate and it does feel like you are there, it's a very very clever trick. Lower the framerate and the illusion is lost. That's not to say it still doesn't look good at times, but you want that 60FPS for sure.

Of course then enhancing it slightly just had the same effect it normally does on me on the occasion I combine it with games. Makes it just a bit better. But that is not the reason for this praise...I think there will be a settling in period for people, finding out what works for them. Which is why is 3 minute demo may not be the best judge for everyone.

Since then.....so far have blown several minds, made a few people motion sick, and had one so so response, several 'amazed' responses and two clear 'I have just blown their mind' responses. I haven't had any real motion sickness to speak of, but I could feel the first signs a couple of times in Tuscany and TF2. But apart from that, no problems. I've floated in space with First Law for 30 minutes at a time with no issue. I think anything with a fixed frame of reference (such as being in a helicopter or spaceship) I'm 100% fine with, demos and games where you walk I will be a little more careful with. Also I cannot understate again just how crazy the sense of scale is and how utterly gob smacking it is to be sat in a spaceship, freely moving your head all around to take in the view, and the interior of the ship just sits there, rock solid as it should. At 60FPS it's like some crazy voodoo.

I feel like someone just visited me from the future and gave me a gift

PS Hi by the way Great to be a member now posting, after reading so many useful and enthusiastic posts in this forum. Thank-you

[brantlew]

@theriftreport: Nice review.

[cerulianbaloo]

@theriftreport: Thanks for that! Been awhile since I've read an impression as enthused as yours. Definitely upping my hype again and making the wait all the better now that my order finally went into processing. Your description of being on the couch in the dark with headphones on, and flying through an alien galaxy gave me goosebumps. So excited!

[Tirregius]

@theriftreport
Oh man that was a fun read! My mind is blown! Now I'm waiting on pins and needles!

Very interested in hearing more about how moving the lenses back from your eyes affected your experience. I hear all time that to maximize the experience you have to be as close as possible. Sounds like that needs qualification! Would be nice to hear that immersion isnt broken by moving them back a bit. im a little concerned that my facial structure is not great for getting the lenses very close. Are you losing a good deal of fov? Can you elaborate?

Congratulations on starting your new journey! Enjoy the trip! Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.

[Oneironaut]

@theriftreport

Thanks for your giddy review, posts like these make the wait that much more bearable.

Oh, wait...

PS. On having the lenses up close, I think that my facial bone structure is kinda similar to Palmer's, so one figures the Rift would be well-fitted for such a person.

[Pokey]

damnit theriftreport, now I don't know if I can wait for dk2

If only I had infinite funds...

[GeraldT]

damnit theriftreport, now I don't know if I can wait for dk2

If only I had infinite funds...

buy DK1, sell DK1 the minute DK2 is announced, buy DK2 (maybe even make a nice extra, at least you likely won't have to make a loss)

[LuckyLu]

damnit theriftreport, now I don't know if I can wait for dk2

If only I had infinite funds...

buy DK1, sell DK1 the minute DK2 is announced, buy DK2 (maybe even make a nice extra, at least you likely won't have to make a loss)

Haha, you mean, sell DK1, buy DK2, wait half a year without a rift, receive DK2

[GeraldT]

damnit theriftreport, now I don't know if I can wait for dk2

If only I had infinite funds...

buy DK1, sell DK1 the minute DK2 is announced, buy DK2 (maybe even make a nice extra, at least you likely won't have to make a loss)

Haha, you mean, sell DK1, buy DK2, wait half a year without a rift, receive DK2

that *waitingtime* without a Rift is something he would have in any case ... so he would only gain time with a Rift. And he might decide to keep it if the DK2 does not promise to be worth the waitingtime. I know I don't want to give mine away at the moment ... not even at the incredible eBay rates

[Pokey]

You broke me

I ordered one

[GeraldT]

hehe ... I aim for 1 per day now that I have one myself. I think I will get that quota for a while (at least on average)

[theriftreport]

@theriftreport
Very interested in hearing more about how moving the lenses back from your eyes affected your experience. I hear all time that to maximize the experience you have to be as close as possible. Sounds like that needs qualification! Would be nice to hear that immersion isnt broken by moving them back a bit. im a little concerned that my facial structure is not great for getting the lenses very close. Are you losing a good deal of fov? Can you elaborate?

Thanks for the positive feedback all, it really has been a fun journey so far. Regarding the question about the lens position. Yes, getting the lens as close to your eye as possible gives you the greatest FOV. However, eyelashes touching the lens occasionally is annoying, and then I tried without them touching and has just assumed that was the best. But I guess the 3D was just slightly off for me somehow, but I just figured thats how things were. But just bringing the lens a little further out again (it is still pretty close to the eye), well it worked wonders and suddenly everything kind of came into focus and was just much easier on my eyes.

The FOV only changes slightly and regardless of how close I got the lenses you can still see the edges to the sides of your horizontal peripheral, but the vertical is much better. Anyway, with the minor adjustments I made things became more comfortable and it didn't seem like a major compromise. Kind of like looking through goggles. But that's also why I think some things work better than others and people may start writing demos to play to the current strengths. For instance, give me more in space, or flying over a distant planet at night, moonlit etc. Playing something that is dark in the game (such as First Law being set in space) and then playing this in a darkened room...you kind of see the edges less (or notice them less) due to the general darkness of the scene. Plus I think in darker environments your brain just seems to add a little detail somehow, but maybe that's just me. But yes, I'd like the Tuscany demo at night please! (I've started trying to learn Unity just to create a world of my own that I can explore....but that could take a while lol).

Also, now tried it on a few different machines. And definitely the colours looked a bit more vibrant and generally more impressive through the desktop than it had through my laptop even though the framerate was great on both. So that was interesting, I guess just settings on the graphics card being different, and the performance difference is appreciated for things like the Heli demo which weren't running at high enough framerate on the laptop. Oh and standing in the Tuscany demo vs sitting makes a BIG difference.

[Tirregius]

Thanks for the flesh-out. Sounds like it will be a lot of fun tweaking things to get the most out of it.

[mrklaw]

Curious about the darkened room comment. Doesn't the rift completely block out the light then?

[theriftreport]

Curious about the darkened room comment. Doesn't the rift completely block out the light then?

Nope, that's what I thought too. It does a VERY good job, and mileage may vary depending on the shape of your face etc, but light definitely gets in through my nose area somewhere and also in the eyebrow region. Not a lot by any stretch, but enough for me to notice it when it was sunny outside. To be honest, I didn't really consider it as an issue at all when I first tried the Rift, just that when I subsequently tried it on a sofa in a darkened room I immediately felt the difference. The screen was just a little bit more vibrant, and without any ambient light coming in at all it just became that much more immersive (for me at least)