The Oculus Rift headset

The virtual reality Oculus Rift headset is the most exciting and innovative game project of the moment. We went to Los Angeles to try the Oculus Rift for ourselves and saw a new world opening up. In this Oculus Rift review we will talk about the possibilities and current state of the Oculus Rift. In 2021 the new startup Oculus VR made a big impression with their virtual reality headset on the crowd funding website Kickstarter. Within a month Oculus VR managed to get nearly $ 2.5 million. Oculus VR performed what many businesses could not succeed in: the development of an affordable virtual reality headset.

When the gamer puts on the headset he feels like he is really inside the game. The image moves itself to the place you look to. You do not look at a TV screen with a room around you, but stand in the middle of the game.

After several prototypes the first Oculus Rift headsets were sent to Kickstarter backers, mostly game developers. But Oculus VR is already busy with his new generation of virtual reality headsets, the Rift HD, which only came out from the factory a few days ago.

Resolution

The resolution of the new Oculus Rift has increased from 720p to 1080p, and the weight of the device is with its 320 grams significantly lighter than its predecessor. In recent months the virtual reality headset has undergone a cosmetic makeover. While the first prototype was a converted ski-goggles with duct tape holding the electronics together, the new Oculus Rift headset has a fascinating design and is also very comfortable to use.

The Oculus Rift headset has a large rectangular projection on the front side which contains the 1080p-display and the technology necessary to detect movement. The material that is used for the Oculus Rift is mostly matt black plastic. In the inside of the Oculus Rift are two eyeholes and the elastic headband which ensures that the virtual reality headset stays in place but remains comfortable before your eyes.

At the moment the Oculus Rift is placed over the head of the wearer, the virtual reality headset must first move in such way that the image is sharp and there is nothing else to see but the LCD screen. In the 720p version of the Oculus Rift, it was still possible to see individual pixels. The 1080p version solves this problem: individual pixels that make the virtual reality experience less realistic are now much less present.

Movements

The movements that the wearer makes with his head are registered by the hardware of the Oculus Rift and is anticipated by the software. The Oculus Rift is very accurate unlike other virtual reality headsets . The faster the user looks around, the faster the Oculus Rift moves the image into the right position.

It is possible to look all the way up, down, right and left, or even to turn around. The Oculus Rift registers everything spotless. Game Legend John Carmack (creator of Doom) and Gabe Newell (founder of Valve) rave about the virtual reality headset.

The demo of the Oculus Rift runs on the new Unreal Engine 4 from Epic and allows the wearer to stand on top of a snowy mountain. Everywhere where you look, there is snow. When the wearer looks up, it looks like the snowflakes are falling on the head. Oculus Rift users can walk through the virtual world by using a keyboard or controller. To the right of the snowy mountain the user can find a dark castle to which the user can walk to. After a short walk the user can enjoy a fantastic view from the dark castle.

It is noteworthy that the Oculus Rift first shows a demo with large spaces, long stretched views and lots of detail. The first virtual reality demos that were shown to the public were often small hallways or a child farm that seemed to come directly from Farmville.

In the new demo of the 1080p version of the Oculus Rift it is even possible for the user to enter the castle and admire flows of hot lava. There is also a large demon with burning eyes present that is at least 2.5 meters long. When the user is standing in front of the demon he needs to look all the way up to see its face. This is typical of the overwhelming experience that virtual reality can offer: enemies in games can look astonishing real.

The demon in the Oculus Rift demo

Another thing which is noteworthy are the astonishing details of the demon such as its detailed shield or the lava-like red glow behind its armor. When the user fires a white magic ball that bounces through space and leaves behind white shimmering particles falling down, the immersive and highly intense virtual reality experience is complete.

But that intense experience also has a disadvantage. Because the user is stationary while moving in the virtual world he can start to feel a little bit disorientated. In addition, many eyes are not accustomed to look into a LCD screen from a short distance for a long time.

After the first experience with the Oculus Rift users tend to feel nauseous or light in their head. According to Nate Mitchell you get accustomed to the Oculus Rift naturally, but the company is trying to limit the movement to a minimum. After using the Oculus Rift for the first time I became a little bit dizzy myself, but after the second time I had no problems. I even managed to write this Oculus Rift review afterwards!

Availability

The high-definition version of the Oculus Rift is available with a price tag of $300. The virtual reality headset is only available for enthusiasts and game developers, the consumer version will be released later this year.

Oculus VR does not want to give an indication of the release date, but Oculus VR tries to release the Oculus Rift consumer version as soon as possible. After having spent in an astonishing and greatly improved Oculus Rift virtual world we can hardly wait for the Oculus Rift to be released.

I enjoyed writing this Oculus Rift review very much as it was a very interesting experience to review the Oculus Rift. Do you have any questions or comments regarding this Oculus Rift review? Feel free to post a comment on this Oculus Rift review.