So, we have the Xbox One, the Playstation 4 and the 3DS as being the current leaders in technology on the gaming market. But what direction can gaming go in now? Could the Oculus Rift be it?
We may be a long way off the Holodecks from Star Trek that the world is so eagerly waiting for, if it’s even possible but we are getting closer, step by step. We now look forward to a new form of virtual reality with the Oculus Rift.
What is it?
Still in its experimental form, but thought to be released within the next year, the Oculus Rift is a head set, covering your eyes, designed to show you a view of 107 degrees of the game. It takes into consideration your head movement so if you lean to see around a corner you can. This is all thanks to the positional tracking.
When trying the demo version, the user feels completely immersed in the game. As far as the brain comprehends, everything around you is a computer graphic and in 3D. You can use, what looks like the Wii nunchuck, controllers to control arms and pick things up in the game and move forward and backwards.
However, as with all experimental technology, there are a few bugs as Mark Aldridge from the College of Arts Technical at the University of Lincoln confirmed, the arms that you use whilst immersed can loose calibration quite quickly and there have also been cases of people experiencing motion sickness as the brain says that their legs should be moving when, in fact, they are stood still. This is something that Oculus will need to overcome in order for the technology to be viable for public sale.
(Mark Aldridge giving a quick guide to the Oculus Rift)
Although the Rift is still in its prototype days, other technology has already been designed to work with it in anticipation so that the user can immerse their whole body into the scenario, such as the Omni. But as the Developers of the Oculus Rift say that at the moment the games that are being used to experiment with on the VR headset are not specifically designed for the headset there are the issues with motion sickness.
(Mark Aldridge explaining about motion sickness on the Oculus Rift)
How much?
Oculus are expecting that this technology will be available to the public and their target price to release this at is only $300 (£180) meaning that it would be cheaper than both the Xbox One and the PS4. However, the likely-hood is that the technology will be incorporated into these systems and be able to run in addition to them as well as possibly with just a pc.
Just experiencing the device for a short time will give anyone the hopes and dreams that this becomes bigger than big. My experience was short but it was enough to make me realise how easily you can completely loose yourself in another world.
(My experience on the roller coaster)
The dream
The hope to eventually have this as a consumer product where you can truly be part of the game is only just around the corner, especially with the help of the Omni. The Omni has be designed to would with VR headset to incorporate all of the movement of your body whilst keeping you safe from running into objects in your living room.
Hopefully within the next couple of years, the world of gaming will have been completely reworked. With graphics in games already being so realistic and now being able to take the next step of actually putting your head in the game, there appears to be no limitation to the virtual world. There are even rumours that there is a vibrating vest being created to work with all of these devices as well so that if you get hit in a game then you will feel a vibrating version of the impact too.
Check out http://www.oculusvr.com/ to keep up with how close they are getting to release this amazing technology.