Oculus Rift Developer Kit 2 Announced at GDC 2014

[Kallenator]

Oh my! It's almost here

Today at GDC 2014 Oculus VR has announced availability of their second Oculus Rift developer kit, widely referred to as the DK2. The unit, which includes positional tracking, low-persistence, and other major improvements over the DK1, is available for pre-order starting today for $350 and is expected to ship in July.

The DK2 has a 5-inch 1080p OLED display with low-persistence technology. Positional tracking is achieved with an array of IR LEDs and a custom camera that will ship with the DK2. For the new Oculus Rift dev kit, the IR LEDs seen on Crystal Cove have been hidden behind an IR-transparent housing, so no more white dots on the outside of the unit. The lenses have been improved over the DK1; they are larger and clearer across the board. The camera that ships with the device is custom made by Oculus VR, not a rebrand of some existing device. Thanks to the camera and the IR LED array, the unit is capable of positional tracking with sub-millimeter accuracy.

Road to vr:
http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-rift-...pecs-gdc-2014/


Other Coverage:
---------------

Engadget:
http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/19/o...lopment-kit-2/

Tested Hands-On: Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 Virtual Reality Headset
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d3Wli7s6KY

The Verge:
http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/19/55...it-2-announced

Reddit:
http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/


Spec:
http://www.oculusvr.com/dk2/

Homepage:
http://www.oculusvr.com/

Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 Announcement Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlXrjTh7vHc

[Tim]

Much awesome.

[Hornet331]

so we are already at 350$... next year or so when they plan the retail part to be released we are probably at 450$ and then it gets pretty much uninteresting for many people.

[crash5s]

so we are already at 350$... next year or so when they plan the retail part to be released we are probably at 450$ and then it gets pretty much uninteresting for many people.

That's no more price gouging than 4k resolution, multiple monitors, gsync, and all the other stuff out. Plus this actually interesting and engaging for most people. All the previous stuff is pretty much a yawn when it comes to gaming.

I've got one of the old dev kits and it's very impressive. Much more so than any sort of high resolution/multiscreen system I've used. It's hard to state how freaky it can be at times.

[Aberration]

I paid about $350 for my monitor.

[Kallenator]

We don't know if this VR revolution will kick into overdrive or not, it might flop... However, keeping a positive note on the matter and putting into perspective what the experience of such a device is compared to a monitor then I do not think 350USD is asking too much, IF that becomes the final price however, we shall see...
That being said, development kits are not cheap to produce, low volume and electronics do not go hand in hand, the current price may be deflated by Oculus to get more hardware out to developers.
Consumer price point is projected to be sub 300USD.

Last but not least, high quality monitors aren't cheap. Nor is OLED even close to becoming affordable in our market segment. You might argue still that a VR kit is just an extra bit of expense to enjoy something in a different way, I think it will become a game changer, and based on my personal experience with developer kit number 1 I will be anticipating it with enthusiasm.

[zalbard]

It has an OLED display, and comes up with a positional tracking device - two things you don't get with a regular screen. I believe the price is justified. Especially considering small unit batches.

[El Mano]

Price is not that much a problem as possible headaches, nausea, etc.
Also looking at something so close to you for too long.
I'm worried about all that. I'd like to hear from users before buying one.

[crash5s]

Price is not that much a problem as possible headaches, nausea, etc.
Also looking at something so close to you for too long.
I'm worried about all that. I'd like to hear from users before buying one.

It depends. Keep in mind that some people just get motion sickness, sea sickness, whatever. Other people get eye strain from high resolutions.

I've got the 1.0 kit and I haven't had any problems. For the people that did the issue was latency. The latency was just enough to get them sick over an extended period. However one of the big fixes of the new hardware was to reduce the latency to the point where it's not detectable, and there have been no reports of anyone having any issues on the newer hardware.

Also keep in mind that official support in game is limited. A lot of us have been using cobbled together fixes to enable the rift on various games, so the quality was hit or miss which contributed to the sickness problem.

[zalbard]

I tried the 1st dev kit, and my issues were exactly low res and blurriness in motion, everything else was fine. So it appears they are on the right track.

Motion sickness issue will vary depend on the person - input lag is low, so I had no issues myself.

[Kallenator]

Motion sickness issue will vary depend on the person - input lag is low, so I had no issues myself.

We don't really know that yet, there isn't enough user experience data from the newer versions to determine what is being the major cause.

I am not saying that some might not suffer issues regardless, but the problems so far seems to be related to the hardware not the person.

[thatdude90210]

Bought DK1, preordered DK2, will buy consumer version. It's a cool toy that doesn't cost more than some tablet. Haven't been this excited about a tech since my first 3D card. I mean, you feel like you're' inside a game, and everything is life-size. Personally, I think gaming & :banana::banana::banana::banana: will never be the same. And the motion sickness can be overcome with gradual usage.

[zalbard]

We don't really know that yet, there isn't enough user experience data from the newer versions to determine what is being the major cause.

Simulator sickness is a fairly well-studied problem. The biggest factor is input lag (assuming the test system has correct positional tracking).

[blindbox]

Holding off from DK2. I got a DK1 and it really taught me how high my standards are.

Tested has a really good advice: buy with your friends.

[Kallenator]

Simulator sickness is a fairly well-studied problem. The biggest factor is input lag (assuming the test system has correct positional tracking).

And yet it is not very well understood, and has taken extensive development from both Valve and Oculus to reach acceptable levels.

The physical side-effects of VR are well-documented and go by many names: simulator sickness, VR sickness, VORTAN[1], stillness illness[2] and others. Despite extensive research, the precise physical mechanisms are still poorly understood. This is not unique to VR – the causes of most forms of motion-induced illness such as seasickness and spacesickness are also poorly understood. Although we don’t understand the physiology well, we do understand many of the things that cause it. A few of these causes are inherent in the desired experience, but many of them can be solved with good (though complex) engineering. But because all the symptoms are basically the same whatever the cause, it is often difficult to discern whether you’re running into a physiological limit or if you simply have your math wrong. This is especially tricky to track down when many of the symptoms take twenty minutes or more to manifest.

http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/vr-sick...pers-can-help/

[zalbard]

And yet it is not very well understood, and has taken extensive development from both Valve and Oculus to reach acceptable levels.

Yeah, engineering to combat the problem is very difficult. But I feel like good progress is being made.

[Hornet331]

We don't really know that yet, there isn't enough user experience data from the newer versions to determine what is being the major cause.

I am not saying that some might not suffer issues regardless, but the problems so far seems to be related to the hardware not the person.

Even if the lag would be zero, you can't eliminate this problem, as long as they are not able to somehow fool the brain to ignore other sensory inputs other then the visual ones (ear, limb movement etc.)
Motion sickness is foremost a sickness resulting of conflicting sensory input. As for all things people can get used to it to a certain degree and also suffer from it differently.

Hell even after over 100 years of cars and trains, people still get motion sick from that.

[Aberration]

When I started using TrackIR, got sick for about an hour. It just screws with your brain. Your head moves, the view moves, but not in the way your brain expects.

[zalbard]

Motion sickness is foremost a sickness resulting of conflicting sensory input.

That's a nice way to put it, yeah.

[jimba86]

I have used the V1 of OR and I loved it, Im waiting for user feedback on this until I consider buying the v2 version. As Much as it is awesome, something might come up which will only be uncovered once people start using them.

[Kallenator]

Yeah, engineering to combat the problem is very difficult. But I feel like good progress is being made.

I agree! =)

Even if the lag would be zero, you can't eliminate this problem, as long as they are not able to somehow fool the brain to ignore other sensory inputs other then the visual ones (ear, limb movement etc.)
Motion sickness is foremost a sickness resulting of conflicting sensory input. As for all things people can get used to it to a certain degree and also suffer from it differently.

True, it will never be "gone", but the developer teams seem to be very open about this. They know they aren't ready, they know which issues that still are inhibiting their product.

When I started using TrackIR, got sick for about an hour. It just screws with your brain. Your head moves, the view moves, but not in the way your brain expects.

TrackIR only tracks your head as if it where on a stationary pole, their new tracking system tracks you like an actual human. Which amongst other things allows you to lean forward in the game.


This is a cool demo actually, notice the soft look, probably very low resolution.

Unreal 4 Oculus Rift Demos, Geforce GTX 770 on Maximum settings:

[Evantaur]

could you please stop posting about oculus rift...my wallet cries in pain!

btw anyone know how oculus rift copes with huge headphones like razer tiamat?

[crash5s]

could you please stop posting about oculus rift...my wallet cries in pain!

btw anyone know how oculus rift copes with huge headphones like razer tiamat?

I have Razer Tiamat, Grado PS1000, Sennheiser hd280pro, Steelseries Siberia V2, and Etymotic ER4-P at home. So I have personal experience with your set and other types as well.

The issue with the larger headphones depends on the shape of your head honestly. Part of the cushion is going to land on the strap, thus it's not going to "stick" to your skin the way most headphones do. It's not normally an issue, but a bit more sound will bleed out of the headset than normal. However if you tighten the band a tad bit more than normal, and your head is such that this doesn't cause discomfort, it's a complete non issue. For headphones like the Tiamat (unless mine is different than yours) where the strap just adjusts on it's own, and the cushions are fairly fat, there's never an issue at all. On the other hand if it's one with various click-stops along the way and has thin padding, you might have some issues.

[zalbard]

So, Facebook buys Oculus VR ...

[Evantaur]

so, facebook buys oculus vr ...

sigh!
my interest towards this product just went from 100% to negative 20