Oculus rift

[tegan]

I hope this just stops rendering the character when you try to sneak an upskirt, like that one Hatsune Miku game.

 

Wait, no, actually, I hope that if you try to sneak an upskirt it triggers a Bink video of a screaming face.

[clyde]

Samsung just showed off their mobile VR device and say it will launch this year.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/03/samsung-virtual-reality/

[JonCole]

Notable things to know about Samsung's "device" - the device is actually the Galaxy Note 4 smartphone coupled with a harness equipped with lenses and whatnot to enable the 3D/VR experience. As such, it doesn't interface with a PC at this point and I doubt it will because not having it physically tethered through a PC as a specific display device will mean latency like crazy. Right now Samsung has a few small proof of concept apps for the phone, but this will require a whole new ecosystem of apps (that may or may not be crosscompatible with PC) to be a notable device. As it is, I imagine it feels like not much more than a tech demo.

[singlespace]

Suddenly a really compelling use of Leap:

 

It's pretty easy to imagine a setup where you could have multiple high precision IR setups just for hand tracking in addition to the lower granularity setups already used. The headmount gives you a lot of sensor mount options that would otherwise be awkward.

[clyde]

Suddenly a really compelling use of Leap:

It's pretty easy to imagine a setup where you could have multiple high precision IR setups just for hand tracking in addition to the lower granularity setups already used. The headmount gives you a lot of sensor mount options that would otherwise be awkward.

I seem to remember reading that the consumer version of the Rift is probably going to have a similar feature. Seeing it in the video makes the idea look like a great solution for user input.

[JonCole]

Yeah, the Leap probably won't be compatible with the consumer (latest publicly shown version code named 'Crystal Cove') version because they've shown it having IR emitters that will contribute positional information that will improve the general VR experience. As it is, all of the movement of the Rift is tracked by a gyroscope and accelerometer, so the only recordings are relative movements. With the IR added, it can track where you are in relation to your original position, meaning it can track if you're sitting vs standing, or leaning back or forward. This reduces the amount of "mouse look" required which should make it feel more responsive to your movements and reduce that disconnect between what you're actually doing and what's being portrayed on screen.

[singlespace]

I seem to remember reading that the consumer version of the Rift is probably going to have a similar feature. Seeing it in the video makes the idea look like a great solution for user input.

 

Crystal Cove and DK2 has positional tracking via a grid of 40 IR LEDs mounted in the casing, but I don't recall any primary input method being officially discussed yet though there's a lot of speculation. It's kind of crazy how well Kinect style projected grids can work when implemented with a more limited scope (i.e. higher granularity, faster response, closer range, etc).

[singlespace]

Yeah, the Leap probably won't be compatible with the consumer (latest publicly shown version code named 'Crystal Cove') version because they've shown it having IR emitters that will contribute positional information that will improve the general VR experience.

 

I view it more as a proof of concept more than anything else. Even if the Leap Motion could be mounted without covering any of the IR LEDs, I'm sure there would issues to be worked out when using multiple sets of IR sources with multiple cameras aimed in a variety of directions.

 

What I'd like to see is some interesting input techniques demonstrated by OVR themselves. It would be pretty great to see this kind of thing integrated into a DK3 or CV1.

[JonCole]

I view it more as a proof of concept more than anything else. Even if the Leap Motion could be mounted without covering any of the IR LEDs, I'm sure there would issues to be worked out when using multiple sets of IR sources with multiple cameras aimed in a variety of directions.

 

What I'd like to see is some interesting input techniques demonstrated by OVR themselves. It would be pretty great to see this kind of thing integrated into a DK3 or CV1.

 

Yeah, that's what I meant... I don't know how they could track all the disparate IR signals. Particularly if the goal of the ones built into Crystal Cove are meant for very specific positional tracking where any inaccuracy could cause some serious head movement desync and induce motion sickness. It would definitely be interesting if they could pull it off, though.

[singlespace]

Yeah, that's what I meant... I don't know how they could track all the disparate IR signals. Particularly if the goal of the ones built into Crystal Cove are meant for very specific positional tracking where any inaccuracy could cause some serious head movement desync and induce motion sickness. It would definitely be interesting if they could pull it off, though.

 

I'm not familiar with what kind of hardware is out there for IR. The actual physical spectrum is much wider than visible, so I guess if they can make a wide variety of IR LEDs and sensors on the cheap, then separating by frequency band (i.e. chromaticity) with multiple cameras might solve a lot of the issues. For all I know it might be as simple as throwing some filters in front of the sensor and coating the LEDs.

 

I wonder how they would handle movement in the case of something like the Leap Motion though: how would you walk forward?

[JonCole]

Foot pedals?

 

Lol.

[singlespace]

That. Would. Be. Amazing. It would be like piloting around an ordinary person!

[Murdoc]

All of this stuff is super cool, but the biggest problem coming from a developer stand point is who is going to have all this crap to take advantage of it for a game? A VR game, cool! Ok, what about a controller? No guarantees even for something as basic as that. Peripherals like Leap? No one is going to have that and the only reason anyone would is an awesome product that took advantage of it, but the probability of an awesome product that warrants to cost of VR and a Leap before a user base is low.

 

That's the most disappointing thought about all of this cool stuff, we're still years and years off from ever seeing any of these cool ideas adopted by any significant amount of developers, if it ever does. It'd take the initiative of a Sony or MS to release their next console with all the bells and whistles any sort of headway can happen with this stuff in games.

 

I'm sure there will be neat experiments along the way for those that's want to buy all these odds and ends to get the experience; I'll probably be watching them through youtube.

[singlespace]

All of this stuff is super cool, but the biggest problem coming from a developer stand point is who is going to have all this crap to take advantage of it for a game?

 

Presumably you'd want something like this integrated into the standard package directly from OVR, hence it wouldn't be a peripheral (i.e. every CV1 or CV2 or whatever has the input hardware integrated).

[JonCole]

Yeah... if Microsoft can't get developers to make anything good for something as mature as Kinect that was bundled with the first few million Xbox Ones sold, I can't imagine anyone will make anything that will work with this insane combination of stuff even if there is a bundle of some sort.

[singlespace]

Wild speculation time, but what if they take the reference design approach that's often used in hardware (think NVIDIA, AMD, ARM, Android, etc.)? OVR does all the hard work of figuring out not only what the input systems and APIs should look like, but also release reference games that show how to use them properly along with source code to developers. Not examples, but rather full fledged excellent games in the same way that a first party reference designs from NVIDIA or ARM are full fledged chips and boards that are so well fleshed out that partners typically will only tweak or slightly customize the reference designs for their own products.

[tegan]

That. Would. Be. Amazing. It would be like piloting around an ordinary person!

 

[singlespace]

Samsung Gear VR powered by Oculus was just officially announced:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRLy0QQI6xU#t=5310

 

Higher res than DK2, because it's Samsung, no positional tracking, wireless since you slot a Note 4 into it.

 

Carmack talks a bit later in the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRLy0QQI6xU#t=5570

 

Verge takes a look, but there's not much to their first look:

http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/3/6101247/samsung-gear-vr-hands-on

[SecretAsianMan]

In terms of control systems to go with the Rift, there's one product I know of called Control VR.  It's basically a pair of gloves that allows precise movement to be captured, including fingers.  It was successfully kickstarted for over $400k.  The only reason I know about it is because their guy in charge of the gaming aspect is Brandon Laatsch, formerly one half of the Freddiew youtube channel.

[BusbyBerkeley]

Has anyone tried out google cardboard from one of those kits on amazon? Seems like a cool way to blow twenty bucks...

[Ben X]

Just bought a £20 Google Cardboard kit off of ebay.

Not expecting much, but it should be cool to watch some 3D movies with periphery in darkness, and they have some 3D movies you can move your head about in which could be pretty cool. I'm tempted to maybe bring it to the gym and have a go on it with the treadmill, though I'll probably look like a bit of a twat and someone'll pull my trousers down or something.

[Nachimir]

I got one over the weekend. It's a third party one slightly oversized for my ridiculously over-screened phone, and it feels properly shonky compared to the DK1. Might benefit from a bit of modding (goggle strap, phone holding nubs). The magnetic switch is a really elegant idea and well implemented. Tilting your head 90 degrees over to go back in menus feels kind of silly, but so does everything else about it. It's a good novelty for a tenner.

[BusbyBerkeley]

Doh! Thanks for the input. I'll probably check it out next time I buy from amazon. Oculus looks rad but I'm not that much of a nerd that I justify buying one right now. Someday soon hopefully.

[Architecture]

John Carmack is the coolest motherfucker on the planet:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6T4M4VMuk

[Tundra]

John Carmack is the coolest motherfucker on the planet:

 

That guy... :3

Why is whats-her-face there from Countdown, ack, she made that video awkward to watch.