The Oculus Rift is arguably one of the best-named pieces of technology we have encountered in the last decade.
Almost sounding fictitious, everyone has heard the name, even if they don’t quite know what it does…
The Oculus Rift is a Virtual Reality platform created by Oculus, which was then brought by Facebook in 2014. Its technology is equally as cool as the name, being a device which uses 3D, 360 degree visual images for high quality immersion and interaction.
The Rift provides a seemingly-real experience, with its only real competition being the HTC Vive. Alongside the general immersion excitement is the huge amount of content that you can purchase with the Rift, expanding widely from games to films, 360 degree images and video.
Oculus gaming has taken off into stratospheric success, with some of the most immersive and original design to date. Kittypocalypse, available in the Oculus store now, is a quirky kitten based tower-defence system. Essentially ‘alien-kittens’ attack your base and in order to protect it, you have to destroy the kittens with machine guns. Aside from the RSPCA’s obvious qualms, its been remarkably successful.
Despite not being as interactive as the HTC Vive, the headset registers your head movements to provide some user choice within the visual reality. The absence of handheld devices and motion sensors make it a more portable platform which is straight forward to set up.
As a follow on from the popular film franchise, development studio Ubisoft have created VR experience Star Trek: Bridge Crew, that fans and gamers can be directly involved in. Speculated to be released later this year, it updates the technology offering up to four players the chance to work together to control their very own star ship.
This advance in multi-player VR potentially changes the industry opportunities for future business. One of the greatest issues with VR is its current exclusivity as an individual experience. This restricts usage for adoption requiring multi-players and teamwork, as it cannot replicate scenarios exactly. With Oculus suggesting a multi-player VR, this problem could be eradicated in the future.
The Oculus Touch released later this year could be the much needed update on the Rift, which has received mixed reviews. Unlike the current product, interaction will be far more personal, with stylish circular handles to remotely control what you view in the headset. Additionally, the Oculus Touch has sensors which measure your room to ensure accurate and robust tracking.
Industrial and professional adoption has taken off slightly slower than gaming, but its relevance and potential for world-changing business is undeniable.
Architects have adopted the Rift to help visualise their designs. This not only brings them closer to a more informed idea of how the real building will look, but also highlights any issues that otherwise may not be so glaringly obvious in 2D sketch. This has the potential to save copious amounts of time and gives architects a platform to show off their work to clients in the most accurate light.
Even the Norwegian army have been using the Rift, in order to improve spatial awareness of armoured vehicle drivers. VR being adopted for military use is still not taken particularly seriously, but if it relaxes the need for military travel into high risk areas in order to train, it should be a serious contender for a safer future for our soldiers.
The Oculus Rift has become so popular that the CEO of Oculus, Brendan Iribe, had his twitter hacked. This comes as part of a series of high profile twitter accounts that have been infiltrated, including Mark Zuckerburg and Katy Perry, suggesting VR popularity is on the rise.
The message of this hacker is clear. “If Brendan wants his twitter back, I want a free Oculus Rift”… Don’t we all.
To learn more, keep yourself updated with our weekly feature articles on VR!
The Oculus Touch released later this year could be the much needed update on the Rift, which has received mixed reviews. Unlike the current product, interaction will be far more personal, with stylish circular handles to remotely control what you view in the headset. Additionally, the Oculus Touch has sensors which measure your room to ensure accurate and robust tracking.
Industrial and professional adoption has taken off slightly slower than gaming, but its relevance and potential for world-changing business is undeniable.
Architects have adopted the Rift to help visualise their designs. This not only brings them closer to a more informed idea of how the real building will look, but also highlights any issues that otherwise may not be so glaringly obvious in 2D sketch. This has the potential to save copious amounts of time and gives architects a platform to show off their work to clients in the most accurate light.
Even the Norwegian army have been using the Rift, in order to improve spatial awareness of armoured vehicle drivers. VR being adopted for military use is still not taken particularly seriously, but if it relaxes the need for military travel into high risk areas in order to train, it should be a serious contender for a safer future for our soldiers.
The Oculus Rift has become so popular that the CEO of Oculus, Brendan Iribe, had his twitter hacked. This comes as part of a series of high profile twitter accounts that have been infiltrated, including Mark Zuckerburg and Katy Perry, suggesting VR popularity is on the rise.
The message of this hacker is clear. “If Brendan wants his twitter back, I want a free Oculus Rift”… Don’t we all.
To learn more, keep yourself updated with our weekly feature articles on VR!
No Comments
Comment replies are not available offline