What is Oculus Rift?
By Emily Selby and Shelly Wallace
In August 2012, 22-year-old Palmer Luckey launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the development of the first Oculus Rift. He wanted to create a wearable headset that created an affordable, immersive gaming experience. 9,522 online supporters raised over $2,400,000 to help the company release a developer’s edition of the Oculus Rift. People who pledged more than $300 to the Kickstarter campaign were given the Oculus Rift “Dev Kit” as a reward for their support, and on September 26, 2012 the Rift DK1 went up for sale on the Oculus Website for $300 each. Now, with the support of many of the top video game companies in the world, Oculus is supposed to release their first consumer addition this year, although the date has not yet been announced.
How it Works
The Oculus Rift makes it appear to the consumers that they are inside a 3D world that moves with them when they turn their head or glance around. The Rift uses 360° head tracking to allow you to look around in every direction just like you would in real life. According to Oculus.com, “every subtle movement of your head is tracked in real time creating a natural and intuitive experience.”
To make this possible, the Oculus Rift uses stereoscopic technology. That means that this 3D, lifelike image is achieved by playing with the way our eyes see. According to HowStuffWorks, “The brain takes the information from each eye and unites them into one picture, interpreting the slight differences between each view as depth. This produces a three-dimensional picture: one with height, width and depth.” The headset contains two screens. By presenting two, separate-but-similar, parallel images at a certain angle, the way your eyes actually see images around you in real life, the Oculus Rift creates a comfortable experience that simulates the real world by mimicking your perception of depth.
User Experience
Being thrust into an entirely new virtual world is certainly a new experience, and it definitely takes some getting used to. Those who experience Oculus for the first time have a wide variety of reactions, ranging from fear and adrenaline to pure excitement and disbelief. Some find the new worlds beautiful and interesting and are eager to explore. Others find themselves presented with more thrilling and frightening scenarios that have them clinging to their chairs. There are even some who find the whole experience so overwhelming that they simply can’t stay upright when riding on a virtual roller coaster.
It may seem strange that people have such strong reactions, but that simply goes back to the power of Oculus Rift. The technology and science used to build the machine makes for a such a realistic experience that many are often taken aback by the worlds they find themselves in and can easily forget that what they’re seeing and feeling isn’t real.
For example, one user at the 2015 Mobile World Congress who tried Oculus for the first time said that when he was instructed to step off the edge of a skyscraper in New York City, he simply couldn’t do it, despite knowing that his feet were planted firmly on the ground. Another said he couldn’t help but wave back to an alien waving to him although he knew he looked quite ridiculous to an outsider. Such is the power of Oculus Rift.
Uses of Oculus
Virtual reality worlds for Oculus Rift are numerous, with worlds being created, shared, and then uploaded by owners of Oculus through their website. Oculus was originally created with gaming in mind, and that can clearly be seen in the styles and design of some of the worlds that are available on the Share aspect of Oculus’ site.
That being said, when Oculus was first presented, there were others who saw more potential in the device. Ad companies have quickly seen the appeal — Merrell, a hiking boot brand, created a virtual world simulating hiking along a mountain ridge, but with a bit of a twist. Users found themselves at frighteningly high elevations with some rather treacherous terrain. The experience might have been a bit jarring for consumers, but there’s no doubt it was memorable. You can watch their rather comical reactions to the simulator here.
Hollywood even found use for the virtual reality simulator in their industry, incorporating the experience with the opening of the new Interstellar movie.
The company that seemed to see the most potential in Oculus was the social media giant Facebook, who bought the company for $2 billion dollars within weeks of it’s first presentation. The company envisions Oculus as a way to connect others through virtual reality. Out of town and missing your child’s concert? Facebook says no problem. Their idea is that Oculus can connect you in ways that haven’t been explored before, though it will likely take years for this dream to reach a reality. Either way, it seems that Oculus Rift has a bright future and plans on taking it’s users to infinite worlds with infinite possibilities.
