Virtual reality glasses are one of the attributes of any science fiction film of the last century. Who would have thought that in just a couple of decades, the dream will come true. Now everyone can get virtual reality glasses. And all this thanks to the company Oculus VR, which in 2012 developed a unique and high-tech virtual reality glasses called the "Oculus Rift." Want to know more about this gadget? Welcome to this article.
Virtual reality
As mentioned above, people have been dreaming about virtual reality for a long time. The first devices that transferred the user to the computer worlds were developed in the distant 60s. In those days, this technology was quite innovative. However, it was not suitable for mass production. Such devices were highly specialized, very overall and cost a fortune.
The situation changed a bit in the 80s. Thanks to the development of video games, large companies have begun to create various technologies that can attract gamers. For example, helmets of virtual reality. By the beginning of the 90s, there were about 11 new BP devices from various companies that were available to ordinary mortals. Nevertheless, virtual reality had a lot of problems. Tracking head movements was very slow and the field of view was narrow. In addition, the graphics of the games at that time were of rather poor quality. Well, one can not help but mention the main drawback of BP helmets of that time. They caused a terrible headache. In addition, they were pretty bulky. As a result of this, after half an hour of gamers gamers complained of pain in the neck. Due to such shortcomings, many refused to buy virtual reality devices.
As a result, an attempt to interest consumers with virtual reality gadgets failed. Gaming companies suffered quite large losses. For this reason, the process of popularizing virtual reality has been suspended.
Renaissance BP
Technological progress and, accordingly, virtual reality did not stand still. Large and bulky parts have sunk into oblivion. They were replaced by small and compact components, which turned our giant cell phones into convenient and powerful smartphones. A similar trend has not spared virtual reality technology. Thus, in 2012, the “Oculus Rift” glasses were presented to the general public, which simply struck gamers around the world and again launched a hype around VR devices. What was so innovative about Oculus glasses? You can find the answer to this question in this article.
Features
Perhaps one of the main advantages of the brainchild of Oculus VR is an incredibly high level of realism of what is happening. Virtual oculus glasses allow you to fully immerse yourself in the game world. This is primarily due to the wide viewing angle. The user can turn his head in any direction, and at the same time he will not observe a flat screen, but a three-dimensional three-dimensional world.
In addition, the guys from the Oculus company made their device as convenient and comfortable as possible. For example, the Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles have rather modest dimensions. Because of this, the neck does not begin to hurt even during hours of gaming sessions, which simply cannot but rejoice.
Thus, experts from Oculus VR corrected all the shortcomings that made virtual reality helmets never popular. As a result, the company was able to develop and release, in fact, an ideal device for reproducing virtual reality.
Complete Oculus Points Information
Want to learn about the technical features of the new virtual reality glasses? Then this article is for you. In this part, we will talk about the characteristics of the gadget from Oculus VR.
The Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles are equipped with a 7-inch (approximately 18 centimeters) LCD screen with a resolution of 1280 by 800. Image refresh rate is 60 gigahertz.
In addition, it is worth noting that virtual reality glasses can boast of a special motion unit and an orientation sensor, which were developed to order. They have a fairly high sampling rate (about 1000 gigahertz). The sensor unit includes a gyroscope, magnetometer and accelerometer. The microcontroller, which was developed on the basis of the ARM Cortex-M3, acts as a processor in glasses. Data read by three sensors is quickly processed by the processor. Such technology allows you to turn your head in absolutely any direction and display these movements in the game in real time.
Games
Large companies immediately turned their attention to this project. Thus, even before the release of the virtual reality helmet, games such as Doom 3 (from ID Software), Tim Fortres 2 and Half Life 2 (from Valv) appeared on it. In addition to ports, the Oculus also had its own exclusives. One such game is EVE: Valkyrie, which was developed by CC Games. All these games were supposed to show users the capabilities of the "Oculus", to interest buyers.
Of course, over the four years of its existence, the Oculus has acquired a ton of games. What is there not only! And shooters, and racing, and RPGs, and a host of other interesting projects. Moreover, soon there will be much more games for VR devices. After all, the market for virtual reality technology is actively expanding. Consumers are becoming more and more. In addition to porting games from other platforms, many game studios are developing exclusive projects.
Open source software
Another advantage of the "Oculus" is open source. This means that everyone can get the right to modify, use or distribute the code. This feature of the "Oculus" will be very useful for programmers. After all, they will be able to create their own software. Even inexperienced game devs can try to create a project for Oculus. After all, there are several official resources on the Internet where you can get the latest versions of SDK components or online support.
Feedback and future prospects
Exit "Oculus Rift" made a splash. Gamers were just thrilled. This device will certainly affect the gaming industry and show it the future course for development. Nevertheless, there was a fly in the ointment. VR glasses still have problems. For example, some users complain of dizziness. Currently, specialists from Oculus VR are actively working on this problem. Surely in future versions, this flaw will be fixed. Already on the shelves there will be new glasses - "Oculus Rift 2".
Analogs
The Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles launched a wave of hype, which also succumbed to the world's largest corporations. Thus, companies began to develop their virtual reality helmets. We will talk about the most interesting devices in this article.
Sony is one of the largest gaming companies behind the creation of incredibly successful consoles. For this reason, they simply could not ignore such a dynamic growth in the popularity of VR devices. In 2016, it is planned to release virtual reality glasses from Sony, called the Morphius Project. One of the main features of this device is collaboration with PS 4. At the moment, pretty little is known about the device. However, Sony promise a 5.7-inch display and a frame refresh rate of as many as 120 FPS. In addition, experts are testing a prototype in order to make it as convenient as possible.
More recently, HTC introduced its virtual reality helmet called HTC Vive. Interestingly, this device was developed in conjunction with the notorious Valv company. The brainchild of HTC boasts a refresh rate of 90 gigahertz. Such a high frequency ensures fast operation without any delays. In addition, it is worth noting that the helmet uses 70 sensors, which in a blink of an eye collect all the information about the position of the user's head.
Do-it-yourself Oculus Rift glasses
Some craftsmen are trying to make their own version of the Oculus. The construction of the makeshift Rift is quite simple. That's all you need: lenses, a smartphone, and a body. In addition, you need special software that can easily be found on the Internet.
Nevertheless, creating your own Oculus is a rather dangerous undertaking. After all, the slightest error in manufacturing can cause spasm and overwork in the best case, and serious vision problems in the worst case. It is for this reason that doing the “Oculus Rift” on your own is highly discouraged.