Do you remember the virtual reality headsets that they used to have in some of the malls? Like the one from the movie “First Kid”? Would you believe that virtual reality headsets are coming soon to a store near you?
Well, believe it! The Oculus Rift is going to make 3D video games available to the average consumer!
Well, believe it! The Oculus Rift is going to make 3D video games available to the average consumer!
Ryan backed a Kickstarter Project for a virtual reality headset called the Oculus Rift sometime last year and has been patiently waiting for it to arrive. It finally arrived last week and he has been glued to it ever since it got here! This is one cool toy :)
It’s a 3D headset designed to be used for gaming. It makes you feel totally immersed in the game – if you turn your head left, it spans left as quickly and smoothly as you can turn your head. You can turn left or right, look up or down or all around and it tracks exactly with your movements. The headset connects to a laptop and then you can run games on your laptop that are compatible with the Oculus Rift. Here’s a picture of Ryan wearing the headset and you can see on the laptop screen what he’s seeing (except he’s seeing it in 3D):
The Oculus Rift has a very wide viewing angle so you are totally immersed in whatever game or simulation you have entered. Another company has already come up with some easy to use controllers to work with the Oculus Rift. They are called the Razer Hydra and they are two controllers similar to the Wii joysticks. You hold one in each hand and then you will be able to move around in the game, pick up objects etc. You can see Ryan holding the controllers in the pic above.
There aren’t very many games that are compatible with it but I’m sure quite a few games are already working on developing a version for it. He let me try the headset on a small puzzle game where you use the Hydra to run around, jump over obstacles and move blocks around – it was really neat! There was also a fun simulation of a movie theater – you can pick any movie on your computer and upload it to the simulation. When you look around you can see all the rows of seats (and pick whatever seat you want to sit in), the lighted stairs, the exit door, the projector booth, the speakers and curtains…it’s just like being in a real theater and the movie you picked actually plays on the simulated screen! One game that is already compatible with the Oculus Rift is Half Life!
Ryan said it makes him a bit dizzy to play the game with the headset on but it’s so cool that he just can’t stop! I’m sure once he gets used to it he won’t get dizzy at all anymore. What a cool toy! What will they think of next?
Maybe a Omni-directional treadmill so you can run in place, change directions and actually run through the games in real time! I can’t wait to see when this product comes to market whether people embrace the idea of “active” video games.
Maybe a Omni-directional treadmill so you can run in place, change directions and actually run through the games in real time! I can’t wait to see when this product comes to market whether people embrace the idea of “active” video games.
