It was only a matter of time. The Oculus Rift has caught so much attention—deservedly so—that of course one of the big dogs was going to start honing in on its virtual reality territory. Tonight, that’s Sony. And its Project Morpheus VR headset sounds fantastic.
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Palmer Luckey, the the man behind Oculus virtual reality goggles, is shockingly young. He may be responsible for one of the current hottest things in tech, but he’s just 21. And he says the kind of things people that age say when they’re bold enough to dream out loud.
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The Oculus Rift development kit is no longer for sale in most parts of the world, the company reports. The dev hardware for the virtual reality headset has been on sale since Oculus kicked off their Kickstarter campaign, and began shipping around March 30, 2013. Since its original development, Oculus has iterated on the hardware design multiple times, so it isn’t surprising to see them… Read More
Head-mounted computing probably still seems a bit far-fetched to most every day users, but component manufacturers and tech suppliers are already gearing up to provide a future supply chain with the parts it needs to build such devices affordably and easily. Bosch Sensortec and Hillcrest Labs are two companies working in this space, and they’ve come up with complete sensor package for… Read More
Oculus Rift might be the next big thing when it comes to video games (such as allowing players to defuse a bomb), and it seems that developers might be getting the hang of things. In fact, here we are with a video which depicts Jerry Seinfield’s apartment that has been specially recreated for the Oculus Rift platform. Known as Jerry’s Place, this is a non-profit fan project that would enable Oculus Rift users to explore a virtual reality version of Jerry’s apartment from the Seinfeld series, which is pretty cool, and I can foresee that there will be many other inspired “titles” in the future, such as the entire deck of the U.S.S. Enterprise, or how about walking through the length of a Super Star Destroyer while thinking that you’re Darth Vader?
Jerry Seinfield’s Apartment Recreated For Oculus Rift original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Virtual reality sure is cute. And, yes, I do mean that in the most condescending way possible.
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It’s hard for me to imagine a hardware startup that is more exciting, more fascinating, and that has more potential to ripple out into a million amazing things than Oculus and their Rift virtual reality headset.
Many of you, it seems, would agree. After weeks of voting, our readers and this community have chosen Oculus VR as the Best Hardware Startup of the year.
As has been said many a time, Hardware is hard. Though the barrier to entry is lower than it’s ever been, the creation of new hardware is still a field that most don’t enter.
It makes sense, then, that the competition here was incredibly fierce. Oculus’ fellow nominees in the category:
While Oculus shipped an early, developers-only version of their headset last year, they’ve yet to release a consumer-ready version (or even announce an official date for one). And that’s just fine. This is a case where “Screw it, Ship It” simply does not apply; where it’s not just acceptable to hold the product close until it’s at a point of perfection, but where that is the only right decision. The reason they haven’t released a retail product is not for lack of talent, interest, or funding. It’s because they must get it right the first time, and they know it.
This concept — virtual reality in the home — is one that science fiction has promised us for decades. The available technology is finally reaching a point where it’s becoming feasible — and when it does, Oculus is positioned to pave the way. Industry legends are leaving their post at companies they created to be a part of it. The most adored company in the gaming world has pledged their R&D resources to them. Developers around the world are already building apps and concept demos for the device, knowing full well that consumers won’t have their hands on it for months to years. If Oculus can’t pull this off, I’m not sure anyone can.
Congratulations, Oculus. We’re all excited for the next few years.
Oculus isn’t just supporting CCP Games from a distance in its creation of EVE: Valkyrie – the maker of the Oculus Rift VR gaming headset announced today that it will co-publish the game with CCP, making it an exclusive launch title when the Rift launches to consumers later this year.
Valkyrie originally debuted under the codename EVE-VR, and features space fighter gameplay with an in-cockpit viewpoint. Oculus has used Valkyrie as a showcase piece of software for its virtual reality gaming headset, both at E3 last year and again at CES in January, where it was used to demo the new, more user-friendly ‘Crystal Cove’ production prototype Rift hardware.
Getting in bed with CCP as a co-publisher guarantees Eve: Valkyrie prime placement for the Rift’s eventual consumer launch, but it also means that Oculus will have the equivalent of a top-flight ‘console exclusive’, so to speak, complete with established brand recognition. The EVE Online MMO still entertains a massive audience, even a decade after its launch, as evidenced by the scope of a recent in-game space battle.
Total video game immersion might not be as far away as you think: The Oculus Rift is a huge step in the right direction, and it may have an optimal bedfellow in Thalmic’s Myo armband, the gesture control wearable that picks up on electrical impulses from your arm to deliver fine-tuned control over connected devices. While the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset can track head movements, and even now sense when you move forward or pull back, it still requires that you use a physical controller in most cases, which tends to dampen the realism to a degree. You’re not actually going to reach for that ladder run when climbing in-game, for instance, or grip that stock when you’re taking aim with your assault rifle. Oculus Rift and Myo are such a natural fit that it hasn’t escaped the notice of its investors. Spark Capital has a stake in both companies, and that’s no coincidence: A source close to the firm tells me that they considered the possible cross-device potential when they made their investment in each company, both of which were announced in June last year. Myo is marketing its devices as a much more broadly focused input mechanism, but the gaming segment is the fatted pig ready for market for investors, we’re told. The Oculus/Myo team-up isn’t just speculative, either. An email from Myo founder and CEO Stephen Lake confirms that indeed, development efforts are underway to link up the two pieces of hardware. “There are projects using both Myo + Rift,” he explained via email. “For example, there are developers in our Alpha program integrating both with Unity for various games. I think it’s a badass use case.”
For Oculus Rift, the key to success appears to depend at least in part on the headset’s ability to provide a convincing simulation of reality. Disconnects between what users are seeing in-game what they think they should be able to do in terms of character control and in-world interaction. For Myo, the big hurdle will be demonstrating a focused consumer use case that appeals to a big enough segment of the consumer market. In other words, Myo hooking up with the Rift is like chocolate meeting peanut butter, and it’ll be interesting to see how deep that relationship eventually goes.
Virtual Reality can be great
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