Why the Oculus Rift Won't Work

[newfoundsky]

Virtual Reality is the Holy Grail of gaming and entertainment art in general. And it is absolutely never going to happen.

People seem to think that Virtual Reality is putting on a head set, maybe some body sensors, and your actions would play over the headset and beam directly into your eyeballs. Would this lead to greater immersion? Absolutely. But it is not virtual reality, and I do not believe it would be worth all the extra equipment or effort, for the simple fact that several aspects of reality would not be included:

1. Physical feedback on every part of your body. I think that immersion would be broken if only the parts of you connected to sensors could feel what is going on in virtual world. Most concepts I have seen either use several sensors, or a suit with a lot more feedback but it will not be enough. Imagine, going through real life and only feeling a breeze on your joints, or the small of your back. It would unsettle me, personally.

2. You would have no sense of smell. This is not a problem as things stand, because our games are not trying to be that immersive. Immersion is a side effect of a very well made game. Virtual Reality would require perfect immersion, and that would mean smells. The smell of snow. Of soap. The smell of O-zone just before it rains. All these things are important because even if just one of them is missing, you will notice, and then it will break the illusion, and at that point you may as well just sit in front of your TV a play a regular game. Which brings me to my next point:

3. People still think Virtual Reality is having the TV inches from your face. I mean, I think it would be awesome to have a headset for most games like this, which is one of my hopes for the Oculus Rift. Having a view of your mask like you would in real life helps with immersion, especially in games that are unrealistic otherwise, such as Halo (you can make out the shape of your Visor) and how your Gasmask shows up in Metro 2033. It would better serve for HUDs as well. But just being closer to the screen itself is not immersive, and it is rather silly that the headset is what our technology is trying to focus on. I much rather feel than see, and then smell. EVerything else can come after.

These are just my thoughts on the subject. What about you, Escapist?

 

[aozgolo]

You're taking the term "Virtual Reality" too literal I think. Yes it's not "true virtual reality" but it's not pretending to be, it's using the term as a tag word, but I don't think anyone's expecting eXistenZ level of immersion, we're well off from that. I guess you could argue for calling it an "Augmented immersion system" it's simply a new way to experience things, similar to Stereoscopic 3D, it'll be a bit niche but there's definite money to be made in that market.

 

[josemlopes]

To me what it does is enough, 3D in games is actually quite nice and having it cover your entire sight can be a very good experience (and it certainly does immerse you a lot in the game world). Also the simulation of the head is also a very big strong point for me, I dont really care much that I cant yet touch objects or make control things with my arms, for now just controlling my view with my head is enough, untill we dont get good motion controls I think the M+KB or gamepad will do just fine for the actual game controls.

 

[VanQ]

I've given the original dev kit a try and while it's far from what I imagined VR would be in its first incarnation, it's actually got its uses. Being able to use your head to turn the character' field of view actually has certain advantages in video games. My friend often plays medic in TF2 and he's never been more aware of the situation in any given game than after getting the headset.

I'd love the play an MMO like TERA or Wildstar with the Oculus as long as they could implement some kind of raid environment similar in intensity to WoW's raiding. Even Skyrim was a lot of fun to play with the headset on.

 

[EternallyBored]

I'm going to agree with Kennedy here, you're taking the term "virtual reality" way too literally. Other than some very ignorant people, nobody is operating under the assumption that the Rift is anything other than a potentially really neat peripheral that can help increase immersion in games for some gamers.

Yes, virtual reality in the sci-fi sense will require a lot more than just a fancy headset with a motion control to measure head position, but nobody here is using VR in that sense. Is it a bit of a marketing term? Yes, but calling the Rift and the Morpheus VR is a lot more convenient than calling it a stereoscopic visual headset with position based motion control, and until someone actually gets off their ass and invents the matrix, people are going to keep calling stuff like this VR, because it's a handy short descriptor of what the technology attempts to accomplish.

 

[gorfias]

If you look at videos about headphones, the community is very picky about what they put on their heads. It has to be light, comfortable and not bother you even after extended use.

I can't see that working on the rift. That thing not only looks heavy, but it's going to put you a bit off balance. That written, at least the head brace looks like it is meant to try to distribute the weight more evenly. I don't know if it can work.

 

[Smooth Operator]

You are saying it's not accurate enough to the real thing?
Well neither is anything else we do in gaming, you don't fly planes with a slab of plastic in your hands and mash buttons when QTEs flash IRL, you don't shoot people with a slab of plastic, you don't drive with a slab of plastic, don't punch people with it, you don't talk to people with it,... and yet that is how we interact in games, it's close enough.
The select colourful pixels on screen are also nothing like our real sight and the squeaks from headphones are way off, but it is enough to get us into the feel of the game.

And if you ever put Oculus on you would see this is another decent enough approximation for real vision, isn't the final solution to anything but it is a big step up from a static flat 20° view window at the end of your room.
Full view cover and 110° eyesight field of view with accurate camera/head movement may not seem like a lot from description, but if you actually give it a ride then it's very clear what a nice natural feel you get to game world observation.

 

[RJ 17]

Apparently the OP won't be happy until someone invents The Matrix.

You said it yourself under the point about smells: they're not trying to be that immersive. They're not literally trying to send you into another form of reality as though you were stepping onto the Holodeck of the Enterprise or, indeed, plugging into The Matrix. That level of immersion would be pretty terrible if you ask me, and I certainly wouldn't want any part of it. Tying in with the "you can't feel everything" bit, would you REALLY want to feel every bullet your character takes? Every Creeper explosion right next---oh, well I guess we wouldn't have to worry about that one . But feel it every time your Dragonborn gets chopped with an orc's act? Every time your Commander Shepard gets killed by a grenade?

 

[drakonz]

you know the absoluly never going to happen part of your post is compledly wrong. all senses are made by brain if you know how to stimulate certain senses you can use them for anything (and some of the senses are stimulated to help recovery in some cases) our current knowledge and tecnology related to brains just isnt there yet, but oculus rift is step closer to show you what it would be like to be inside of a game.

 

[Vivi22]

You're taking the term "Virtual Reality" too literal I think.

Can't agree with this more. Anyone expecting that the Oculus Rift or any other VR headset fails to do what it claims because they don't result in true VR is being far too literal, and a little bit silly honestly since they aren't claiming to do that in the first place.

You're basically arguing that the OR isn't something that it never claimed to be. Which makes the only logical response, "so what?"

 

[Vivi22]

If you look at videos about headphones, the community is very picky about what they put on their heads. It has to be light, comfortable and not bother you even after extended use.

I can't see that working on the rift. That thing not only looks heavy, but it's going to put you a bit off balance. That written, at least the head brace looks like it is meant to try to distribute the weight more evenly. I don't know if it can work.

The thing weighs barely more than a pound. Honestly, my headphones aren't much lighter. I doubt the weight or balance are going to be such a hindrance that they kill it (that's what Facebook is for!). Honestly, that's pretty damn light.

 

[sanquin]

Sword art online levels of virtual reality is something our current technology can't produce, no. But then again, no one expected the rift to be like that. It might sometime in the future. Maybe, like, 500 years from now or something. But everything started off slow. Games started as simple black and white lines, and look at it now. TV's started as big bulky boxes with poor image quality, and look at the 4k full HD flatscreen TV's we have today. Cars started as highly inefficient machines that could maybe achieve slightly more speed than a horse, and look at...for instance an F1 racing car today.

My point is, if the rift succeeds, it'll only be the first step towards fully immersive VR, not the last step.

 

[4RM3D]

And 3D (in) movies is not really 3D either, but people still call it 3D... Likewise with VR, it's just a convenience name. I shouldn't look too much into it.

 

[gorfias]

If you look at videos about headphones, the community is very picky about what they put on their heads. It has to be light, comfortable and not bother you even after extended use.

I can't see that working on the rift. That thing not only looks heavy, but it's going to put you a bit off balance. That written, at least the head brace looks like it is meant to try to distribute the weight more evenly. I don't know if it can work.

The thing weighs barely more than a pound. Honestly, my headphones aren't much lighter. I doubt the weight or balance are going to be such a hindrance that they kill it (that's what Facebook is for!). Honestly, that's pretty damn light.

Well, PS4 is coming out with their own version. If it can be that light, call me optimistic. I hope it works, and is awesome!

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

I remember playing a VR tank game in The Trocadero in London years ago. You had to sit in huge pods with heavy goggles and the graphics looked like Amiga games. Yeah it sucked and wasnt worth the money on hindsight. Even now i can feel immersed in games like Skyrim etc. I dont need VR to do that and i already know im playing a game so VR adds nothing to me. It will die out same as VR did before. Same as 3D will die out again. I know it isnt strictly the same but the kinect in Forza lets you turn your head and the game screen turns with you - an thats what VR is to a point. Another gimmick that will cost people money and ultimately fail apart from a few games that do it right. Imagine the shovelware.

 

[Radeonx]

I think it won't work because I think it is just a step up from the Wii. Sure, it's a neat gimmick idea, but I don't want to constantly play VR, just like I don't want to constantly use motion control to play games. I don't need that to be immersed, and I certainly don't think all forms of gaming should try to pyramid into that point into the future.

 

[pilouuuu]

There are some things that are better leave out of a simulation of reality. Why would anyone want simulated smell in a game?
Will they want to small the sweat of the orcs? Or Bantha's poo?

Unless it's a cooking simulator, I don't see the point in smell simulation and even in the last case that would make you awfully hungry. The only application would be to smell the roses while hiking in the lastest Elder Scrolls game.

Even if we get the Matrix someday, I think it'd be better off without smell simulation.

 

[newfoundsky]

Apparently the OP won't be happy until someone invents The Matrix.

You said it yourself under the point about smells: they're not trying to be that immersive. They're not literally trying to send you into another form of reality as though you were stepping onto the Holodeck of the Enterprise or, indeed, plugging into The Matrix. That level of immersion would be pretty terrible if you ask me, and I certainly wouldn't want any part of it. Tying in with the "you can't feel everything" bit, would you REALLY want to feel every bullet your character takes? Every Creeper explosion right next---oh, well I guess we wouldn't have to worry about that one . But feel it every time your Dragonborn gets chopped with an orc's act? Every time your Commander Shepard gets killed by a grenade?

I have given this some thought and it would be awesome to feel every bullet and axe hit you, so long as the sensation is not pain.

I do wonder though, if this were to happen, would someone that plays videogames a lot also associate this placeholder sensation with pain and actually get hurt? I think that would prove that VR is coming closer to something akin to the Matrix.

AND FOR THE RECORD I WANT A HOLODECK NOT THE MATRIX

 

[newfoundsky]

There are some things that are better leave out of a simulation of reality. Why would anyone want simulated smell in a game?
Will they want to small the sweat of the orcs? Or Bantha's poo?

Unless it's a cooking simulator, I don't see the point in smell simulation and even in the last case that would make you awfully hungry. The only application would be to smell the roses while hiking in the lastest Elder Scrolls game.

Even if we get the Matrix someday, I think it'd be better off without smell simulation.

Well, yes, I would like to smell unpleasant things as well as pleasant things, let me explain myself better.

Virtual Reality has to be as close to reality as possible, otherwise you just have your TV close to your face and a funny suit on. I can forsee a lack of smells making people extremely uncomfortable in an open world game where you can do anything, but when you pick up the flower, try and smell, and you can't.

This is not so much a gripe, as me trying to stress that we need to be focusing on every aspect of this technology, and not just the video aspect.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

There are some things that are better leave out of a simulation of reality. Why would anyone want simulated smell in a game?
Will they want to small the sweat of the orcs? Or Bantha's poo?

Unless it's a cooking simulator, I don't see the point in smell simulation and even in the last case that would make you awfully hungry. The only application would be to smell the roses while hiking in the lastest Elder Scrolls game.

Even if we get the Matrix someday, I think it'd be better off without smell simulation.

Well, yes, I would like to smell unpleasant things as well as pleasant things, let me explain myself better.

Virtual Reality has to be as close to reality as possible, otherwise you just have your TV close to your face and a funny suit on. I can forsee a lack of smells making people extremely uncomfortable in an open world game where you can do anything, but when you pick up the flower, try and smell, and you can't.

This is not so much a gripe, as me trying to stress that we need to be focusing on every aspect of this technology, and not just the video aspect.

So basically instead of a gradual build up you want a quantum leap in technology?

That's like expecting a 1910 film-maker to create James Cameron's Avatar in 3D. Sure 'talkie' movies exist (but are not mainstream yet), but sound colour and 3D?

Sure the visual portion of VR exists (but isn't mainstream yet), but to add in touch and smell?

I think just creating a viable set of VR goggles that is a modest commercial success would be a lofty goal by-itself, let-alone everything you desire. Besides at this point VR is concentrating on visuals because that's the primary sense most people perceive the world with and is more viable as a selling point to potential devs then smell.