Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,278
30,339



The Oculus Rift headset, which features a fully immersive virtual reality experience, originally made its debut on Kickstarter last summer where it raised almost $2.5 million. Since that time it's been in development and while a dev kit is available, the initial consumer version is expected to debut next year.

As the dev kit is only compatible with the Mac and the PC, there's been speculation about whether or not the Oculus Rift will work with next generation consoles, like the upcoming PS4 and the Xbox One, but it turns out that's not what the company is aiming for.


According to Oculus Rift CEO Brendan Iribe, who spoke with Edge, the company isn't planning to develop the headset with upcoming consoles in mind, and instead plans to focus its efforts on both PCs and mobile devices.
"I love consoles but internally we're a lot more excited about where mobile's going to go, and being able to plug it right into a next gen cellphone," he told us. "It's the innovation, and how fast cellphones are now improving - where we'll be with the next Galaxy or the next iPhone compared to where consoles are. Those things are almost doubling every year, compared to a console that's just stuck it out for eight years - it just makes us very excited. There's a lot of improvements that can be made on the hardware side for VR that no-one's doing yet because it's a new thing. The mobile rate of innovation is going to be able to make a lot of those improvements."
As our sister site TouchArcade points out, mobile devices like the iPad and the iPhone are fully capable of supporting the headset's 1080p display and the technology exists for a potentially wireless system using Bluetooth and AirPlay. With the addition of MFi game controllers, mobile gaming could be entering a whole new era with the Oculus Rift.

Iribe wasn't able to give a specific release date for the Oculus Rift, but he said that the company "would love for it to be next year."

Article Link: Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset to Support 'Next Gen Cellphones'
 

TheKrs1

macrumors 6502
Apr 11, 2010
357
128
So, will someone code a messaging/calendar/social media app that will let us browse our messages in the likes of how the movie Disclosure showcased VR?
 

filmantopia

macrumors 6502a
Feb 5, 2010
857
2,435
They really made the right move here. Oculus should be tied to mobile-- this device could go much farther than just gaming. Just about anyone who has tried it has described it as a striking experience that in some form represents the future of entertainment.
 

jfx94

macrumors regular
May 22, 2013
134
17
where ever I am at.
These guys have been getting a fair bit of press in the last few months.

Quite a bit of pressure for a product that might (optimistically) ship in 2014.
 

mixel

macrumors 68000
Jan 12, 2006
1,729
976
Leeds, UK
Still looks nerdish - still looks terrible.
"looks" don't come into it at all, and the experience will sell it to enough people. (it's not for everyone) Nobody is going to make VR trendy looking - but that's not what it needs.

Anyway.. Most fun things look weird when you're not the person who's actively doing them.
 

Pakaku

macrumors 68040
Aug 29, 2009
3,118
4,359
Hopefully that doesn't mean people walking on the streets, too busy focused on whatever they're doing and not paying attention to what's going on around them...

Still looks nerdish - still looks terrible.

Well, seems you're rather over-self-conscious, aren't you?
 

pgiguere1

macrumors 68020
May 28, 2009
2,167
1,200
Montreal, Canada
Hopefully that doesn't mean people walking on the streets, too busy focused on whatever they're doing and not paying attention to what's going on

What you're describing is more like Google Glass.
The Oculus Rift doesn't have a transparent display/camera to allow for augmented reality, and doesn't have a battery so it can be used outside (yet anyway).
Current version is only meant to be used inside, tethered to a PC and power source.
I personnally think upping the resolution and fixing the latency/motion sickness issues is more pressing than making this device mobile. I think they should perfect the VR experience first, and then care about mobility. It still has a long way to go before being a truly realistic experience, but I have faith in Oculus to deliver something really good at some point.
 

nagromme

macrumors G5
May 2, 2002
12,546
1,196
Sign me up! I'd buy Oculus Rift for iOS in a heartbeat!

Still looks nerdish - still looks terrible.

Looks amazing.... from the inside :D And all that has been seen so far is the development version, not the consumer version. (Who cares what a device looks like when you're at home playing games? All your friends see is your avatar anyway...)
 

0098386

Suspended
Jan 18, 2005
21,574
2,908
It's good to hear they're supporting phones. I think this device needs to be supported by as many platforms as possible. I'd love to get a retail one for my PS4, for example!

I love my dev version. All the problems they have with it can be fixed (higher res, faster refresh rate), so I have no doubt the retail version will be an excellent piece of kit.

Games need to be built for it though. It's not something you can just drop into an existing game, even TF2 struggles with it, but some of the tech demos are amazing.
 

50548

Guest
Apr 17, 2005
5,039
2
Currently in Switzerland
Hopefully that doesn't mean people walking on the streets, too busy focused on whatever they're doing and not paying attention to what's going on around them...



Well, seems you're rather over-self-conscious, aren't you?

Huh? It's just my opinion, period. But I guess it's ok to look stupid if it is meant to be used only at home... ;)
 

R1PPER

macrumors 6502
Oct 1, 2008
360
62
Not being funny i wish they would just concentrate on a 1080p consumer version and stop talking about "bringing a free version out" or "iphone compatibility" just get me a 1080p consumer unit NOW!
 

macs4nw

macrumors 601
This sounds really promising, especially considering many game developers, having seen and tried the prototypes, have given their blessing as well as very positive feedback, and encouragement even, to this project.

It's almost like a personal 'IMAX-for-gaming'. Definite home use potential!
 

mdelvecchio

macrumors 68040
Sep 3, 2010
3,151
1,149
Still looks nerdish - still looks terrible.

rubbish. gaming is inheritantly nerdy...but luckily it's often done in private (unlike google's vision for Glass).

further, the tech specs on this look great, not terrible. the resolution, field of vision and responsiveness are finally at a point to make it a practical gaming accessory.
 

koruki

macrumors 65816
Aug 16, 2009
1,346
669
New Zealand
so that silly Tile that you throw out in a year got $1million and this awesome product only got a bit over $2m?
 

skunkvapor

macrumors newbie
Jul 18, 2013
1
0
Still looks nerdish - still looks terrible.

As with many things in life, the importance lays on the inside, not on the outside.

The Oculus Rift will enable you to play many games in 3D, with head-tracking, and will also allow you to watch movies, both in 2D and 3D.

All of that for a ridiculous price of USD 300,- for the dev-version.

I will literally throw my money at them as soon as it is available...
 
Last edited by a moderator:

PracticalMac

macrumors 68030
Jan 22, 2009
2,857
5,242
Houston, TX
Massively intriguing possibilities here!

The down side is people waking down the street with OR gear on instead of actually looking where they are waking. :p
 

blitzer09x87

macrumors 6502
May 19, 2013
408
0
good step, otherwise this thing would have been easily forgotten, i'm really interested in checking this thing out.
 

jheitzeb

macrumors newbie
Jul 24, 2013
1
0
Seattle
Poppy for 3D gaming

Hi, I'm one of the creators of Poppy, a device that turns iPhone into a 3D capture, playback and sharing device.

Many of our kickstarter backers have suggested that Poppy could be used as a 3D gaming device (iOS is a popular gaming platform, obviously, and when placed in a Poppy you have essentially a "poor man's oculus rift")

We reached out to get feedback from the gaming community about this, so I'll share with you: http://poppy3d.com/gaming

thanks
joe
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.