Since the dawn of science fiction, a true and workable virtual reality device has been the holy grail for gamers, scientists, future-nerds and just about everyone else. This technology that has been slow coming. There have been several gaps along the road that leads us, eventually, to Star Trek’s Holodeck. Computing power, until recently, really hasn’t been up to snuff. Not to mention screens, until recently, have been heavy and cumbersome. Well, the time is coming to put away your bulky and ridiculous looking virtual reality headsets and embrace the future of not-so-bulky and ridiculous looking virtual reality headsets. Welcome to the world of Oculus Rift.
Virtual reality enthusiast, and all around nice guy, Palmer Luckey began designing his VR game changer in his mother’s basement years ago. It has since gotten the attention of many industry luminaries, including the heads of Valve Software and Epic Games. What’s the big deal? Well the range of motion and depth of field is more than anything else ever attempted. All told you can swerve your head 110 degrees and still stay in the game world. Also? It’s light, weighing about half as much as anything else being worked on. The Rift also includes a DVI/HDMI and USB port, six-degree head tracking and a 1280×800 resolution (640×800 per eye). The end result of all of this tech? It feels like, for all intensive purposes, you are actually inside of the game you are playing. Cool!
Of course, this isn’t going to show up in store shelves too soon but don’t fret! The company has put their idea up on Kickstarter, where they’ve already raised over a million dollars. If you kick in $300 you can get your very own Rift beta kit in your house delivered immediately. It even comes packed in with a specially designed copy of Doom made to take advantage of the headset’s unique featureset. What are you waiting for? The future is now!
