Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Virtual Reality Headsets (Oculus Rift)


What is Virtual reality (VR)?   It is a three-dimensional computer generated world or environment, that is affected by the users movements.  The term virtual reality has been around for a long time.  When most people think of virtual reality they think of a helmet connected to a computer.  That mindset is about too quickly change.  In recent years VR tech has been evolving, and so has the market for it.  Many companies like Sony, Samsung, Google and Oculus have now associated themselves with VR tech, for gaming, social and mobile platforms.  For the sake of time, I will just focus on Google and Oculus.

            Google and Oculus have been developing a VR headset gaming system, that has a controller to go with it.  The headset gaming system is called the Oculus rift.  As of now Google and Oculus are leading the way in this market.  But what you really want to know is how does it work.  The way that it works is by putting on the headset.  Unfortunately the headset is not wireless so you will have to put the cable over your shoulder.  You will also have to plug in the headset into a powerful PC.  Oculus will be offering a these PC's, which will also have the "Oculus Ready PC Program" installed to play the game.  The headset is suppose to feel like slipping on a pair of glasses.  Then since everyone's eyes are not the same, you will be able to adjust the distance of the optics.  You will also be able to adjust then lens for each eye as well.  Oculus still recommends that while playing you sit instead of standing up. 

            I think that the Oculus Rift will have a lot of success with this product.  Some of the reasons for this is the name recognition that they have, and the fact that they have created their own controller for the product.  The controller will be from Xbox, so that is how you will control the game with the headset.  The product will also have plenty of financial backing, because of Facebook.  The product is set to be released in the first quarter of 2016.  The estimated price for this product will be no more than $1,000.  I truly believe that this product can and will work but it does have a some problems that can hold it back.  Those problems are the PC that is needed to work it and the price.  The question that I have is, will the average consumer still buy the Oculus Rift?
The VR Race
Oculus Rift coming in 2016

4 comments:

  1. I'm not sure if at this point a product like this will have the price range needed for it to be purchased by the average consumer. I think it is more of a gadget gift for people with more disposable income, although it is a genius idea and really brings gaming into real life!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's hard for me to see an average consumer buying one of these for that price tag. However, what this technology is doing is pretty cool, and most likely will be easier to use and more affordable sometime in the near future.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think that the idea of this technology is pretty cool. However, I don't think that the average consumer will buy this. The immense cost of this product is enough for just about everybody to not want to buy this. Once VR becomes a cheaper technology is when i think it will really start to catch on with most consumers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is a really cool concept, but I cannot see the average person buying this. The technology is really young, and with that there are probably several inevitable problems. My hope is that more companies will pursue this technology so that prices go down. With increased competition comes increased quality as well

    ReplyDelete