Man, when I saw a link to this in my inbox yesterday morning I just about flipped my shit. I’ve been trying to find a personal 3D system that doesn’t suck or crush my neck, and this just might be it:
Well, the beginning stages of it. This is only supporting the production and distribution of developer kits. The production model (if this gets enough popularity) would increase the quality of the screen hardware to above 720p. The dev hardware is sitting at 1280×800 (640×800, per eye) to cut costs. It should still look great, and help developers with a strict budget get onboard.
The goal ($250k) has been met, it passed it several times over withint the first day, and is now sitting at $904k and sitll has a month to go.
While there are some cheaper physical rewards for those who want to wait for the production version (or just don’t have the funds), the real fun starts at $300 with the “Early Rift Developer Kit + Doom3 BFG”. This comes with the dev kit assembled (there is a sold out option for an unassymbled one), a high-production value game will full integration, full access to the SDK, engine integrations, and more.
Specs on the dev kit hardware (subject to change) are:
Head tracking: 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) ultra low latency
Field of view: 110 degrees diagonal / 90 degrees horizontal
Resolution: 1280×800 (640×800 per eye)
Inputs: DVI/HDMI and USB
Platforms: PC and mobile
Weight: ~0.22 kilograms
Something you’ll need to fully understand if you contribute to this is that it WON’T make your current games 3D. All games would need patches, and this doesn’t garuntee ANY future games will utilize this hardware. I realize this, I’m not a dev, but I hope by showing support that this will usher in a new generation of inexpensive personal portable 3D hardware integrated with the next generation of gaming.
Hmmm, $35 more dollars for the t-shirt and poster….. That is tempting!
I’m excited for the endorsements by industry titans such as Gabe Newell, David Helgason, Cliff Bleszinski, and John Carmack. What I’m more excited for is the possibility that this may allow personal 2D viewing on a simulated GIGANTOR screen (110degrees). I’m reaching out to see if this is possible.
Full press release available at http://oculusvr.com/press_release/.
