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John Carmack joins Oculus as CTO

oculusvr.com

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Re: John Carmack joins Oculus as CTO

#161

Post by thenomad »

malandrew wrote: post #139
thenomad wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's waaaaaaaaay harder than it looks. The big problem with swords in VR is physical feedback. If I strike at you with a saber, the saber will stop moving, sooner or later - either because you parry, or because the resistance of your bones and muscle eventually slows the thing down. Either way, it's a key component of a realistic swordfight. And it's bloody difficult to do in VR. You're not just talking about force…

Can you use gyroscopes to provide resistive force. Keep a heavy one running at low speed in the sword in a gimble. when you are about to hit something predictively rotate it to the correct orientation and accelerate it to high speed. Not totally sure this would work but if there is anything that can provide counteracting force without physical contact, a gyroscope is it. You don't even have to make a heavy sword, the…

Most swords aren't actually all that heavy - at least not ones designed for combat. My backsword feels about as light in the hand as a walking stick.

Good idea - I shall store that one away for future reference...

Re: John Carmack joins Oculus as CTO

#162

Post by thenomad »

corysama wrote: post #136
thenomad wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's waaaaaaaaay harder than it looks. The big problem with swords in VR is physical feedback. If I strike at you with a saber, the saber will stop moving, sooner or later - either because you parry, or because the resistance of your bones and muscle eventually slows the thing down. Either way, it's a key component of a realistic swordfight. And it's bloody difficult to do in VR. You're not just talking about force…

Not a solution, but an alternative to stopping your hand: http://tacticalhaptics.com/ I've tried this a couple of times at the local VR meetups. It's hard to describe, but it works better than you'd think.

I very much want to try Tactical Haptics' stuff. Wonder if they'll be in Scotland any time soon?

Re: John Carmack joins Oculus as CTO

#163

Post by Sprint »

thenomad wrote: post #117
aaronblohowiak wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The dev kit is not yet consumer ready, but it does show a glimpse of the future. The (low) resolution of the screen on the dev kit is really distracting, but more importantly we are still learning about the control schemes. Right now, it is very hard/disorienting to play FPSs on the rift (IMNSHO).

The solutions to this problem might be really odd. Personally, I've been testing the Wii Balance Board as a useful input device for the Rift - and it's showing some promise. One tester did describe my test game as "Dungeon Segway Challenge", but we're getting there slowly...

Dungeon Segway Challenge sounds like it could become a "viral" hit just like QWOP and similar nonsense. Might be worth pursing if only for the publicity. Make videos of people falling over when you secretly slowly adjust the floor angle while they are leaning forward to drive. "You thought people on Segways looked silly but have you seen these nerd-goggled freaks on wii boards?"

Re: John Carmack joins Oculus as CTO

#164

Post by frio »

swax wrote: post #113
aaronblohowiak wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The dev kit is not yet consumer ready, but it does show a glimpse of the future. The (low) resolution of the screen on the dev kit is really distracting, but more importantly we are still learning about the control schemes. Right now, it is very hard/disorienting to play FPSs on the rift (IMNSHO).

I've done work to translate familiar 2d fps aim views to 3d and it feels very natural. I had tons of people at QuakeCon jumping right in a fragging just as well as they do in 2d. If you have a rift you can try it - https://github.com/swax/Quakespasm-Rift

Thanks for this; I look forward to giving it a go tonight!

Re: John Carmack joins Oculus as CTO

#165

Post by frio »

aaronblohowiak wrote: post #104
LandoCalrissian wrote: post #42

John Carmack believes in the tech, and I believe in John Carmack, so I will be getting one. He has basically been with them since the beginning in some capacity, here is a video of him demoing a unit at E3 2012: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw-DlWwlXHo You can see that one is still a very early prototype held together with duct tape. It's not specifically stated, but it sounds like he will be leaving id for this.…

The dev kit is not yet consumer ready, but it does show a glimpse of the future. The (low) resolution of the screen on the dev kit is really distracting, but more importantly we are still learning about the control schemes. Right now, it is very hard/disorienting to play FPSs on the rift (IMNSHO).

While the control schemes can be a little jarring, I've not had a major issue with them. For me, it's games that have you accelerate at an incredible pace -- I tried playing HL2 Episode 1, for instance, and have found that to be the most jarring/motion-sickness inducing experience so far.

So much so that I went out and got a Razer Hydra to give myself manual control of the acceleration (well, this was a convenient excuse, anyway!).

Re: John Carmack joins Oculus as CTO

#166

Post by corysama »

wcarss wrote: post #101
patrickk wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would have my doubts about 3D revolutionising TV, as TV makers and content creators don't seem to be getting the reaction they'd hoped for from consumers. A lot of 3D movies are gimmicky, and some heavyweight directors like Christopher Nolan and Michael Scorsese have said it doesn't add anything to the storytelling nature of movies (unlike say IMAX). Gaming, on the other hand, will be simply amazing on the Rift, es…

As someone with a rift, I've experienced something really cool: Youtube videos in rift format. It's a way different experience than watching a 3D TV is, where you just get that fun little bit of pop. Just like when playing a rift game, you feel as though you're physically present in the world, and it's incredible. The thing they're missing is the ability to move your head around in the video -- it's a little bit diso…

As a big fan of the movie Strange Days, the effectiveness of plain-old-mpegs to deliver recorded first-person experiences that are replayable through the Rift was a wonderful surprise for me.

Here's my list of favorites so far:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eByvt8he58U&t=1m10s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXaxVLNMIxU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8zaYrd0LvI

http://vimeo.com/64769947 NSFW

Re: John Carmack joins Oculus as CTO

#167

Post by e12e »

green7ea wrote: post #153
LandoCalrissian wrote: post #42

John Carmack believes in the tech, and I believe in John Carmack, so I will be getting one. He has basically been with them since the beginning in some capacity, here is a video of him demoing a unit at E3 2012: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw-DlWwlXHo You can see that one is still a very early prototype held together with duct tape. It's not specifically stated, but it sounds like he will be leaving id for this.…

I've had the chance to try an oculus dev kit at work and it is VERY impressive. It's so immersive that the only problem I can see with it are with people who suffer from motion sickness. I can also see pixels if I pay attention but that should be fixed in the 1080p version. If you don't want to do any dev on it, I recommend you wait until there is a killer app that comes out to get one (so far there's half life 2, po…

I seem to recall the US Air Force did a study that indicated that 20% of their pilots suffered from motion sickness, and that the level in the general population is higher... has anything changed, that would let the Rift have higher acceptance than the old VR stuff from the 90s?

Re: John Carmack joins Oculus as CTO

#168

Post by frio »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #121
AndrewDucker wrote: post #62

I've played with an Oculus VR, and I think they're amazing. But I'm not convinced that they're ready for the mass market yet. Not because of any failing on their part, but because I think that they need games, and controllers, specifically designed to work with VR. You can't use mouse/keyboard well if you can't see the mouse/keyboard. UIs that float at the bottom of the screen feel very odd when you move your head ar…

> You can't use mouse/keyboard well if you can't see the mouse/keyboard. Uh, what? Even if you don't touch-type, you shouldn't need to look at the keyboard and mouse to play a game. All the keys you need should be under your fingers or in easy reach, and a mouse especially should be easy to use without watching your hand and fingers. I do agree with your comments about HUDs; VR games lose a lot of immersion if you ha…

Sure, but the instant you take your hands off the keys (or the mouse), you're groping and flailing wildly to find them again.

I didn't think it'd be an issue until I got my Rift, and it turned out it was :). I'm sure there'll eventually be a clever solution though.

Re: John Carmack joins Oculus as CTO

#169

Post by dyselon »

jlgreco wrote: post #135
nivloc wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what CCP did with the EVE-VR demo, and it makes sense in the context of a flight sim. It'll be interesting to see what developers come up with for FPSes. http://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/eve-vr-an-expe...

"Wrist-watches" with bullet and health readouts. Just look down at any point in the game and your virtual arm will come up, showing everything that you need to know on the back of it.

Well, hopefully not for health or ammo. The whole point of a heads up display is so that you can literally keep your head up. A "look down for info" mechanic might be neat for stats you'd normally put on a pause screen or things like your inventory, though.

Re: John Carmack joins Oculus as CTO

#170

Post by thenomad »

Sprint wrote: post #163
thenomad wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The solutions to this problem might be really odd. Personally, I've been testing the Wii Balance Board as a useful input device for the Rift - and it's showing some promise. One tester did describe my test game as "Dungeon Segway Challenge", but we're getting there slowly...

Dungeon Segway Challenge sounds like it could become a "viral" hit just like QWOP and similar nonsense. Might be worth pursing if only for the publicity. Make videos of people falling over when you secretly slowly adjust the floor angle while they are leaning forward to drive. "You thought people on Segways looked silly but have you seen these nerd-goggled freaks on wii boards?"

Oh, believe me, we're pursuing it. I'm slightly distracted right now by the RiftJam (Oculus Rift gamejam), which doesn't allow external input devices like this, but in the long term, I Have A Plan...
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