Oculus Rift is a new virtual reality, 360 degrees head tracking, stereoscopic, wearable and affordable ultra wide field of view headset. It's a device that you wear strapped around your head which then gives you a real life perspective into a video game. In simpler terms, its a personal video game screen in a box attached to your face.
Is it really the "best advice"? According to The Verge, Wired, Engadget, Business Insider, Gizmodo, CNN, Time Magazine, TechRadar, The Wall Street Journal, and so many more, this new virtual reality device is turning heads wether you're wearing the headset or not. As for my insignificant opinion on the device, I think it makes you look like the biggest anti-social person ever. I mean, your face is being consumed by a box. You're in your own little world and there's no escaping until your mom says "dinner's ready!"
As far as convergence goes this device is still just a prototype. Once it becomes more readily available it will provide the performance of a game into a whole new world. The interactivity of this device is entirely visual. You don't actually push buttons or touch the device once it's sucking onto your face. All you have to do is just look around and move your head from left to right to experience the interactivity thats happening in your interpersonal bubble. You are entirely in control of what you look at when you play a game with this snow-goggle-looking tumor hanging in front of your eyes.
With the research I've done on this device I found that a lot of people have been giving their own personal reviews and a few of them have said the phrase "without even leaving the comfort of your home." I understand that it means you can go have fun and get the thrill of a roller coaster without having to get dressed first... but does that mean that one day cars will be obsolete? Because we can just do everything from home?
The developer of the Oculus Rift, Palmer Luckey, says that he wanted to be more involved with his games. He wanted something that would give him an experience like no other. But he couldn't find anything that he was looking for so he just started developing it himself. Other people must have had the same desire as Luckey because suddenly this device had $75 million invested in it.
For some people, gaming is just a temporary escape from reality. But for others, gaming is their reality and their whole world. So why not make it a virtual reality? The technology is there. Go for it.
This device started on KickStarter and raised $250,000 in no time. “All of the components in this prototype have existed since late 2008" said Luckey. "It's old stuff: four-year old technology. We have fitted it with a more modern display and a better tracker since [the Kickstarter campaign], but what everyone has been writing and raving about since then existed in 2008.”
“Even though it’s reliant on external hardware, whether that’s a PC or mobile device, that definitely won’t be forever necessarily,” said Nate Mitchell, Oculus VR’s vice president. “It’s just the inevitable direction the industry is going to go in, especially for VR and [augmented reality]. The Rift is going to support plugging right into your mobile phone or tablet."
However, the compatibility with the XBOX One or the PlayStation 4 doesn't look so good right now. The only way to play new games is to find a developer and have him or het make a game fitted to the Oculus Rift... Oh... and did I mention that they're hiring?
Overall, the Oculus Rift has been awarded many "best of..." and "best concept/prototype/design..." but is it really the best device so our social society? ...I don't think so. I don't think the Oculus Rift brings anything to the table except entertainment. I see it as unpractical and destructive to our social capabilities and our economy.
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