Oculus Rift officially on sale, ready to start the VR era.

The three-year-old virtual reality device Oculus Rift has been on sale, while the game media Eurogamer a comprehensive review of Oculus Rift. The biggest surprise for them in the test is that Oculus rift feels more like a standalone platform than just a piece of hardware. When you put it on, go to the main menu Oculus home and you'll see why you say so. There are many features in the main menu: Buy games, games libraries, downloads, friends, multimedia, start games, and so on, these menus are designed in a virtual VR world, and the whole looks like the main menu of the game console. Oculus says these functions can run smoothly as long as your PC configuration meets the minimum requirements of Oculus Rift.

To prove the compatibility of Oculus Rift, Oculus also provides a test environment consisting of an ASUS G20 small pc, an ASUS VE198 display, and Oculus Rift for Eurogamer. Surprisingly, the minimum configuration required by the Oculus rift is much lower than the G20 configuration. However, to test the results, Eurogamer chose Nvidia's GeForce GTX 970 graphics card during the test, but chose to compare the mid-end Intel i5-6400 processor, which in fact has a slightly worse performance than the i5-4590 processor recommended in the VR entry-level configuration. Without the hardware factor, Oculus home UI design, including the game's icons have a high degree of completion. In the test game, only a small number of games have a predictable slight lag, rift in the entire test to provide a stable 90-frame game experience.

　　

Hardware

After Oculus released two versions of the development machine, plus the Crescent Bay prototype, which was not publicly sold, we felt Oculus was finally ready to show it to the public, and we started with the hardware. When it was taken out of the box, the official version of Oculus Rift's appearance was not stunning. The design of the shape mainly considers the function and the practicality, at the same time the work also has the enhancement space. But the comfort of Oculus Rift is better than Crescent Bay and DK2, and the width of the headset is not too wide.

　　

But more importantly, we do not need to take off the glasses can wear it, although with still very tight, but at least in the previous prototype machine, we are unable to wear glasses. There is still light leakage at the nose, which is due to the installation of some ventilation to solve the problem of fog in the previous test. The device has a USB 3.0 interface and an HDMI 1.3 interface. The rift is secured to the frame by means of a nylon buckle on the side and above, and the user can remove the device by rotating the head on the monitor. The last change is that there is a slider below the rift to adjust the pupil distance. Before you use it, be sure to follow the instructions carefully to install the entire device. Once used, the user will use the built-in 3 VR demonstration to set the parameters for the next step.

Rift's sound system is very good, unlike its competitors, Oculus Rift comes with a pair of headsets, so the user does not need to wear a pair of headphones. The headset parts on the device are very flexible and can be adjusted or even removed. And its sound quality is beyond our expectations, sound can be well balanced, with good stress at the same time, high-frequency sound details have been better preserved. Even if you turn the volume up to the maximum, the sound will not appear distorted. This audio system is another surprise in Rift hardware, although Oculus Rift's headsets are not as high as some of the top-end headsets, but they can definitely help you reduce the weight of your head.

　　

At the same time, rift display quality is also very good. The overall display is soft, each eye sees is 1080*1200 resolution, 90Hz low-latency OLED display screen, this and the old DK prototype mobile phone screen has a day difference. Dynamic blur is almost negligible and the color is very showy. The 110-degree viewing angle works fine, but you'll still notice a round black border on both sides of the field while you play, and this problem also haunts HTC Vive and PS VR. But the number of pixels is still a problem, because your eyes and screen distance is very short, "gauze door effect" is unavoidable, in the rift appears to be tilted in the network pattern. But as long as the player does not deliberately observe, focus on the middle of the vision, these will not affect the visual experience, and the low-pixel problem will only affect the anti-aliasing to do a bad game.

The Oculus rift also comes with three additional peripherals, first the position sensor. In general, it runs very smoothly. However, when set, its recognizable range is sometimes too limited. The player is too close to the distance, it is likely to make the signal is obscured, resulting in sudden induction failure. The second is the remote control used in Oculus home, which can be completely replaced by the Xbox One handle.

　　

The Xbox One handle is another option for VR controllers because the Oculus touch handle is missing at the time of release. It has a wireless receiver and a USB extension cable, but it's disappointing that Oculus Rift didn't launch the 3D controller on sale. Currently, most of the games offered by Oculus tend to allow players to sit down and play, often with a handle. This is very different from the strategies that steam VR encourages to be more dynamic, interactive, and use the main push 3D interface.

Oculus Home

After the installation process is complete, you will be able to enter Oculus home. This is a VR-designed interface that features Windows-like menus. You are transferred to this so-called home, in the living room, behind the kitchen and restaurant, in front of you is the menu interface. Selecting items in the menu is also easy, the cursor in the middle of your vision will move with your head, and you can choose to use the Oculus remote or the Xbox handle to manipulate it by looking directly at an option to make the cursor select it.

Oculus has built this gorgeous and fully functional VR menu, with a beautiful interface and simple operation. The significance of the existence of Oculus home is obvious, allowing the player to detach from the Windows menu as much as possible. But there is a big problem, and most games require extra action on the PC when installing. These operations cannot be done in VR, requiring the player to take a head-off monitor and then complete the installation on the PC. Hopefully this problem can be solved, as this is almost the only deficiency in Oculus home.

Oculus Home shows us that the speed at which VR is progressing in software is not inferior to hardware. It's easy to use and fascinating, as well as a lot of other features to experience. This means that even if you do not enter the game, Oculus Rift can also bring a great VR experience. There are three CG animated demos: Henry, the invasion and lost. Although they are very short, each one is very good. There is also Oculus Dreamdeck, a VR collection, which contains a few simple technical tests, as well as a burst of sensory experience.

　　

Additional non-gaming applications include Oculus Jaunt and Oculus Video. Oculus Jaunt is a VR travel tablet that uses 360 degree video technology to take you around the world for sightseeing. There are a number of similar 360-degree videos, including some low-resolution videos on Facebook, and content on video sites like Vimeo and Twitch. In addition, you can simply place the video in the "My Videos" folder in Windows and then watch it in the virtual theater. Although the feeling is good, but because the scene resolution is low, the color performance is poor, this function basically can only make a bo person a smile of trick just. In addition Oculus home also has an app that supports viewing 360-degree photos.

Gaming Experience

The rift includes two free games, 3D shooter "Eve: Valkyrie" and "Lucky's Tale" like Mario. Although the game is a more important part of the Oculus Rift application, but Oculus has been trying to promote the concept of VR, so the use of multiple media formats to reach the best publicity results. Although VR video now looks less than ideal, it can attract people's attention. Facebook president Mark Zuckerberg has always said that the advantage of VR is that it's like being in a theater, Oculus rift doing well. Also, the CG video, which is played by VR, can make people feel more immersive.

So while the game is one of the development directions of Oculus Rift, we are still concerned about the game performance of the game, especially if we can guarantee the quality of the game. The game needs to have a stable 90 frame performance to provide a real feeling, while reducing the user's discomfort. And let us be thankful that, even with the VR entry-level configuration provided by Oculus, most games will be able to maintain a stable and fluid gaming experience.

　　

Many of the game's scenes are relatively simple and difficult to do with a video card of the GTX 970 level. But these games are visually very good performance of the sense of subrogation, very good for the player to create an immersive feeling. "Lucky's Tale" This free game is a good indication of this feature. If you play this game in a 2D environment, it is a general Mario simulation game. But VR makes this ordinary work become full of freshness and temptation, the picture has become similar to Mario, but the player can freely watch the surrounding environment, visual distance is beyond imagination.

The scene of Lucky's Tale is not presented in an abstract 2D form in front of the player, but rather as a model at close range. There are some interesting things in it, such as the gold coins hidden behind the wall, which need to be seen by the player in person. And when the player bobbing looking for gold coins, sometimes the protagonist lucky will come to scare you jump. These are the elements that have never been played before, and VR games can have big scenes and small details that developers should be mindful of. With VR devices, even those old-fashioned gameplay can bring a whole new feel.

As for the experience of using VR equipment, you think that the work that is suitable for VR sometimes may not be able to show the ideal effect. Slightly mad Studios ' racing plan ' is obviously the most popular game in the game known as 3 A-level works, the "Racing Plan" is a non-VR work, and then transplanted to the VR platform, the results of the game did not meet the expectations of people. The first is the problem with the configuration requirements, even if your configuration can smoothly run the vast majority of the new masterpiece, I am afraid it will be difficult for the "racing plan" in VR run smoothly.

　　

You'll need some top-notch gear to keep the racing plan running at 90 frames, and even if your outfit can do the job, or the developer can make a great transplant and optimization, you might not be able to stick with it for 15 minutes. The fact that there is too much disconnection between the scenes and reality in the game makes the player more prone to vertigo, and I play another HTC Vive game Elite: Dangerous.

Another transplant, the disappearance of vanishing, is more suitable for VR. Its non-VR version itself is a visual baptism, but the transplant to VR makes it has a fundamental change. When using VR to play this game, just standing around and watching is amazing enough. Game optimization is also very good, with the basic configuration can also get a stable 90 frame performance. While the game's picture has shrunk, it's a compromise of the default quality to take care of low-profile players. If you turn up the picture, the game requires a high-speed configuration. As a result, the astronauts production group has added a low-quality option to its conscience, allowing more players to experience the charms of VR games.

VR Vertigo

Unfortunately, the disappearance of vanishing will also make the player feel uncomfortable. The reason, like the racing plan, is that there is too much conflict between what the player sees and how he feels. The difference between the two is that the astronauts adds a comfortable mode to the game. In comfort mode, the game prohibits the player from moving freely, and the player needs to click the arrow in the game to indicate the direction of movement. While it may seem to affect the gaming experience, it does solve the problem of vertigo to a great extent.

　　

In addition to using this "nuclear weapon" in the disappearance of vanishing, there is no other way to overcome the problem of VR vertigo. Oculus boldly graded the game in terms of comfort, although there was some dissatisfaction with Oculus's move, but in my experience it was the right decision. Players have the right to be aware of possible discomfort before buying a game. The system also shows that it is more of a software responsibility to solve the problem of discomfort than the device itself. The design of the Oculus rift itself has solved most of the design problems, and the game writers need to do more research on the VR platform, while the transplanted non-VR works will inevitably have a disadvantage in comfort.

Conclusion

From a hardware point of view, Oculus Rift is doing well. As a head-mounted monitor developed using the Crescent Bay prototype without cutting-edge technology, I've been worried that it won't compete with the more comfortable HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, but the final product is surprisingly good. The picture quality is first-class, the delay of the action is also solved very well, and the earphone that comes with is much better than I think. The entire device is designed to work well, while the real game experience is fascinating.

And the Oculus framework of the VR platform is also commendable, not only rich in content, but also the main point is that even the entry-level VR PC can smoothly run the content. This has some kind of mission-like reliability that the host platform must achieve. It is also important to note that VR in the future will not only involve the game, so the introduction of Oculus store is also a sensible move, it can allow users to the future content and development full of expectations. At present, the overall feeling of Oculus Rift is very different from that of steam VR. Of course, this is largely due to performance differences with HTC Vive. Rift has no 3D controller at the time of release, so there are few games based on 3D interaction.

　　

There is no ambition like "work simulator" in the Oculus store. There is also no game hanging around the room because the Oculus camera does not have the power of the HTC Vive laser-guided sensor. In the present experience, HTC Vive apps are trying to make the most of these hardware advantages, and the game on Oculus Rift is more about sitting there experiencing VR, but it fits most people's needs. In theory Oculus Rift can do something Vive can do, but the content of the two are different now, only "The disappearance of vanishing" this piece of work, this is really interesting.

But at the same time, I can be bold to say that those who pre-ordered Oculus Rift will not be disappointed with the quality and experience of the equipment, because VR is the experience they have never experienced before. It's been three years since I first experienced DK1, and I think Oculus need to overcome a lot of problems to make the official version of the product. The good news is that today they did, I strongly recommend Oculus Rift, but also want to know how this device can bring about the development of VR technology changes.

Oculus Rift officially on sale, ready to start the VR era