The much awaited OculusVR headset finally started shipping last week, setting the gaming and VR worlds a’fire. Yet the delivery may have signaled a far larger issue with the technology, with the consumer delivery of any technological feat, in fact.
Why is the hype always better than the actual product delivery?
See, the landmark VR headset will define the future, one where we will put an oversized box and headphones on our heads, to enhance the “virtual experience” while shutting out the real world around us.
But the question is: Will groups of people sit en masse in an auditorium so that they may privately enjoy interactive VR content with others, while also completely ignoring everyone situated around them?
The full OculusVR environment is more than just wearing a $599 headset. It requires an incredibly powerful PC running the latest versions of Windows 10 and has rigid requirements for acceptable graphic cards to maintain performance standards.
And forget about using a Mac at all. The GPU performance, even a MacPro with Dual AMD cards, does not supply the headset a “proper amount of visual data,” according to the company. Then there’s the additional infrared based sensing and position monitoring modules that are required to ensure interactive capabilities for both Virtual and Augmented Realities.
Don’t get me wrong, I support VR, I shoot VR. I have stitched VR. I am even talking about VR production at upcoming NAB. I see a wide number of places where the application of VR technology will advance in industry, science and medicine.
I see advances in gaming, at amusement park rides and especially in the consumer markets for Multi-player or RPGs where the immersive nature of VR can be enjoyed privately while the player is enslaved to a massive gaming machine.
I am just waiting now for the second generation of VR, one where the immersive visuals require little more than slipping on a pair of glasses to view. And hope that they go over better with the viewing public than wearing RealD’s 3D glasses in the theatre.
