M.A.

(NMCD)
By Sayani Majumder
Virtual Reality Consumer Product
Oculus Rift

Oculus Rift the first consumer targeted virtual reality headset

is been discussed here. Starting from how it emerged, what it is
like, discussing the hardware and specs of this device. Lastly
applications of this device have been covered here.
Oculus Rift is your hollywood fantasy
come true. You put a head gear over
your head and you can run around,
fight, race and fly like never before.
Oculus Rift is the first consumer
targeted virtual reality headsets.
Invented by a VR enthusiast named
Palmer Luckey, it is a set of virtual-
reality goggles that will work with
your computer or mobile device. It is
developed by Oculus VR and is
scheduled to release in the first quarter
of 2016. Oculus has described it as "the
first really professional PC-based VR
headset".
How Oculus Came
into Being
After Palmer Luckey showed a
prototype at the E3 gaming convention
in 2012, he founded Irvine, California
based Oculus VR with Brendan Iribe,
who became CEO. The two launched a
Kickstarter project in August 2012 to sell
prototype developer versions of the
Oculus Rift, raising $2.4 million. On Mar.
25, 2014, the developer company,
Oculus VR was purchased by social
networking giant Facebook for $2 billion
dollars.
Working
Oculus Rift is a goggle in which the
regular glass is replaced by screens.
The screen displays two images side by
side, one for each eye. A set of lenses is
placed on top of the screen, focusing
and reshaping the picture for each eye
and creating a stereoscopic 3D image.
The goggles have embedded sensors
that monitor the wearer's head motions
and adjust the image accordingly. The
later versions of the Oculus Rift are
supported by an external positional-
tracking accessory, which helps track
head movements more accurately.
Hardware
Rift
It is not a standalone device. In order to
work, the Rift must be connected by a
cable to a PC running Microsoft
Windows that will run the software. This
computer should be equipped with a
powerful GPU and CPU. It uses an
OLED panel for each eye, each having
a resolution of 10801200. These
panels have a refresh rate of 90 Hz and
globally refresh, rather than scanning
out in lines. They also use low
persistence, which means that they only
display an image for 2 milliseconds of
each frame. This combination makes
the user experience no motion blurring,
shaking or vibration which we
sometimes experience in a regular
monitor.
High quality lenses are used to allow a
wide field of view (110 degrees or
more). Users eyes can be positioned at
different distances, which allow users
wearing glasses to use the rift. Also
people with various facial shapes can
use it easily.
Technology licensed from RealSpace
3D Audio, by Visisonics is used to
provide real tim 3D audio effect. The
headphones are integrated.
Constellation
Constellation is the Oculuss positional
tracking system, used to track the
position of the users head as well as
other VR devices. It consists of external
infrared tracking sensors which optically
track specially designed VR devices.
The Rift, or any other device which is
being tracked by the system, is fitted
with a series of precisely positioned
infrared LEDs under or above the
surface. They are set to blink in a
specific pattern. By knowing the
configuration of the LEDs on the objects
and their pattern, the system can
determine the precise position of the
device with sub-millimeter accuracy.
Gamepad
Every Rift sold will include an Xbox One
Wireless Gamepad as a result of a
partnership with Microsoft. The purpose
of this inclusion is that the majority of
virtual reality games that have been in
development over the past few years
require a gamepad. So this will allow all
users to play those games without
needing to purchase third party
hardware.
Oculus Touch
It is a pair of controllers to be used
along with the rift. They are a pair and
are mirrors of each other - one for each
hand. They are lightweight, wireless,
handheld motion controllers featuring a
joystick, buttons and two triggers - one
for grabbing and one for shooting or
firing. The Constellation system fully
tracks the controllers, so that the user
sees them in virtual reality responding to
their real world counterpart which gives
the user the sensation of their hands
being present in the virtual space. It also
features a system for detecting finger
gestures made when holding the
devices.
The Oculus touch will be sold separately
instead of selling along with the rift.
Applications
Gaming
Oculus Rift is mainly a gaming device
and its main content focus is on gaming.
A number of games have already added
support for Rift like Project CARS, Elite:
Dangerous, Euro Truck Simulator 2, and extra hardware like eye tracking and
Dirt Rally. body tracking.

Media Industrial and

Oculus includes a free application
Oculus Cinema. It allows the Rift to be
used to view conventional cinemas and
videos from inside a virtual environment,
giving the user the perception of viewing
the content on a cinema sized screen.
Oculus Cinema will also have a
networked mode, in which multiple
users can watch the same video in the
same virtual space, seeing each other
as avatars and being able to interact
and talk to one another while watching
the video.
New kind of media such as 360 degree
3D videos and virtual reality movies can
be viewed in it.
Professional
Quite an ample amount of architecture
firms have been experimenting with
using the Rift for architectural
visualisation and design. With the right
software, the Rift allows architects to
see exactly what their building will look
like, and get an understanding of the
scale that is impossible on a traditional
monitor.
In early 2015, Audi started using Rift at
dealerships to help customers configure
the car they are interested in, as well as
to see what driving a race in the car
would be like.

Social
A number of social applications are
being developed for the rift because
Oculus believes the social networking
will be the most popular virtual reality
experiences in the long run.

In May 2015, AltspaceVR launched a

public beta to try out their social Virtual
Reality platform. AltspaceVR allows
people to inhabit a shared virtual space
with spatial voice communications, cast
content from the internet on virtual
screens, interact with objects like
allowing activities such as playing chess
or other board games, and supports