Installation & Setup
Setting up the Oculus Rift is a daunting task, mostly because it sounds like a very exotic piece of technology, but truth be told, it’s no more difficult to set up than most PC monitors. The HDMI cable connects to your graphics card and the USB cable connects to your PC; that part is straight forward enough. You then connect the camera to your computer via its USB cable and finally you connect the sync cable from the HDMI cable to the camera. This all takes no more than a few minutes to do. The latest Oculus Rift Config Utility is easily downloaded and installed. Turn on the Rift and Windows will set it as your second monitor; installation complete.
There are a few technical aspects to navigate if you want to get the best experience possible, the first would be to set your IPD and other user information to your Oculus Config Software profile.
This doesn’t take long at all, but it’s best to spend a little while using the demo scene to find the settings that suit your eyes and seating position.
The demo scene is very simple, just a desk with some items on it and the option to view from a standing or seated position. I only whacked my hand on my desk once when I stupidly tried to grab the pencil on the virtual desk… problems like this crop up a lot in VR.
It’s innovative alright but now is not the time to get knock kneed over it and throw your money around because it’ll still get a lot better. I’ve tried and to be honest I was very impressed but I’d still wait until it matures and there’s a lot more content, not to mention the fact the more prices will drop the more widespread it becomes.
As a DK2 owner, I would say that it is true that the initial setup is straight forward enough. The main problem is with each game that you want to play. Some require that the Rift is setup as your primary, while some secondary, and then you have the “Direct to HMD” mode versus the “extend the desktop” modes. These additional options create the problems that you WILL have to negotiate with. Other than that, I would fully agree with the article….If you love new tech and don’t mind troubleshooting problems, then buy this now. Otherwise wait for a consumer friendly version.
Still not there resolution wise to be fully immersive, Need minimum of 1440p or I hope they hold off and go for 4k.
Maybe they can have 2 consumer versions, Entry level 1080p that every kid can afford, And a high end version 1440 or 4k the rest of us nerds will happily throw money at!
Latency is almost good enough now, If they can get it even lower then all he better and some folks won’t be getting motion sickness as easy as the first kit.
Really looking forward to VR if it’s done right, It will be a game changer quite literally.
Not like the 3d gimmick which had the odd good game but mainly a poor and buggy experience!