Michael Abrash joins Oculus VR

Michael Abrash, a well known game programmer and technical writer, has joined Oculus VR after having worked for Valve.

This has just been announced on the Oculus website.

He is very excited about the future of VR and said some great things in this video that are very close to what I think will happen in the coming years.

Massive leak regarding Sony VR headset?

Although the source is anonymous and therefore none of this can be verified, this post on Reddit is rather interesting reading.

Especially after Oculus was just bought by Facebook.

So do bear in mind that all of this may be complete nonsense, but it was too good not to share;

Bear with me, I have a lot to share. All I can tell you about my source is that he is the same person who initially leaked months ago that Sony was working on a VR headset and was planning to unveil it at Gamescom last August. He disclosed that information to me well before the PS4 launched.

Sony has very strict NDAs in place. At my sources request, this is a throwaway account. He is very enthusiastic about Morpheus but he is also quite worried that I will accidently share information that leads back to him. As a result, he is okay with me sharing the below information but nothing more. Because of the amount of information he is sharing, he asked to avoid sites which may recieve a legal notice from Sony to compel them to reveal a source prefering less regulated places such as reddit or pastebin. He also asked me to not share any information about how I know him, what he does, or the circumstances behind this leak of information. He also asked me to not share any information about who I am in case people start asking me for more information and I slip up. It’s unlikely that I will be posting from this account again after today unless he explicitly permits me to.
The Launch Window
• Sony hopes to release Morpheus before the end of fiscal year 2014 (which ends on March 31, 2015). However, they are much further along than people realize and were initially targeting a Fall 2014 release. The prototype Sony showed yesterday, as advanced as it is, was fairly close to the one they were planning to debut at Gamescom last august. There were some minor adjustments made to the LED positioning and there is a slightly improved screen in this prototype but the two prototypes were otherwise identical. They decided against showing the prototype last year because they wanted more time to nail down the software and because they didn’t want to take focus off the PS4’s launch.
The Device’s Name
• The final name won’t be Morpheus. The device doesn’t have a name yet but is likely to be named with an evocative action verb akin to Move, Play, Create and Share. According to my source, View (as in Playstation View and PSView ) are two that are often thrown around internally. But he also added that its way too early for them to settle on a name and it may very well might end up being named some other verb like Focus, See, Experience, Imagine, Live, Immerse or something entirely different like Vision all of which he has heard people suggest.
The Target Price
• Sony is internally targeting a price of $250-$299 with a camera bundled, and they are planning to subsidize the cost of the device in order to achieve this price tag. Later in the conversation, he noted some reservations he has about this target price. Sony invested a substantial amount in R&D for this device for the past several years.
The Games
• Sony’s first party studios are working on some absolutely fantastic VR experiences. The Last of Us, God of War and Drive Club are being built into brand new VR experiences from the ground up. I mentioned that Drive Club was supposed to be a PS+ free game and he told me that Drive Club will be a traditional game but will also have a dedicated VR component with pared back but nevertheless very impressive graphics. According to my source, Sony feels that while these known franchises are what will drive gamers to first make the leap over to VR, entirely unique and engaging experiences are what will demonstrate to gamers what VR offers over traditional gaming. Guerrilla Games is working on a unique first person Adventure RPG built from the ground up for VR and Sucker Punch once they wrapped up work on Infamous started work on something VR related.
The Experiences
• Sony wants to bring VR to the masses by offering up VR experiences that are both revolutionary and very accessible, plug and play and with a very simple to use interface that require absolutely no technical knowledge to set up or use. And they want to launch the device with VR software unlike anything people have ever experienced before. This is a major area of focus for Sony’s R&D and internal development studios.
• There is a lot of amazing software they are keeping under wraps. They even have an interface designed specifically for VR that they are keeping under wraps. Some of the VR software that Sony’s internal teams are working on, (examples he mentioned include virtual tourism through various places and to different eras in human history, space exploration, deep sea exploration and a VR oriented take on PlayStation Home) aren’t really games in the traditional sense and are designed to be immersive VR experiences that have more broad appeal beyond just traditional gamers.
• Sony is also worried about public perception that VR is an isolative antisocial experience. They are working on a collection of asymmetric multiplayer games, some of which are sports, and some of which are entirely new experiences (Note: Nintendo Land is what came to my mind when my source said asymmetric multiplayer, when I asked if this was anything like Nintendo Land, he said that two of the asymmetric games share some elements in common with Mario Chase and Metroid Blast but the others are very unique experiences and VR adds a whole new dimension to them).
He also shared that Sony really wants indies to help in developing asymmetric multiplayer VR games that the whole family can enjoy.
• As if the above information didn’t make it clear, he specifically told me that Sony is a huge believer in the possibilities that immersive VR. They’ve long felt that once the technology becomes feasible, VR experiences (games, virtual tourism, edutainment) could be as big an industry as movies and traditional games are today. They want to be at the frontier of this new industry the same way they were with CDs, and with personal music players when they launched the Sony Walkman. They feel that if properly executed, VR will have more mass appeal than any game console in history and with much longer legs (presumably this was a reference to the Wii) because it offers something that simply hasn’t been possible before. Sony feels that without them entering the market with an easy to use, closed box, plug and play VR experience, it will take some time before VR ventures beyond PC enthusiasts and the technically adept. He said that Sony has been investing very heavily in VR in order to make immersive VR accessible to the masses at large.
The Hardware
• Like the PS1 with CDs, the PS2s with DVDs, the PS3 with Blurays, the PS4 was designed to make VR mainstream. The PS4’s internal architecture, the Playstation Camera, and the Dualshock 4 (both the lightbar and touchpad) were designed from the outset with VR in mind. Even the HMZ releases were designed to recoup some of their early R&D costs while improving upon the early headset designs. All VR games will be required to support both the Dualshock 4 controller and the Move Controller. The advantages of doing this include not needing to bundle Move controllers in with the headset and allowing gamers to transition to VR using a controller they are familiar with.
• The Morpheus will not be PC compatible in the near future. Sony needs to recoup the substantial investments they are making with PS4 VR game sales and get hardware costs down before they consider adding PC support. More importantly, Sony feel there are significant advantages to a walled garden (Apple-like) approach when you are introducing a brand new device to the masses. Thanks to the PS4, Sony controls every aspect of their VR experiences, both the software and hardware and their VR software can target one unified set of specifications. Sony plans to leverage this to deliver truly mind blowing and immersive VR experiences that perform smoothly and consistently.
• Sony is positioning the VR headset as sometime quite distinct from the PS4. They want the PS4 to be the place where gamers go for cutting edge mainstream games and the VR+PS4 combo to be the place to go for anyone interested in rich immersive VR experiences even if they don’t have the technical knowledge necessary to get something like the Oculus Rift up and running.
• Sony wants to avoid creating the impression among gamers that the PS4 needs a VR headset to be a worthwhile purchase. This is one reason why they decided against launching the VR headset this year. They want to give the PS4 lots of breathing room, release a rich lineup of dedicated games for it this holiday season and maintain the PS4’s momentum as the go to console for gamers even if they aren’t interested in VR. It sounded like Sony feared that focusing too strongly on VR this early in the PS4’s life could drive away some gamers and hurt their momentum going into the holiday season
• In essence, Sony plans to fully and significantly support two unique and distinct platforms, a dedicated cutting edge gaming console, and a brand new plug and play VR platform that offers unique tailored immersive experiences unlike anything anyone has experienced before. This is partly why Sony is working so hard to bring in more indie developers to their platform, because they feel these indie developers will help them successfully support and nurture both platforms
• Another reason why Sony decided against launching the device this year is (and the reason they chose to unveil the device at GDC) is because they wanted to get indie developers on board early. They know that a large lineup of captivating VR experiences at launch gives the device the best chance of success, and they are actually positioned to do just that. They have a substantial amount of internal software being developed to launch along the VR headset. But they want indies on board to fill in gaps, offer up unique experiences that didn’t even occur to them, and help ensure a steady stream of VR experiences following the launch.

Oculus Founder Palmer Luckey answers questions regarding Facebook deal

Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus VR, has spend some time responding to the generally negative reactions to the news of Facebook buying the company.

In general people seem to be very unhappy about the situation, many call Facebook evil… on Facebook.

The main problem people seem to have with this acquisition is that they don’t like Facebook, it is a company few of us trust, that has done some rather unpleasant things and has no connection whatsoever with proper gaming.

Personally I think that Facebook is just planning to get in on the action, Zuckerberg is very interested in where VR is going because he isn’t stupid and knows it is going to be big.

I feel that Facebook is already planning a VR world or platform, something like Facebook or Second Life and it makes sense to try and help Oculus to get bigger and better, faster.

I also think they are very interested in VR “television”, using a 360 degrees camera to allow users to be somewhere else, Live.

And although this could become a problem for Second Life, I doubt it will be a problem for VR in general.

Yes Facebook is only in it for the money, but there are many ways to make money with VR without having to actually take over the entire industry.

Zuckerberg said;

One day, we believe this kind of immersive, augmented reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people.

Palmer Luckey has said that he would probably not be too excited about Facebook buying Oculus but he sold the company anyway and he has also said that he was sure that many people will change their opinion on this news within a year.

A lot of people are upset, and I get that. If you feel the same way a year from now, I would be very surprised.

What are they planning?

Of course the cynic in me is saying that we’re all just hearing the corporate PR talk from both sides but I also feel that Palmer really truly loves VR and is still idealistic about the whole thing.
I think that he tried very hard to make sure that Oculus will remain his baby and as independent as the deal allows it to remain.
In the end I think that the new possibilities of this deal and that it will make the evolution of VR go faster and become cheaper are the reasons that made him sign.
Not (just) the money.

Palmer said;

I’m obsessed with VR. I spend every day pushing further, and every night dreaming of where we are going. Even in my wildest dreams, I never imagined we’d come so far so fast.

I am willing to give Palmer the benefit of the doubt.

I think that it is too early to say what will happen.
I don’t like Facebook as a company but am not (yet) sure that they will cast such a dark evil shadow over VR.

Palmer Luckey has been answering questions and comments on Reddit

He started with posting his entire ‘The future of VR’ story there and then replied to the torrent of negative reactions.

I have just quoted a few of the more interesting things being said, but please feel free to go read them all here on Reddit.

You will not need a Facebook account to use or develop for the Rift.

I guarantee that you won’t need to log into your Facebook account every time you wanna use the Oculus Rift.

I am sorry that you are disappointed. To be honest, if I were you, I would probably have a similar initial impression! There are a lot of reasons why this is a good thing, many of which are not yet public.

This deal lets us dedicate a lot of resources to developer relations, technical help, engine optimizations, and our content investment/publishing/sales platform. We are not going to track you, flash ads at you, or do anything invasive.

This acquisition/partnership gives us more control of our destiny, not less! We don’t have to compromise on anything, and can afford to make decisions that are right for the future of virtual reality, not our current revenue. Keep in mind that we already have great partners who invested heavily in Oculus and got us to where we are, so we have not had full control of our destiny for some time. Facebook believes in our long term vision, and they want us to continue executing on our own roadmap, not control what we do. I would never have done this deal if it meant changing our direction, and Facebook has a good track record of letting companies work independently post-acquisition.

There is a lot of related good news on the way. I am swamped right now, but I do plan on addressing everyone’s concerns. I think everyone will see why this is so incredible when the big picture is clear.

I am 100% certain that most people will see why this is good in the long term.

This deal specifically lets us greatly lower the price of the Rift.

‘Just promise me there will be no specific Facebook tech tie-ins.’
I promise.

1) We can make custom hardware, not rely on the scraps of the mobile phone industry. That is insanely expensive, think hundreds of millions of dollars. More news soon.
2) We can afford to hire everyone we need, the best people that fit into our culture of excellence in all aspects.
3) We can make huge investments in content. More news soon.

We now have the resources to put a lot of money into indie VR content, you will be seeing some good news on that very soon.

We have the resources to create custom hardware now, not just rely on the scraps of the mobile phone industry. There is a lot of good news on the way that is not yet public, so believe me, things will become a lot more clear over time.

We have had to answer to people since the Kickstarter, and even more so after raising two rounds of funding from investment partners to hire the people we need. This deal gives us more freedom to make the right decisions, not less!
Facebook has a good track record for letting companies operate independently post-acquisition, and they are going to do the same for us. Trust me on this, I would not have done the deal otherwise.

It is an acquisition, but we will be operating independently. Our ongoing relationship really is more like a partnership.

 

Oculus founder says Facebook deal will make Virtual reality better and cheaper

In an interview with Sean Hollister at The Verge, Oculus VR founder Palmer Lucky announced that the company being bought by Facebook will make Virtual reality better and cheaper.

This does let the headset be better and cheaper. Our roadmap is about the same as it’s always been, but there are a lot of things we’d wanted to do that now we can really execute on. This does make the Rift cheaper and better, both in the near term and the long term.

He also said that Oculus VR will remain independent;

Mark does believe in our vision of virtual reality, and we’re going to continue operating independently, delivering what we’ve always wanted to deliver. This gives us a lot of resources to do what we’ve always wanted to do, but it doesn’t change what we want to do.

They didn’t answer a question about starting their own virtual reality platform, but I think that is probably exactly what they are doing.

A VR version of facebook where you share a 3D space in stead of a page?

Should LL be worried?

Make sure to read the original interview here at The Verge.

Facebook buys Oculus Rift for $2 billion

This just in; Facebook has bought Oculus Rift.

In a blog post Facebook announced this news just a moment ago.

Quite interesting and surprising news, but extra interesting is that this shows that seeing a huge future for VR is not just something for weird nerdy people like me.

And of course this also means that there will be many new possibilities for the Oculus as this investment will allow them access to a lot of Facebook’s recourses.

Facebook already said that their acquisition will allow them “to accelerate Oculus’ growth in gaming, communications and new social experiences”.

Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg said; “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.”

Lucky Palmer just replied to this news on his facebook profile.

When Facebook first approached us about partnering, I was skeptical.  As I learned more about the company and its vision and spoke with Mark, the partnership not only made sense, but became the clear and obvious path to delivering virtual reality to everyone.  Facebook was founded with the vision of making the world a more connected place.  Virtual reality is a medium that allows us to share experiences with others in ways that were never before possible.

In the end, I kept coming back to a question we always ask ourselves every day at Oculus: what’s best for the future of virtual reality?  Partnering with Mark and the Facebook team is a unique and powerful opportunity.  The partnership accelerates our vision, allows us to execute on some of our most creative ideas and take risks that were otherwise impossible.  Most importantly, it means a better Oculus Rift with fewer compromises even faster than we anticipated.

 

Very little changes day-to-day at Oculus, although we’ll have substantially more resources to build the right team.  If you want to come work on these hard problems in computer vision, graphics, input, and audio, please apply!

This is a special moment for the gaming industry — Oculus’ somewhat unpredictable future just became crystal clear: virtual reality is coming, and it’s going to change the way we play games forever.

On his own facebook profile Mark Zuckerberg also shared this news;

Immersive gaming will be the first, and Oculus already has big plans here that won’t be changing and we hope to accelerate. The Rift is highly anticipated by the gaming community, and there’s a lot of interest from developers in building for this platform. We’re going to focus on helping Oculus build out their product and develop partnerships to support more games. Oculus will continue operating independently within Facebook to achieve this.

 

But this is just the start. After games, we’re going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face — just by putting on goggles in your home.

Please make sure to click the links to read the full announcements.

It seems like Zuckerberg sees the same huge potential for VR that I do.

It seems that Markus Persson, the person behind Minecraft is not happy with this news.
They pulled cancelled a deal with Oculus according to this Twitter post;

Now if only someone could convince both Oculus and Facebook that Second Life is the ultimate virtual reality social world…

Personally I think that Facebook is up to something.
First the browser based ‘virtual world’ CloudParty quits after being acquired by Yahoo.
Then Facebook buys Oculus.

I would not be at all surprised if Facebook is working on a huge online (and mobile) virtual world where people have ‘virtual homes’ in stead of pages.
And who knows what else.
If Facebook creates something like this and it has a lot of freedom and works very well with the Oculus, Second Life may have a big problem.

Being immersive is the key

im·mer·sive

iˈmərsiv/

adjective

1. 1.
   (of a computer display or system) generating a three-dimensional image that appears to surround the user.

To me Second Life is all about immersing myself in a virtual world, preferably one I can not visit in RL such as a historical location.

With Virtual Reality about to go mainstream and computers getting better and better, immersion, realistic scale and detail will become more and more important.

Most of Second Life is not ready for this yet.

But I wanted to share with you this amazing video that was just released by Ubisoft.

It is a sneak preview of the game they are working on now, the next chapter in their famous ‘Assasin’s creed’ series.

A weird silly game with a nonsense story… but it allows the player to visit lots of historical locations and in stunning detail.

I love this game even though I get killed every 4 minutes because I’m staring at some nice building or other detail.

This demo blew me away and I can’t help but dream that one day SL will be able to look like that… one day…

Make sure to watch it in HD.

Second Life advertising hits new low

I’ve written before about how I think that the bad reputation SL has is a problem and about how I think that LL should work on improving it.

As far as I am concerned it is a big deal that so many outsiders think that SL is either dead or that it is a cesspit of filthy perverts and shallow people who just want to look like barbie.

Don’t get me wrong, SL IS both those things, but it is so much more.

I think that LL and the SL users need to work on getting SL a better reputation.

Not only do we have to make people realise that SL offers so many different kinds of entertainment, art, social interaction, etc, but also that it has some pretty amazing graphics that really are not as bad as those 2007 screenshots you see with every article seem to suggest.

You can imagine how delighted I was when I spotted this advertisement today.

Seriously Linden Lab?
Is this how you want to lure people to Second Life?
Is this what SL is?

I am not even mentioning sexism, objectification, etc.
Don’t tell Anita Sarkeesian about this ad.
Is that guy in the back winking?
But if I had seen this advertisement before I had joined SL… I would not have bothered.

What is Second Life to the PR department of LL?

A place where you can make friends with bikini wearing models?

Why not have one bikini wearing model and one astronaut, or knight in shining armor, or librarian or detective, or builder, etc, etc.

This advertisement tells me that SL is not for me, that I do not want my family members to ever hear about it, that if my friends told me they were into SL, I’d be embarrassed to know them.

This advertisement does not only strengthen the bad image SL has, it reinforces and promotes it.
It says; “Yes SL is exactly what the media thinks it is”.

That is disappointing.

We all know that SL is a great place for Barbie and Ken wannabes who want to spend all their virtual time on a beach.

But that is what the rest of the world seems to think SL is, worse, they seem to think that that is ALL SL is.

For as long as I can remember, SL has never advertised with any of the subjects that I find appealing.
As far as I know most of the people I know in SL are also more interested in those things LL never advertises with.
Yet all these people are hardcore SL users who spend a lot of time there, not to mention money.
But LL keeps trying to lure the kind of people who perhaps prefer IMVU.

Every time I mention SL to outsiders, I have to defend it, explain that it is NOT what the media says.

But it seems that LL is saying those things as well.

I’ve heard it many times before; “LL doesn’t get SL”.

Thanks Grizzla for finding this picture.

And although I wouldn’t say that, I do have to agree that they at least aren’t sure about how they should advertise it.

Either way, I don’t think this is the right way.

Sure, maybe I am overreacting a bit, but how do you want the rest of the world to see Second Life and its users?

I’ll say it again, I don’t mind LL advertising this side of SL, but I do mind that they seem to ignore all the other sides.

And to me, the option to look like a model and run around in bikini is not what I find interesting about SL.

The best part about SL is not only that you can be whatever you want, but that you can BUILD whatever you want.
It is the ultimate sandbox!
Not the ultimate sand beach.

Maybe LL should start a competition, ask us, the users who have been loyal to their world for years, who keep throwing money at it, what kind of advertising we think might work.

LL is spending money on these advertisements, someone is writing them, designing them, making the pictures.
But I have to wonder if they just hired an agency and if that person who makes them is an active SL user.

Finally, look at this charming, civilized and educational advertisement for Kaneva.
Is that the level we want SL ads to be at?

How would YOU advertise SL?

Although I do not want to play a vampire either, at least this advertisement showed a different side of SL, although it does still remind me too much of an IMVU advertisement.

Widely Linden talks about the Oculus Rift SL viewer

Draxtor and I have just finished an interview with Widely Linden, a senior producer at Linden Lab who works on the Oculus Rift implementation.
Only yesterday Linden Lab announced that their Oculus Rift viewer was ready for Beta testing and today Oculus VR let know that their headsets are now officially out of stock.

So, plenty to talk about!

You can hear the interview tomorrow in the Drax files radio hour but I couldn’t wait to share some of what was talked about.

• Viewer has full integration.
  “We support the entire Second Life experience and that includes building, chatting, every bit of UI (User Interface) is accessible when you’re in the Oculus Rift.”
• There is no solution (yet) for not being able to see your keyboard, you may want to consider using voice chat more often or get better at typing blind.
  There isn’t a virtual keyboard at the moment, I suggested this a while ago and hope that they are going to experiment with this option as not everybody is able to touch type.
• The present SL UI has been projected “onto a 3 dimensional space that follows you and hovers in front of you and you can completely customize it “.
• It works in a similar manner to the huds inside the helmet of Tony Stark in the movie Ironman.
• Development started at the end of August and it worked pretty quickly in a very basic way but then they decided that the viewer would have to be able to offer everything the regular viewers offer as well.
  “It became very clear to us that we have to make this work and we weren’t just going to slap dash something together and get it out there just to be first.
  We wanted to do it right.”
• “People who are familiar and comfortable with the Second Life UI and how Second Life works, will take to this no problem. There is not much of any kind of a new learning curve for them to get over. You’re in and running if you have a Rift.”
• The viewer supports a third person view, a first person view and mouselook mode.
  Third person is as we’re used to having in the regular SL viewer.
  In “mouselook HMD mode” (HMD = head mounted display), the mouse no longer affects your camera view, buttons still work, etc. Your head direction will steer your avatar.
  First person mode has the camera where your head is, the UI is visible on demand and you have a cursor.
  In this mode where you look will not change the direction your avatar is going.
  It is like walking around in the real world.
• People may still experience some nausea while using the Oculus in Second Life, but Widely Linden reminds us that a lot of people say that the next version of the Rift is already makes the ‘sea sickness’ a lot less and most people attribute it to the original developers kit.
• Beta viewer supports the Mac.
• A destination guide list has been created of places that look fantastic with the Oculus Rift.
• “Second Life is particularly well suited for the Rift.”
• “In a way Second Life was build with this hardware in mind, just the hardware didn’t exist yet.”

I’ll end with my own conclusion;
Second Life & Oculus Rift, meant to be together, a marriage made in heaven.

Please make sure you listen to the actual interview on the Drax files radio hour tomorrow.

The Oculus Rift Test area in 1920s Berlin

Oculus Rift units officially out of stock

Stories about parts no longer being made for the Oculus have been going around for a bit, but now the virtual reality headsets are officially out of stock.

It is interesting to see how desired the headsets are, not only was the kickstarter supported more than anyone could imagine, but it seems that besides game developers, lots and lots and lots of regular people just can’t wait for the consumer version.

To me this shows that the world is ready for proper VR and tired of waiting for it.

It also shows me that the average gamer is not very patient, but as a gamer myself, that isn’t very surprising 🙂

This probably means that Oculus Rift will soon release the HD version of the headset development version, or that finally, the consumer version will be announced.

It would be wise to do so because so many companies are trying to get their slice of the VR headset and are developing their own headsets, including some companies with  more money than Father Christmas.

If a big company suddenly releases an affordable VR headset that works just as well or better than the Rift, Oculus VR may have missed its window.

Besides wishful thinking, there may be more reasons to expect the consumer version to be announced soon.

Next week the Game Developers Conference (GDC) starts, Oculus VR will be present here and some people expect some interesting announcements.

We’ll have to wait and see.

It shows that Linden Lab is just in time or perhaps already too late with their Oculus Rift viewer trials, I think that the Oculus ready viewer should be up and running before the consumer version becomes available.

Against my better judgement, I like to think that a bunch of SL users all ordering their headsets because of the SL Oculus Beta viewer is the reason they are now sold out 😉

I also think that Linden Lab has to start flirting, bribing, inviting, meeting and talking with the Oculus VR team to try and get Second Life added or at least mentioned in the leaflet that will accompany the consumer version.

Because regardless of your opinion of Second Life, it still is the biggest user created online virtual reality world and it should be an interesting playground for any Oculus Rift user.

Maybe LL together with OnLive can offer every new Oculus Rift owner 30 minutes free trial of SLGo!
Or sign up for SL with the code that accompanied your headset and get a one month free premium account including some land to play on.

Second Life’s Oculus Rift Integration is Ready for Beta Testers

Tags

oculus rift

Linden Lab has just announced that the Oculus Rift integration is going into its Beta Test phase:

The Oculus Rift offers exciting possibilities for Second Life – the stereoscopic virtual reality headset brings a new level of immersion to our 3D world, making Second Life a more compelling experience than ever before.

Though a consumer version of the headset isn’t available yet, we’ve been working with the development kit to integrate the Oculus Rift with the Second Life Viewer. We now have a Viewer ready for beta testers, and if you have an Oculus Rift headset, we’d love to get your feedback.

If you have the Oculus Rift development hardware and would like to help us with feedback on the Viewer integration, please write to sl_oculus_beta@lindenlab.com to apply for the limited beta.

First place to go for the Beta testers should of course be the Oculus Rift & Real Scale Test Area!