Oculus Rift and Rift Bundle Preorders Are Now Available

February 22, 2016 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

The much expected Oculus Rift and Rift Bundle preorders are now available, after a very long, drawn out wait, filled with nothing but snippets, teasers and preliminary checks. While the virtual reality headset itself has been up for preorder for a fair amount of time, it hadn’t yet come in the bundled version – together with gaming PCs, controllers, remotes and so on.

The reasoning behind the company’s decision to start selling the bundles was fairly easy to understand. Virtual technology is certainly the next big step in what gaming – but not only resuming itself to that – has to offer or where it’s heading. And because the technology itself still requires an external engine to run it all, for example, just getting an Oculus Rift VR set alone may not allow you to begin enjoying it right away.

Just earlier this year, the Oculus Rift website was made host to a new tool for potential buyers that involved a program that would make an assessment of the computer you are running it from to figure out whether you can use a virtual reality headset with it or not. And to the regular, casual, non-gamer person, the specifications that you need to pack up in a PC in order to have the Oculus Rift work on it aren’t exactly something that easily achievable.

To the avid gamer, the specs needed won’t exceed the ‘average’ status, however.

Some of the bundles that the Oculus Rift comes in take the overzealous leap of packing in the finest technology that one can find and end up with a directly proportional price tag on it. Therefore, one of the most expensive versions of bundles you can find goes all the way up to $3,000. However, if you’re happy to stick to a very basics, Oculus VR comes packed with various PCs set up by Dell, Alienware and Asus.

Therefore, a basic PC plus Oculus Rift virtual reality headset bundle that includes the very basics that one needs in order to run VR games and experiences will cost you $1,499. For that amount of money you will get an Intel Core i5 Skylake processor, 8 GB of DDR4 RAM, the Nvidia GeForcce GTX 970 video card, as well as 1TB of storage space on a regular SATA drive. Surprisingly, the much more expensive version of the bundle doesn’t include exponentially more powerful hardware than the lower end version.

Regardless, the Oculus Rift was made to function on both PC and consoles, so if you’re already the owner of one, you should expect support for it to come in a timely manner too.

The Oculus Rift alone costs $599 and will start being shipped out on March 28^th.

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Sony Denies the PlayStation VR Release Rumor

February 17, 2016 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

There has been a number of fabrications travelling around the internet following statements that were rashly made and now, Sony denies the PlayStation VR release rumor. To be more exact, Gamestop CEO Paul Raines said yesterday that the PlayStation VR headset would not be made available for purchase until Q3 of 2016, during the fall.

This statement created a bit of an uproar with the public as the original Sony announcement regarding the VR headset was suggesting that the device was going to be released during Q2 of 2016 instead. If what Paul Raines said was true, it would suggest a hefty delay to the launch.

It has only been a day since this happened and Sony has already made an official statement to clarify – more or less – the situation. The company simply said that the Gamestop CEO was simply speculating, as they had not previously released any other details on the launch date for the PlayStation VR headset. This may seem informative at first but instead, if you come to think about it, it’s barely saying anything.

Firstly, we still don’t seem to be receiving much news on the topic; Sony has yet to provide us with an exact launch date and instead preferred to remain with its original, ambiguous announcement that stated Q2. Secondly, Sony didn’t purposefully denied the allegations of Paul Raines, saying that his statement was wrong, but instead just lightly suggested that it was a speculation made by the Gamestop CEO.

The speculation, instead, isn’t that farfetched if you come to think about it from a corporation perspective. It is well known that Sony has put a huge amount of effort and made huge investments into developing the PlayStation VR headset, along with employing the help of several first party studios in order to develop various games and apps for the headset. This was all made in hopes that the release would go as well as possible by offering the public as many things as possible with the launch.

The public should maintain a skeptical attitude towards the entire ordeal as it’s not impossible for Sony to slightly delay the release in order to ensure the best customer experience there can be. The company may be waiting for some real experience with public reaction to VR devices as recent events may give producing companies a rough start.

Just thinking about the Oculus Rift pricing issues, it’s not impossible for PlayStation VR to take a little more time before it hits the shelves in order to make the launch event optimal: for both the company and the public.

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Get Ready for Minecraft on Oculus Rift

September 28, 2015 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

Get hyped – Minecraft on Oculus Rift just got real.

According to Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus Rift, Minecraft is headed towards the highly-anticipated VR platform this spring. The built-it-yourself game is popular than ever and its growth doesn’t seem to dwindle.

During the Oculus Connect event that took place in Hollywood this morning, Luckey went on stage and unveiled some of their plans for 2016, Gamasutra reports. However, fans that wish to play Minecraft on Oculus Rift will need the game’s Windows 10 Edition, according to Lydia Winters of Mojang.

It looks like our fantasies of digging huge caves and battling mythical blocky nether-drakes just got real – well, virtually speaking.

This hints at a new step forward for the gaming industry. Luckey took to explaining how we move, slowly but surely, to the metaverse i.e. an intense virtual reality world. With the help of Minecraft, Rift will build a sturdy foundation for VR enthusiasts.

Microsoft’s Hololens also takes to Minecraft to help them sell their headset – which is a fusion between augmented reality and virtual reality, but with more AR elements present.

There are a ton of devs that work on gearing up games so they can be easily played in VR. Yet, the majority of titles that are set to be released in 2016 feature realistic worlds that use small amounts of space. We are more than curious to see how VR developers are going to make exploring a virtually limitless world with minimal issues from the get-go.

Luckey and his team seem to be excited about the whole virtual reality trend and this gives us some sort of assurance that the end product will at least be passion-driven.

Fighting dinosaurs in ARK sounds superb, and flying an airplane in War Thunder is more than rad, but there’s something about exploring Minecraft with a VR headset that just makes me want to jump up and down out of pure excitement.

Oculus Rift is shaping up to be a huge ecosystem filled with all sorts of virtual reality experiences.

However, let’s not jump on the bandwagon so fast. Next year will be all about VR and VR pioneers trying to take a huge chunk out of the virtual pie. In theory, Minecraft sounds awesome, but we don’t really know how this will equate to real world standards. It has to be fun, and more importantly, it has to be comfortable and easy to use.

There’s a reason why Kinect failed – nobody wants to commit to standing up just to play a video-game when they can just jump on the couch and relax after a hard day’s work.

Yet, Wii was a huge success, mainly because it is gimmicky.

Regardless if it’s going to be a hit or miss, I can’t wait to try Minecraft on Oculus Rift when the time comes.

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Epic Games Doesn’t Want to Make a Terrible VR Experience

June 21, 2015 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

Epic Games has announced countless times that they are supporting virtual reality in any way they can, but the company doesn’t want to make a terrible virtual reality experience on their Unreal Engine.

Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, and their included resources, offers developers the tools necessary to build a virtual reality game. At the current moment the Unreal Engine supports VR hardware such as Facebook-owned Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Samsung Gear VR.

So you make an idea how much Epic Games loves the virtual reality trend, CEO Tim Sweeney said, earlier this year, that – ” It’s going to change the world. The hardware is going to double in quality every few years for another decade, to the point where, 10 years from now, it’s going to be hard to tell the difference between virtual reality and the real world.”

That’s a pretty bold statement to be honest. Virtual reality changing the world? Let’s calm ourselves a little bit and reassess our mental state, shall we dear Tim Sweeney? Probably in 50 years or so, but not now – it’s impossible.

Engadget managed to sit down, and talk with Chief Technology Officer Kim Libreri, and Unreal Engine General Manager Ray Davis, at this year’s E3 event, to talk more about the company’s stance on virtual reality, and where they believe the trend is heading.

” We wanna make sure that, whatever platform developers choose to use, they’re well supported in UE 4″ says Libreri, which notes that VR development should have a set of standards that will not only make a developers’ life easier, but they will also ensure a great gaming experience.

Davis continues, and adds that – ” It’s always been sort of our [approach] with the engine. Even going all the way back to the original Xbox [360] and pushing back on Microsoft to make sure they put enough memory in it.”

Davis also notes that sharing what works, and what doesn’t with other VR developers, and of course manufacturers, will ensure that games will only get better with time.

Take a look at the Unreal Engine experience on Oculus Rift.

Can’t imagine what a horror game with vampires, ghouls, werewolves, and other creatures of the night might feel like – wet, that’s how!

As we start to think about the evolution of the shooter game or the exploration/action/adventure game, the Uncharted for VR, I think that it’s better to experiment initially with smaller, digestible things. As a collective, we learn that language quickly.” states Libreri.

It’s good to know that Epic Games, a company which pushed forward the gaming industry, and its standards, tackles virtual reality. But can Epic Games provide a good VR experience? That Unreal Engine Oculus Rift demo looks like it was made in two, max three days. What’s up with that Epic Games?

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Oculus Rift and Microsoft Have Announced Their Partnership

June 14, 2015 By Karen Jackson 1 Comment

The internet is in an uproar. Oculus Rift has just announced their partnership with Microsoft. More exactly, their virtual reality headset will come paired with an Xbox One controller.

Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe also announced that their Oculus Rift device will fully support Windows 10, and its users will be able to play Xbox One games directly inside their, er, heads via Xbox-to-Windows streaming.

It is unknown at the moment what other services Microsoft will provide for the Facebook-owned virtual reality device.

Microsoft’s Head of Xbox Phil Spencer sported a huge grin on his face when it was time to take to the stage and announce their unlikely partnership. But even though the internet hates it, for whatever reason, I seriously applaud their entrepreneur spirit.

It makes sense, doesn’t it? It’s a way to counter attack Sony’s Project Morpheus, and who would be better to do so than one of the most known virtual reality headsets on the planet. Oculus Rift has a super-high brand recognition – mostly because it was the first that tackled this trend, and partly because Facebook acquired it and made everyone wonder how Zuckerberg will tackle social media in the VR medium.

Oculus Rift is already built, and it’s in the polishing process – can’t say the exact same thing about Project Morpheus; we have no clue what Sony’s up to.

It’s a pure win-win situation for Microsoft. They don’t have to maintain the VR hardware, they only have to make their software compatible, and easy to use. Unlike Sony, who will most likely adopt the same thing for their VR headset. Sony needs to develop its product first, and then tackle compatibility issues that it may encounter. Or maybe Sony will shock as all, and when the time comes it will have all its problems fixed.

Whether the trend will ship towards augmented reality, or it will stay in the VR medium, Microsoft is more than prepared. The big M has enough time, and resources to focus on their HoloLens project and not worry about Oculus – which big daddy Facebook can easily take care of by opening its deep pockets. Some say that they are filled with gold, and others warn that they are drenched in tears of social media users from around the globe.

This might also be Microsoft’s chance of winning the console wars. Its Xbox, and Xbox 360 were gold, but when you talk about next gen consoles, PlayStation 4 is the reigning king.

Oculus Rift is also offering up to $10 million to help indie developers build games for their VR headset. I think they’re off to a tremendous head start, and Sony might just release their VR headset in time to barely taste the dust.

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Virtual Reality – The Future of Our Home Entertainment?

June 11, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past year or so, you definitely know that virtual reality is knocking on our door. Some big names have taken upon themselves to challenge the empty throne. Google, Microsoft, Sony, Valve, HTC, GoPro, and even Facebook wants to be known as the reigning king.

Is this a trend that will fail miserably? Or is it the future of our home entertainment?

Facebook-owned Oculus Rift has announced that they will start shipping their virtual reality headset sometime in early 2016, and that it will cost about $400, but you’ll need a proper PC that can run it. Oculus Rift CEO Brendan Iribe has said that a PC-build that now normally costs about $1500 should be more than enough to run their headset. In 2016, the price will most likely drop – you’ll notice a significant change.

Oculus Rift development kit

Microsoft’s HoloLens is most likely going to be Oculus Rift’s main competitor, along with SteamVR – the love child of Valve, and HTC, also called The Vive. But everything seems to cost hundreds of dollars, and if you aren’t a virtual reality enthusiast, these prices will scare the living hell out of you. More on this later when we talk about FullDive – the most affordable virtual reality product. Kudos to Giovanno Yosen Utomo, one of the co-founders, and Marcus Missirlian, member of FullDive’s operations team, for making time to discuss details about their product.

The interview regarding FullDive can be read at the end of article.

The majority will want a headset that will satisfy their curiosity about virtual reality gaming. Some virtual reality games are available, but they aren’t that great. The only one that sparks my curiosity is The Forest – available on Steam; users have reported feeling nauseous after playing it while wearing virtual reality dev gear. Others haven’t yet seen the light of day – keep your eyes out for Eve: Valkyrie.

EVE: Valkyrie

Oculus Rift announced that they managed to pinpoint the problem, and successfully fixing it, but what does this mean then? Do games need to be built with virtual reality in mind? Do developers need to adopt a new strategy when building this sort of games?

Developers around the world think that when you build a game for virtual reality, you need to focus on it first, and then think how you want to port it for the traditional medium. Joe Ludwig, programmer at Valve Software working on the Team Fortress 2 team, and a crucial key-developer when talking about TF2 in the virtual reality medium isn’t that happy with their port.

When Joe talks about the Lesson learned while porting Team Fortress 2 to virtual reality, at a 2013 Game Developers Conference, he pinpoints the fact that latency poses as a crucial element in solving the nausea mystery, and that other third-person adventure, and shooter games, even MOBAs, will be hard to tackle in the virtual reality medium.

Team Fortress 2 VR mode

We have no information regarding Sony’s Project Morpheus at the moment, and to be honest, the name makes me think about virtual reality porn – an idea that isn’t that far fetched. Be sure that if the trend explodes, virtual reality sex will dethrone the traditional medium in which we satisfy our primal needs – your fetish just a click away? Whoever finds the perfect method to market this will be a billionaire.

Virtual reality technology has come a long way since its inception, and Microsoft’s Build 2015 showcased a HoloLens that could be used around the house as your new portable entertainment system – plastering YouTube videos on walls, and setting them to follow you sounds like a phenomenal idea. You can cook, and watch a cooking guide from the internet at the same time without worrying that you’ll spill something on your laptop, or tablet.

Microsoft’s HoloLens

But wearing a blocky, and huge device on your head isn’t my ideal dream for VR usage. Google has tried to make something out of virtual reality in the past that seemed more practical. Remember Google Glass? Or how I like to put it Virtual reality goggles for the NSA lover. They launched it at the worst time possible, when everyone was terrified that the NSA knows everything about them – and sure enough, the leaks showed exactly that.

What is virtual reality and is it dangerous?

Can we get addicted to virtual reality?

The virtual reality definition, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, says that it’s – ” an artificial environment which is experienced through sensory stimuli (as sights and sounds) provided by a computer and in which one’s actions partially determine what happens in the environment; also : the technology used to create or access a virtual reality.”

The computer generated environment immerses the person within its world fooling the player by giving him the false mental state that he is capable of manipulating, and distorting virtual existence.

The TV show Community has aired a pretty interesting episode where one of the characters used a virtual reality treadmill so much that he ended up thinking he was the God of his realm, and that subsequently led to him never wanting to leave the place. Dean Pelton spent a couple of hours in the VR world, but he’s a doofus, so better to ignore him.

Serious questions arise. Are we going to endanger ourselves by using virtual reality? Are we going to love the false world so much that we’ll hate the real one? I can’t answer these questions, and only time will tell if VR is indeed a gift, or a curse. Take it as food for thought.

Virtual reality therapy

Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy

Somewhat debunking those serious questions that I asked earlier, virtual reality exposure therapy is a real thing, and it helps people who suffer from certain phobias like Ophidiophobia – fear of snakes; Acrophobia, or Altophobia – fear of heights; and those who suffer from depression, and other mental illnesses. Amongst other uses.

According to the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, virtual reality therapy is – ” Currently found at over 60 sites, including VA hospitals, military bases and university centers,” helping those who suffer from PTSD. ” ICT’s Virtual Iraq/Afghanistan exposure therapy approach has been shown to produce a meaningful reduction in PTS symptoms.”

Virtual reality therapy helping those who suffer from PTSD.jpg

Marines from the 2d Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, train with the Future Immersive Training Environment

Treatments aren’t available for home users, and if you experience issues that don’t allow you to get out of the house, and into a facility that offers this kind of service, unfortunately, you can’t use virtual reality therapy. Why? Because you need a trained therapist that will guide you through the steps of your recovery.

You don’t want to start this journey on your own because a) you have no idea how you will react to the virtual stimuli, and b) you will end up deteriorating your mental state even more. Do not try this alone!

FullDive – an affordable VR option!

A couple of weeks ago I was chatting on Quora, and by sheer luck, I might add, I met Marcus Missirlian. We talked about books, and TV shows, and I ended up discovering that he works for a virtual reality company that is currently developing the most affordable headset on the market. Called FullDive, it’s a nifty little thing that immerses you into a dream-like world.

I immediately fell in love with it, and I asked him if we could set up an interview. He introduced me to one of the co-founders, and the rest is history.

The virtual reality headset is lightweight, and adjustable to fit any noggin – it also fits the user perfectly if he wears glasses; this is a big plus in my book.

It comes with a smart controller that helps you surf into your desired world – ” FullDive’s mixed reality controller allows your digital content to blend with reality as holograms.”

Full Dive’s team consists of virtual reality enthusiasts – some product designers, and engineers have worked for Tesla, and Google X; and founders Giovanno Yosen Utomo, and Ed Ow, are UC Berkely grads – which immediately makes me think that the entire team is comprised of sheer talent.

How do you use it?

Simple as pie. You download the app from Google Play – the iOS version will be available soon; you start it up, slide your phone into the headset, and you enjoy the experience. In the first 8 weeks of launch, the FullDive app witnessed over 50,000 downloads, and 1,450 reviews – the average rating was of 4.5 stars.

Their Kickstarter campaign hasn’t started yet, and it’s due this July – but you can pre-order their headset right now on their official website. It costs $29 for you early birds.

The headset offers a high quality affordable VR experience, unlike other virtual reality companies that make you cough up a lot of cash. You can use it to take photos, and record videos in the VR medium. Development is on-going, and expect to see FullDive enabling streaming of movies, and TV shows using Netflix, Hulu, and Roku.

The guys and girls over at FullDive are preparing their product to be available starting December of 2015. For more info, read the interview with Marcus Missirlian, and Giovanno Yosen Utomo just down below.

Q: Will FulDive support JellyBean, and KitKat, or it will focus on Lollipop, and the newly announced Android M? – on your website it only says that it works on all Android phones.

M: We are working to make sure the application functions properly on all versions of Android software, new and old, and actively stress test the application on different models of phone. The newer the software and phone, though, the better the application will function, because the application relies on the phone’s processor. Newer phones naturally have better processors, which allows the application to perform at its peak. As for the version of Android, we see this providing no impediment to the functionality of the application.

Q: The same goes for iOS. Which versions will it support?

M: The same goes for iOS. It will support iPhone 5 and above.

Q: Can you give any additional info regarding the Smart Controller? ” FullDive’s mixed reality controller allows your digital content to blend with reality as holograms.” How does it work exactly? Will I be able to control said holograms? Can I give them certain commands like plaster this YouTube window on the wall, and set it to follow me? Something on the lines of what HoloLens can do. If yes, what are its limitations?

M: Because we are still building out the functionality of the Smart Controller, we don’t yet quite have a read on what its limitations will be. Ideally, we want capabilities on par with Hololens and that is what our engineers are striving to produce. Additionally, there will be basic commands, like move the controller forward to confirm.

Q: With the Smart Controller do you think that games such as Minecraft will be playable?

M: That is the ideal situation and what we are working to provide with the application. The controller will be able to be used in place of, say, the pickaxe or a sword.

Q: Are there any specific games recommended for the FullDive product? What about apps? Or you can just watch movies, and surf the web using the FullDive VR app?

M: While streaming media and surfing the web would be the primary purpose, we are providing the tools to produce games for the FullDive application. We are hoping this will encourage the proliferation of FullDive as users create and share their games with their friends. We ourselves are working to produce games to get the ball rolling. Additionally, any virtual reality application downloaded through Google Play or the App Store is compatible with the headset and can be launched through our FullDive application. Our vision is an affordable headset that offers a one-stop-shop virtual reality experience, and using the application as a landing site for all virtual reality applications on your device aids us in this aim.

Q: Virtual reality is facing some problems at the moment. Oculus Rift users have reported feeling dizzy and nauseous after using the VR gear. Is this a problem that FullDive has encountered? If yes, how did the team manage to get rid of it?

M: A few users have reported feeling off balance, but we have tried to alleviate this problem by making sure that screens are stable at all times through head tracking and use dark colors such as black and dark blue to guide users through our selection of apps. The FullDive VR design team is working hard to ensure that users have a comfortable VR experience.

Q: It’s been marketed as an affordable product even for third world countries, but what about first world ones? Do you think the public will accept it with arms wide open? Or will they flock to other products like Facebook-owned Oculus Rift, Sony’s Project Morpheus, HTC and Valve’s Vive, Microsoft’s HoloLens, and Samsung’s Gear VR?

M: The main problem with VR right now is its accessibility. The public wants to experience virtual reality but is waiting on these headsets to come out sometime within the next couple years. With FullDive, users already have everything they need, a smartphone to download our FullDive app. For high-end users who want to upgrade their computer or use VR for intensive gaming, the other headsets will have to be optimized with a powerful graphics card. It’s the same concept with laptops: there are your light users who want to daily use for school and work and those who buy laptops specifically for gaming. If the case was every user wanted the most powerful device, there would be no market space for a laptop like the Chromebook. There is a massive market for both sectors, and we have received a lot of enthusiasm about our affordable pricing.

Q: Google has announced their partnership with GoPro, and they too will tackle virtual reality. Do you think that the market is becoming overly saturated by so many VR products?

M: While a lot of companies are tackling producing virtual reality headsets, a clear leader in the value space has yet to emerge. There are a great number of headsets, but each one is attempting to differentiate itself in a different way. The market we are attempting to tackle, the casual/light user projected to be the largest virtual reality consumer, still has a lot of room left for us to establish a significant presence.

Q: On your official website it reads that the kickstarter campaign starts this June. Do you have any information that you can share at this moment? What’s the initial goal? What are the rewards?

G: The kickstarter was originally planned at the end of June, but since we have some challenges on the hardware designs – we are pushing it to July. We will pledge $50,000 but we are hoping to get more than that!

Q: What motivated you to start FullDive?

G: I was originally from Indonesia, a 3rd world country. Throughout my 5 years stay in the US, I feel the huge gap of technology; and this motivated me to bridge the technology gap by making a product that can be accessed by everyone. Internet sure does help, but it is not enough. We need that infrastructure. That is where VR comes in. I personally think that VR is a cutting edge technology that fits with my vision, to create an infrastructure can help people to have a better life.

Q: What is it you’re hoping to achieve with FullDive?

G: I want everyone, yes everyone around the world, to be connected and start experiencing VR. That is my vision of the company. We will overcome this challenge by creating a set of products (software and hardware) that is affordable to most people and made accessible through our distribution networks. Basically, it would make me happy if everyone can experience this new technology, and I believe that FullDive will bring a big step of evolution to how people enjoy media, socialize, and do businesses.

Q: How do you see the virtual reality trend evolving? Do you think it will wither in a couple of years, or are we witnessing our new form of home entertainment?

G: I am a keen believer that through VR and AR (augmented reality), we are approaching a new form of way of interaction with our daily live, not only for home entertainment, but also education, research, industry, etc. It will make all human’s life easier if we can utilize VR in parts of our daily lives. For example, surgeons can be assisted during surgery, by making sure that they are cutting the right spot; golfer will have the ability to see the speed of wind and distance projection, and it will help their decision on their shot. People can share their 360 experience with their family, instead of the usual a face to face video conference. These are just some of the examples that I can think about.

Q: Any thoughts on the behemoths of the industry? Oculus Rift, HoloLens, and Valve’s, and HTC’s SteamVR ( also called Vive).

G: I don’t think them as our competitor, but more of a big brother. They are the ones who are creating the cutting edge technologies, which will come with huge cost and not mobile – and not everyone can afford it. We are creating the simple technology, which is accessible to everyone. Think about having a super-power computer which cost $1000 you must be installed at home; or a mobile smartphone which cost less than $200.

We don’t really know that the future will hold for virtual reality, but it sounds interesting. I’m going to stick with the trend, and I’m surely going to pre-order a FullDive headset of my own, once their Kickstarter campaign starts. How about you?

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VR-ready PC for Oculus Rift Will Cost About $1000!

May 28, 2015 By Karen Jackson Leave a Comment

Oculus Rift will begin to ship sometime in early 2016. This means that you have all the time in the world to upgrade your PC so it can run the VR toy.

Oculus Rift CEO Brendan Iribe has been reported of saying at the Re/code conference that – ” We are looking at an all-in price, if you have to go out and actually need to buy a new computer and you’re going to buy the Rift… at most you should be in that $1,500 range.”

This isn’t bad to be honest.

Previous Oculus Rift development kits have been priced at $350 – we don’t expect it to go any higher than $400; so a $1000 PC rig sounds more than decent.

These are the technical specifications that you need to base your new PC on.

NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater

Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater

8GB+ RAM

Windows 7 SP1 or newer

2x USB 3.0 ports

HDMI 1.3 video output supporting a 297MHz clock via a direct output architecture

With time, we expect those pieces of hardware to drop their price, and you can bet your hiney that in 2016 you’ll pay less than the $1000 mentioned cost.

Oculus Rift Chieft Architect Atman Binstock has said earlier this month that these specifications will apply for the entirety of the product’s life span, and consumers shouldn’t worry that besides upgrading their VR gear, they should also upgrade their PC. It is unknown at the moment if Oculus Rift owners will have to upgrade their device’s components with time.

It’s all in a mist at this point – nothing is clear. We truly hope that these are the specifications, and that the price is cemented, but who really knows?!

Can Oculus Rift deliver?

What we do know is that Oculus Rift is trying to gain the lead. The company has recently bought a firm that reconstructs 3D scenes in real time – Surreal Vision. It sure comes in handy when big daddy Facebook opens its pockets. Their official blog post reads – ” Great scene reconstruction will enable a new level of presence and telepresence, allowing you to move around the real world and interact with real-world objects from within VR.” Sure Oculus, buy everything you can – just release a proper product.

I’m no that sceptical, and I’m not that optimistic either. When it comes to jumping on the hype-train I rather remain suspicious on where we’re going, and how long the trip will last. At this point, we’re seeing so much news regarding virtual reality. It seems like every big industry behemoth has a virtual reality gear in the makings.

“We’re developing breakthrough techniques to capture, interpret, manage, analyse, and finally reproject in real-time a model of reality back to the user in a way that feels real, creating a new, mixed reality that brings together the virtual and real worlds.” it concludes the blog post.

And I proclaim myself the king of Sweden. Big expectations Oculus Rift, really big expectations.

Can the Facebook-owned VR company deliver? Or we’re being grotesquely lied to?

Image Source: 1, 2, 3

What is virtual reality and is it dangerous?

Virtual reality therapy

FullDive – an affordable VR option!

Can Oculus Rift deliver?

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