Recently updated on December 27th, 2019 at 05:03 pm
Last week, on 10th May 2014, I attended an event held at Multimedia University (MMU) which is located in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. During the event, MMU also showcased some of the latest product and innovation related with virtual reality or simulated environment world. One that attracted me and keep me excited that night is the Oculus Rift VR system. Although knowing and reading about it since last year, this is actually my first time trying the much hype and popular Oculus Rift. I was too excited about it that I tried it quite a few times.
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| This is the Oculus Rift Headset that I tried. |
When I first donning the headgear, I was really awed and surprised by the level of immersiveness. It has a very high and significant improvement compared with the previous VR products that I had tried before. There is nearly no black area at all. I was amazed at how Oculus Rift lens can perfectly captured the human’s eye field of view. It is truly awesome!!! It really deserved the hype they received…
Two demos that I tried are the roller coaster ride and the experience of walking at a cottage in some sub-urban area. During the roller coaster demo, initially, the ride is very smooth, slow and steady. I can watch around looking at the surrounding and appreciate the view of the castle from the roller coaster track. Then, suddenly when the coaster was speeding down the track, jumping of the rail, and cornering in a very fast manner, I nearly feels like felling off to the ground. Luckily, there is a table that I can grip and hold on to it during that thrilled moment.
When I was trying the house demo, I need to use a game controller to move forward and backward. Initially, I was ‘teleported‘ inside a small house or cottage and I need a little bit of adjusting on how to move around in the virtual environment using the controller. But once I’m familiar with it, it get a lot easier to manoeuvre around. The best part is when I move outside the house. The outdoor surrounding is very fascinating where I can look up and see the sky above me and then watch the blue ocean and viewing an island far at the distance. I feel like I can touch the tree and rocks when I move towards them.
During the VR demo, there is a computer monitor that showed the left eye and right eye images on the screen. Hence, the other visitors or passerby can also see what the person wearing the VR headset is viewing. It is also helpful for the person in charge of the VR system to alert that person on the coming scene where he needs to be extra cautious such as the moment right before the roller coaster jump off the track.
From the demo session, I think there are two areas of improvement for Oculus Rift. One is on the display resolution. If I look at it very carefully, I can see the pixel one by one. I can actually count it if I want. It feels like I was watching the whole environment behind a nearly transparent mosquito net. I wish in the coming version of Oculus Rift, they can improve on that area and provide a higher resolution display. Another thing is that, after a while, the fifth try if I can remember it correctly, I can sense the feeling of dizziness or nausea. I think this is what people called as motion sickness in the virtual reality system. Perhaps, they can find a way to reduce this kind of feeling and effects.
Nevertheless, this experience is really an eye-opener to me on the new virtual reality landscape and its future potential. No wonder Facebook acquired this Oculus VR company for $2 billion. Lastly, I would like to thanks Mr. Mazlan b. Mahadzir and his team from MMU for assisting and helping me during the demo. Till we meet again 🙂
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