Review of an Oculus VR Headset

Virtual Reality is here and boy is it interesting. Now gamers can experience gaming in a whole new way, a way that is much closer to reality than sitting at a television or computer monitor smashing buttons. As innovative and impactful this technology is in the world of gaming, Virtual Reality is by no means perfect. I actually recently got a chance to try a developer version of the Oculus. It wasn't the newest updated version so I'll cut it some slack but I'm still going to go through my experience and give it a review, all-though I won't be nice about it.

A picture of the Oculus Development Kit I got to try.
Image found at the Huffington Post website.

My first concern with this device became apparent before I even put the headset on. I wear glasses every hour I am awake because I can barely see without them. So before I even got a chance to put it on, I dreadfully realized that my glasses had to come off. Naturally I thought this wouldn't be the biggest deal since the screen was so close to my eyes anyway. I was wrong. The image quality was drastically low, so low I actually couldn't tell if it was the image resolution or just my eyes being horrible. I honestly could barely see what was being displayed around me. What was being played was a simple rollercoaster simulation and yet I could barely make out the details I was supposed to pay attention to. At one point a boulder follows along the track, chasing the player but to me i just saw a brown mass behind me, I didn't find out until a friend looking at a separate screen told me that it was a boulder. Now I won't hold it against the hardware too much since it was an outdated version and my poor eyesight may be partially to blame but I feel this problem should be addressed still. There are in fact a large enough percentage of gamers with glasses that this may negatively effect. It doesn't need to be a main priority but this should definitely be a concern for developers.

Another issue I faced was where the headset thought I was facing initially. When my neck and head were in a neutral position, the headset thought I was looking at an angle as well as slightly downward. Since the main object of the simulation was to look around, this was troublesome for not only what I was viewing, but also the neck pain I experienced while viewing. I do not know of an easy way to reset the default position. If there was one, I believe it should be a bit more obvious. If it doesn't have a reset button or switch or control, the headset and/or games really need one.

Now I don't know the mechanics that cause this but one big complaint I have heard and officially experienced is motion sickness. Seriously, I rarely get sick from games but I felt horrible after a bit. I really couldn't be on it for more than 5 minutes before needing to stop. Unfortunately I'm not the only one with this complaint. This is a huge problem and will continue to be a big problem. I'm honestly not sure how to fix this. Anyone who knows about this equipment knows that motion sickness is a serious problem people have. This has ruined entire VR games. When a solution presents itself about this I'll support that solution.

Man using Oculus Rift. Image found at the official Oculus website.

Now I don't want to be entirely negative, I honestly don't hate the Oculus. I really love the ideas behind it and think it has a lot of potential. The games created for it can have a lot of creativity and new ideas put in place. Even outside the world of gaming this innovative technology has its use in movies, entertainment, training, and simulations. Honestly the potential this piece of hardware has outweighs its negative aspects. Plus there is plenty of time for the technology to grow and get better. It is very possible that developers will fix these problems soon. I really want to see how people use this new piece of hardware, I myself have a few ideas I may play around with when I get the chance. So don't take this negative view as a reason to not give VR a chance, actually do the opposite. Try it yourself, challenge what I said, and prove me wrong. When you do I really want to see where it goes because I can't wait to see where this technology goes in the near future.