• Take 30 seconds to register your free account to access deals, post topics, and view exclusive content!

    Register Today

    Join the largest Oakley Forum on the web!

Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality...I'm Sold!

kalsgotsoul

Oakley Expert
96
693
My friend's an early adopter / proponent / tech evangelist of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). He's tried all of the Oculus Rift prototypes from DK1 to Crescent Bay as well as Sony's Project Morpheus. He personally owns a Google CardBoard, Oculus Rift DK2, and Samsung Gear VR (which requires the Note 4) sets and he let me try them out.

Holy schnikes, Batman!

All I can say is that the experience is...MAGICAL! And I can't wait until this tech improves and becomes mainstream. Now, I'm not trying to push any particular company's product - I'm just encouraging you guys to try a VR / AR headset if you can!

From my limited personal experience playing with my friend's aforementioned VR gear I would rank the sets as follows:

Samsung Gear VR > Oculus Rift DK2 > Google CardBoard

For me personally, this was due to the portability (no wires required outside the set) and higher resolution on the Note 4 screen over the DK2 which allowed me to stay immersed in the experience. The screen-door effect is still noticeable but you forget all about it as you experience VR and get sucked right in. Google CardBoard is just a child's plaything in comparison - but at like $15 it wasn't really meant to compete with the other sets. However, the Oculus Rift DK2 does have a motion tracking system (i.e. detects leaning closer or crouching) the Gear VR lacks.

The virtual tours of Iceland and NYC were nice and the game demos were cool, but my favorite experience was watching movie trailers in the Oculus Cinema app. Forget watching a movie in a theater (which was already pretty awesome). How about watching a movie on a 60 foot screen on the moon!? Yes, please! I know the resolution isn't quite there yet, but the experience was incredible.

Again, my friend has played with more VR head-sets and he ranks his personal experiences with them as follows:

Oculus Rift Crescent Bay > Sony Project Morpheus > Samsung Gear VR > Oculus Rift DK2 > DK1 > Google CardBoard

This makes sense since you have a full-blown PC or game console as the brains powering the first two.

And check out these videos on AR:

Microsoft HoloLens

Magic Leap

Can you imagine this tech on the next generation Oakley Airwave goggles!?!

Mind = Blown!
 
VR is like 3D. It's a fun novelty and not much more. That's why the tech hasn't taken off despite several attempts over the decades, much like 3D.
 
VR is like 3D. It's a fun novelty and not much more. That's why the tech hasn't taken off despite several attempts over the decades, much like 3D.

Admittedly, it could've been the novelty of it all - I did only play with the VR head-sets for an hour or so - and the content is very limited, but I was impressed.

I'm not sure if it's the tech finally catching up to the potential of VR, John Carmack's HW/SW optimization efforts, Facebook's $2B, or the perfect storm of all three, but I find VR to be much more compelling now than it was during the Max Headroom days.

Maybe it's the search for new growth engines to add to company's bottomlines, but there also appears to be renewed interest in the field and a bigger push to make it mainstream.

Still...a boy can dream, right? VR / AR enabled Oakleys - oh, yeah!
 
Novelty indeed but I can see the upsides...like with communication and say, trying to make the most of limited space.Both sports and warfare alike, this would be an awesome strategy tool. Big issues would be cost and learning curve. Maybe this will be as intuitive as a smart phone, but right now I can imagine it being more complex, especially to gain expertise with programs.

On another note, what program was used on that motorcycle? Maybe I'm too much of a noob in SolidWorks and Creo, but I don't know how that could fuel tank adjustment be done in general on modeling programs. My logic is that it would've been a parameter in an early sketch, and adjusting on a whim could screw up every consequential feature/sketch.
 
Novelty indeed but I can see the upsides...like with communication and say, trying to make the most of limited space.Both sports and warfare alike, this would be an awesome strategy tool. Big issues would be cost and learning curve. Maybe this will be as intuitive as a smart phone, but right now I can imagine it being more complex, especially to gain expertise with programs.

Agreed! I'm trying to envision the tech in the future when it's matured enough with enough developer support to be a commodity. Life would be grand!

On another note, what program was used on that motorcycle? Maybe I'm too much of a noob in SolidWorks and Creo, but I don't know how that could fuel tank adjustment be done in general on modeling programs. My logic is that it would've been a parameter in an early sketch, and adjusting on a whim could screw up every consequential feature/sketch.

I wish I knew. I haven't used a CAD program in ages...haha. Used SolidWorks but have no experience with Creo. IIRC it should be possible by establishing relations to maintain design intent. I'm sure there are others here in the forum much more qualified than I that can chime in.
 
Marketing? Maybe...but I can see the highs of what VR can offer here...


The lows (perhaps these can be considered highs as well depending on your personal beliefs in the matter :)) can be seen on youtube.

Just do a search in youtube for VR reactions - probably NSFW though.
 
Back
Top