

GDC 2013: Michael Abrash on “Why VR is Hard (and where it might be going)” - staunch
http://www.roadtovr.com/2013/03/31/gdc-2013-michael-abrash-virtual-reality-oculus-rift-presentation-slides-4415/all/1

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losvedir
Excellent talk. I got my rift dev kit on Friday and I can _easily_ see this
being the future of gaming! I haven't had time to really dive in to the SDK
yet, but simply watching a few videos tailored for the rift was an incredible,
highly immersive experience.

That said, one of the videos makes me terribly motion sick, so... I'm hoping
my body can get used to this.

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benz145
There was a lot of exciting VR news out of GDC 2013 if you were paying
attention and knew where to look, especially this:

[http://www.roadtovr.com/2013/03/30/gdc-2013-oculus-rift-
raze...](http://www.roadtovr.com/2013/03/30/gdc-2013-oculus-rift-razer-hydra-
tuscany-unity-demo-4401)

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pfraze
For anybody interested, I've got a browser plugin ready for streaming the
sensor data, and will finish the implementation as soon as my kit arrives

<https://github.com/grimwire/ohmd-plugin>

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jonnycowboy
Could you try out something I've modified to work on canvas on Firefox Mobile?
Are you driving the standard HTML orientation variables?
<http://ljd2.com/nemesis/indexcanvas.html>

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pfraze
That's interesting; I'll put it on the roadmap if it maps well enough.

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zenbowman
I think the idea of VR is beginning to shift: head-mounted displays are
clunky, a much more immersive solution is to project the virtual world on a
large curved screen or a wall, and then use array microphones, and a set of
cameras for tracking user motion.

I worked on a project like this a while ago:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVVKNTP0lfo>

There are a few places where this research is going on, USC's ICT also has a
really nifty setup, a lot like HoloDeck v0.0001 from Star Trek:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcTswP0sF9w>

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gosu
Taking you literally, I'd say that a wall is clunkier than a headset. But
being reasonable, I'd say that those approaches are pretty different and
neither is obviously better. Why do you favor projections?

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AndrewKemendo
This is great and really forward looking. I have been working on an AR project
on the side for almost two years now and the things Abrash points out as
problems are core issues that we are trying to fix (without using real world
markers).

Of the three core problems that he points out, tracking really stands out as
the key differentiation for us. Adding to that, how the objects must remain
fixed in space is really the factor that if solved would plunge us right into
next generation AR. Improved latency is almost a nice to have at this point.

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ak223
Awesome talk. I was just thinking about AR and it's possibilities from this
invasive code post ( <http://www.verious.com/board/iNVASIVECODE/augmented-
reality/>). It seemed like the first salvo towards VR, but it's good to hear
they're progressing in unison. Will Doom 4 impress us to the next level?

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potatolicious
I got my Rift dev kit on Friday, and my weekend was expected occupied.

I"m not sure if I want Doom 4 in VR. Even in the very rough, early, low-
resolution state of the Rift there is an uncanny realism to it - I can easily
imagine people literally getting scared to death in horror games.

Games like Amnesia are scary enough on a flat screen in a lit room, there may
be real issues with putting them in VR.

There's a thought. Gaming so realistic people stop playing them.

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endianswap
Did you try playing Team Fortress 2 with the Oculus Rift?

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potatolicious
Yeah, it's pretty much the best possible demo of the Rift's abilities. The
Tuscany demo in the SDK is IMO not great for showing the full promise of the
technology - everything is static and the level geometry means you never
really get _close_ to anything for the depth perception to punch you in the
face.

TF2 has all of that and more. My score has taken a punishment, but it's just
so damn enjoyable.

I'm also that ass on your team that's walking around looking at stuff in
amazement instead of shooting the enemy...

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JabavuAdams
The space-time diagrams are a great visualization tool for various display
artifacts.

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38leinad
Great! Was already considering buying GDC Vault annual fee of 500$ to just see
this presentation... let's see if the read can spare me this money. :-)

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iandanforth
roadtovr appears to be taking a beating. Mirrors?

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jQueryIsAwesome
The tracking problem seems easy to solve; but admitedly I never went to
college so this may be just dumb, but why don't just use a external reference
device? A little device that saves your initial position and triangulates the
diff between your initial position and your current position.

