Question for Rift users and techies in general...

[Chris James]

Is the Oculus Rift as demanding as a triple screen setup?

In my quest for sim racing immersion, I first bought a TrackIR, which is great for flight sims, but I never was able to hit a corner accurately unless looking straight ahead with it. So I saved and saved and bought 3 screens and a 7970. This works wonderfully, except that modern sims are too demanding to run 3 screens with anything but almost the lowest graphics settings, which I'm growing tired of. I can see the apex of even the tightest corners, but AC looks like rFactor. So, will the Oculus Rift be less demanding than Eyefinity?

Oh, and can you drive as fast with the Rift as without? Any other general advise about the Rift? Is it worth it? Is the 3D immersive or gimmicky? Did any of you go from 3 screens to the Rift, and was the loss of peripheral view too much to bear? That's one of my fears, not seeing the sides anymore.

AMD 1100T stock clock
AMD HD7970 3g
3 "40 TVs
Asus M4A89TD USB 3 Pro
12g 1600 DDR3

Thanks guys.

 

[RaceNut]

I haven't tried using the Rift myself but, I do follow quite a lot of news and feedback on it. The rift is rendering 2 screens - one for the left eye and one for the right. Depending on what resolution the final consumer version ends up using, hardware requirements have yet to be determined but, they sound like they will be fairly reasonable. Regarding the 3D, most people say that is really good with the Rift - much better than with monitors and has more realistic depth of field effects. As for driving racing games with the Rift, early reports have been very positive saying that many find it easier to hit the apex more accurately - even with the developer version's lower resolution.

The immersion factor using the Rift in Racing games and flight Sims is said to be incredible. I look forward to trying one when the consumer version is available. Some people may have issues with motion sickness but, many of them are able to minimize that over time.

 

[Chris James]

Good info, thanks.

 

[hazy]

From what I read : most significant

Cons
- the screens are so close to your eyes that with the dev kit you can see lines in between the pixels
- apparently the creator uses glasses but people who also use them find it uncomfortable to play with them
- the need of changing the position of your actual wheel when driving different cars so that it matches what you see (otherwise you feel detached from your body)
- difficulties with finding the shift stick or whatever because you can't see your hands
- oppresses your face

Pros
- 1 to 1 head tracking ratio with a head mounted display - the perfect combination, you don't need to fallow the display with your eyes when moving your head like with a desktop display
- life like visual effects : true stereo vision (you cross your eyes to focus on something that's close to you, they even say that then everything far away is doubled like in real life)
and an actual depth of field, for those who don't know what it is (a picture is worth a thousand words so)

- and most impressive thing is that it all works even with games that don't support any of it

All together this sounds so immersive that I believe that after an hour of driving you will be convinced that you need to stop the car in order to not get killed when exiting it when you need to go to the bathroom

Imo the pros cover the cons by miles.

 

[Tim Meuris]

you guys think the rift is bad for the eyes?

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

can't be any worse than me sitting a foot and half from my 42"

 

[Channel]

I have 3 monitor 22" and a Oculus Rift. My graphic card is an ATI 7970.

Well, the rift is simply amazing and immersive.

But there are CONS:
- Due to low resolution you can't see apex very well. Even if you know the track.
- The FOV is not so wide.
- Personally, I can drive without problems for about 15 or 20 minutes. Then I start feeling sickness and tired.. but I've heard of people who can drive for hours without a problem.
- Not so comfortable to wear

So I think that at this moment, 3 monitors are a better solution.
But when the commercial version will be out with:
- Higher Resolution (Maybe 4k)
- Wider FOV
- Lighter and More comfortable device

then I think that the rift will be the choice of many simracers!

 

[Chris James]

Channel, is it confirmed that the commercial version will have a wider FOV, or is that just something you hope they'll include?

 

[Tim Meuris]

is there already a date for the release of a commercial version?

 

[RaceNut]

It is expected late in 2014 but, not guaranteed. The possible 4k version is years away and will need a very robust PC. It has been suggested that there may be several versions released prior to something like the 4k version.

 

[Chris James]

Well, I just watched this video, and I'm going to start saving now. It'll be worth the cost just to find out...why they do that.

 

[Pete Bone]

Well, I just watched this video, and I'm going to start saving now. It'll be worth the cost just to find out...why they do that.

Iv been watching the development for a while but im holding out for a 1080p version, iv waited this long, i can wait a little longer.

I think the reason people are so unsteady is they lose all sense of spacial awareness while wearing the Rift. Their eyes tell their brain one thing but their body tells it another.

 

[Anthony Levene]

Channel, is it confirmed that the commercial version will have a wider FOV, or is that just something you hope they'll include?

I think the FOV is largely irrelevant. I have a better FOV in the Rift than when I wear a full face helmet.

BTW the Oculus implementation in AC is still broken. The scale is all wrong - I suspect they are not using the latest SDK as there is still a lot of drift which I don't get in iRacing or rF2.

 

[Chris James]

I think the FOV is largely irrelevant. I have a better FOV in the Rift than when I wear a full face helmet.

You just answered my next question, thanks. How in the hell can race drivers avoid banging into each other with such a limited FOV? When I got my triple setup, I was immediately able to run side by side much better, and more confidently. Take that away, and I would feel much less secure. I do think it would be a good trade off though if it is as immersive as every says it is.

 

[Pete Bone]

You just answered my next question, thanks. How in the hell can race drivers avoid banging into each other with such a limited FOV? When I got my triple setup, I was immediately able to run side by side much better, and more confidently. Take that away, and I would feel much less secure. I do think it would be a good trade off though if it is as immersive as every says it is.

To be fair, when your wearing a helmet and racing for real you can hear people beside you and you can move your head easier to see where people are. I agree with you on the triple screen thing though, it is so much better for racing. Iv never got on with the glance buttons, they work but not quite they way id like them too.

Does anyone know what it costs to get a Rift to the UK, delivery, taxes etc? I know they cost £180 ish but dont know what the import taxes etc are for the UK.

 

[Channel]

Channel, is it confirmed that the commercial version will have a wider FOV, or is that just something you hope they'll include?

It's confirmed.. I've read about it somewhere..
By the way, I think that wider FOV it's not irrilevant, even in simracing when it's supposed you wear an helmet.

At this time you can't use so much of your peripheral vision with the rift, and this kill immersion a bit.
Eventually, you could also render the helmet, like a camera view in Project Cars.

 

[hazy]

I would put the FOV thing this way
- irrelevant about cornering / apex finding - because you can move the corner to the middle of your screen by simply turning your head before entering it
- very relevant when it comes to the sense of speed, there is nothing worse then the almost slow motion when using 1 to 1 FOV on a single screen, but that's probably more about just the horizontal view then the whole FOV.

 

[ThomasGocke]

I think FOV is not so relevant, you turn your head intuitively to see what you want, in contrast to TrackIR, where moving the head feels VERY weird. I was never able to drive with TrackIR, while OC is so natural, you don’t even notice that you are turning your head. Tbh, I rather have them keep the FOV and just raise the resolution, because with higher FOV at same resolution the pixels are bigger. The massive problem for me is the pixelated image - I think raising the resolution from 720 to 1080 is not enough, by FAR, I think it needs much more.
Motion sickness of course is the other problem, but in a racing sim far less than in a first person shooter, where one abrupt move can make me sick already. But you better not crash the car into a wall ;-)

 

[RaceNut]

That should provide extra incentive to drive well.

 

[Chris Dawson]

Hazy,

Could you enlighten me about depth of field... great picture to illustrate DOF, but I can't see how the Rift can give you this. Both of your eyes are still focussing on a fixed screen (or pair of fixed screens in this instance) that give the impression of 3D, but focussing off this set focal plane will push everything out of focus will it not?