Oculus Dk2 and Simracing

Hi everybody

Last week i tested Oculus Dk2 with LFS, Iracing and ASSETTO CORSA

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This is my opinion, from 24/10/14

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OCULUS DK2 WITH IRACING 5/10

Need to improve

PROS

Menus are great
Low input lag
+ 70 hz

CONS

Blurred Image far away
Latency
Not absolute positioning
High brightness
Not Scale 1:1
High subpixel grid

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OCULUS DK2 WITH ASSETTO CORSA 7,5/10

Image closer much better. Lots of details inside the car.


PROS

Absolute positioning
Low input lag
+ 70 hz

CONS

Menu....
Blurred Image far away
Latency
Adjustable brightness with HDR Options
Not Scale 1:1
Normal subpixel grid


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OCULUS DK2 WITH LFS 9,5/10

AWESOME

The best experience that i have tested in VR. You feel like in a real car ( i tested Gp2 and Formula 3000)

PROS

No latency
Good image far away
Scale 1:1
Low pixel grid
Natural colors
very low inputlag
+70 hz

CONS

Old Graphics

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Next week i am going to test Richard Burns Rally

Lots of people are amazed of the performance in this old rally simulator. Mabye better than LFS.

Link plugin

http://www.kegetys.fi/oculus-rift-mod-for-richard-burns-rally/


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Next CV1 will be better (More Fov, less pixel grid and more hz).

Neo, Welcome to the Virtual world
 
I would very much like to hear some comparison between Rift and triples. I've been messing around with headtracking a bit, and while it feels very natural and adds another layer of immersion I also have concluded that it hurts my driving more than I'm willing to live with. Sometimes I would misjudge my cars angle (when the tail gets loose) and either over or under compensate resulting in a complete loss of control. I put it down to the fact that since we completely lack the seat of the pants feeling (aka g forces and movement being applied to our bodies), we judge this loss of traction based on FFB and visual input, and if the visual input for one second does not "make sense" your brain and muscles might draw the wrong conclusion. I'm curious as to whether the Rift will have the same issue or not.
 
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Been playing around with the DK2 in pCars, Assetto Corsa & iRacing.
It's a great novelty, but already after a few hours it started to irritate me.
I spend about 15 hours in total on it.
First big minus, the resolution is only half HD, than take the edges off, so that leaves with a usable resolution of about 900x900 pixels.
Compared to my triple screens at 5760x1200 that is a huge step back.
Than there is a very prominent screendoor effect, seeing all pixels separately and the black in between them.
FOV is less than a 3rd than my triplescreen setup, ok you can look around to make up for that.
It's cool that you have the feeling the whole car is around you, but looking at the horizon you don't see much of the corners or cars further away than about 100 meters.
I know the corners of most track quite well, so i know what to expect.
Big elevations feel more real and scary with the Oculus.
When i returned to my trusty triplescreen setup it felt so relaxed for the eyes and the brain.
Still I for now I would not invest in the DK2, been reading that the next version of the Oculus addresses many of the DK2 shortcomings.
If the screendoor effect is gone, headtracking is even better, fps goes from 75 to 90 and the resolution is doubled as they predict.. it's a no brainer to buy one.
but for now keep your money in your pocket.
I was lucky a customer of mine brought me a DK2 for testing en development, that saved me some money I rather spend on a better GPU.
 
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I would very much like to hear some comparison between Rift and triples. I've been messing around with headtracking a bit, and while it feels very natural and adds another layer of immersion I also have concluded that it hurts my driving more than I'm willing to live with. Sometimes I would misjudge my cars angle (when the tail gets loose) and either over or under compensate resulting in a complete loss of control. I put it down to the fact that since we completely lack the seat of the pants feeling (aka g forces and movement being applied to our bodies), we judge this loss of traction based on FFB and visual input, and if the visual input for one second does not "make sense" your brain and muscles might draw the wrong conclusion. I'm curious as to whether the Rift will have the same issue or not.
Head-tracking alone has benefits but, it has to be right or it becomes a hindrance. Currently, the DK2 head-tracking works very well in both Pcars and AC for me and it feels quite natural to look into the turns or mirrors. Being in 3D means that you can also look around view-obstructing elements like a-pillars to some extent. I find that the closed-cockpit prototype cars are much easier to drive with the DK2, or perhaps less uncomfortable is a better description.

One of the added benefits of the Oculus Rift is that of very good 3D. That allows you to have much better spatial awareness and judgement. I find it quite easy to follow closely behind a leading car lap after lap. It's also much easier to judge distance while in turns side by side. I also find it easier to hit the apex. I would go so far as to say that racing in VR can even lend itself to improved lap times and consistency but, it requires some time to get to that point.

I agree that the current resolution of the DK2 leaves much to be desired, especially after using HD monitors but, the benefits outweigh the cons for me and I will continue to use the DK2 until a consumer version can be had. The recent Crescent Bay demo at Oculus Connect 2014 demonstrated improved resolution and latency and the screen-door effect was said to be almost non-existent. Some reports stated that the image quality appeared to be even better than the higher resolution should provide alone so some bit of clever tech seemed to be at work. The Crescent Bay demo was reported to be running on a single GTX 980.

The Oculus DK2 is certainly currently playable but, also flawed. We have to remember that it's primarily a VR development tool and not intended for public use.

I don't see VR as a novelty at all at this point. I think the technology is close to being at a place where it can be the preferred way to play Racing and Flight Sims. Not only will it enhance our experience and immersion into the Sims, it will also improve our performance while doing so at a somewhat lower cost and space penalty than triples. Of course, nothing is perfect; some trade-offs have to be made either way and some will choose one over the other but, I think that VR will be the choice for many - especially once they experience it for themselves.
 
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Yeah I've heard several people say that the view angle of the Rift is pretty much the same as you'd have wearing a race helmet, if so, I see no need for it to increase (for the sake of simracing) as it is pretty much true to life as it is.
But ofc, higher resolution and less latency is on the wishlist :)
I can imagine that using the Rift gives you a much greater sense of speed and direction than even triple monitors does.
 
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Yeah I've heard several people say that the view angle of the Rift is pretty much the same as you'd have wearing a race helmet, if so, I see no need for it to increase (for the sake of simracing) as it is pretty much true to life as it is.
But ofc, higher resolution and less latency is on the wishlist :)
I can imagine that using the Rift gives you a much greater sense of speed and direction than even triple monitors does.
It may be somewhat less than a helmet - depending on helmet design/specs. Some increase in view angle would be useful IMO but, it's not bad now. Using the DK2 has made driving open wheelers and open cockpit cars much more fun.

This video does a good job of showing what it's like using the Rift albeit, without 3D stereo vision.
It also doesn't show the screen-door effect or the pixels as in actual view and of course, we don't have control of the view in this case.
 
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I think a biggest part of the latency comes down to the strength of the GPU.
When the sim runs at 75 fps at ease I did perceive much noticeable latency.
With the DK2, you need to have a good margin of about 25% or more in FPS using a single 1920 x 1080 monitor. The GTX 780 can run AC on high settings (not max) and a full grid at around a 100fps. You can easily reduce the graphic settings without sacrificing image quality using the DK2 & current resolution. Of course, the consumer version will be more demanding and running at 90hz.

Hopefully, there should be a few more options for capable single GPU cards by the time Cv1 hits the streets.
 
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Hi lads, couldn't post in buy/sell/trade for some reason.
WTB DK2. If you've one for sale kindly PM me. Cheers

Edit: picked a brand new, unused dk2 up for $250 USD from someone who impulse bought, what a deal.
 
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