The last time the Oculus rift came out in public for a consumer test-drive was at E3 back in June of 2013. Now, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Oculus has debuted a new prototype of its virtual reality headset gaming device, showing off an extraordinary evolutionary leap.
First of all, according to reviewers from IGN, the device seems to have improved latency and blurring, as well as the addition of new positional tracking. The new tracking capabilities are made possible due to a significant addition to the Rift, an external camera.
Previously, the Rift only allowed users to look within the game space. Similar to the way you would control the X and Y axis with the thumb sticks on a standard controller. Now, thanks to the camera, the rift will allow the player to be able to do things like lean around in-game obstacles or look over the edge of a building. As IGN notes, "imagine playing a shooter and being able to physically lean out of a window to return fire or a stealth game where you need to peek around corners."
Oculus has taken steps to reduce the motion blurring effect that has limited the experience up until now. Though the reviewer notes that it is not completely gone, rapid movements are now crisper and clearer. This leads to a less disorienting experience, an element of the product that previously caused many people to feel nauseous.
Finally, Oculus has adopted an OLED panel for the in-viewer display, which results in crisper colors, low latency and an overall more in-depth experience.
The company is still not discussing its plans for launching the device but does warn people that there is still a lot of work to be done. Tell us what games you'd like to see adapted to include Oculus Rift support? Personally, we're a sucker for stealth games and the idea of physically peaking around a corner gets us pretty darn excited. What do you think? Comment and share with us below.
