In an extensive, new interview with Fortune, Oculus VR CTO John Carmack said that trying the Oculus Rift virtual reality experience is "like getting religion on contact." Asked what separates the today's VR technology from VR tech of yesteryear, Carmack said that his company's innovations are pushing VR forward in a significant way.
"In the past there were smaller niche companies, research companies, or military projects, and none of them got it right," Carmack said. "Everybody was doing small incremental improvements on the previous formfactor and design, which just wasn't right. And they didn't notice that you can make it something that the mass market could enjoy.
"Oculus really started popularizing a new approach using cellphone screen technology, a wide field of view, and super-low-latency sensor tracking. It's not crappy stuff that doesn't work and makes everybody sick. When you experience Oculus technology, it's like getting religion on contact. People that try it walk out a believer."
Oculus VR was bought by Facebook earlier this year in a massive deal worth $2 billion. In addition to Oculus Rift for PC, Oculus has partnered with Samsung for a mobile version called Gear VR, which is available now for $200.
