[Tech] Shiny!

[VibroAxe]

Some of you may remember my article on Virtual Reality and Looking into my crystal ball. Well I decided that for my IRP (Individual Research Project) next year I have decided to extend this article into a full bore research article on a similar theme. With this in mind I sent off an email to Vuzix (A VR Goggle Manufacturer) a couple of months ago asking for some tech specs and details on their VR goggles and how they worked (This email was also sent to other providers)

OK, so this is kinda a precursor to a review, But this is what arrived in the post today

Suffice to say i'm kinda excited about the prospects of these!

A full review will come in time, but after the little i've tried them they are absolutely awesome! So far I have tried Portals, TF2 and COD4. Of the 3 games, Portals is by far the best with TF2 a close Second. COD4 is really very pretty, but slightly ruined by bad 3d when trying to aim when scoped. Having said that, it still gives a very immersive experience without the 3d.

As for the Head tracker which is built into these units, none of the above games support it, but the tech demo's which come on the disc are pretty and very immersive to say the least.

There would appear to be an SDK as well, but this currently remains experimented!

 

[thatbloke]

i hate you

 

[Wol]

He has more money than sense . Hope he contibutes towards the thn server costs. teheh.

Or maybe you can buy me some chinese vibbles?


I'd expect portal / tf2 to be fairly similar, with them both being based on the same engine / made at the same time.

What happens with people who wear glasses though? does each eye have a focussing thing like on binoculars?

I'm tempted to do some wiimote 3d tracking fun for my iRP , mainly cos I've written a fair bit of the code already . and its fun waggling my arms around! Then join the two projects together , and huzzah!

 

[Traxata]

Wol, He didn't pay for them, He got them sent to him for FREE :/

This is why we hate vibs.

 

[VibroAxe]

I'm tempted to do some wiimote 3d tracking fun for my iRP , mainly cos I've written a fair bit of the code already . and its fun waggling my arms around! Then join the two projects together , and huzzah!

Hate to burst your bubble, but iRP is exactly that, RESEARCH project. Pretty sure we just have to do a research paper, rather than physical coding, might be wrong though. If we are allowed codey stuff, defo joining forces!

 

[elDiablo]

You are allowed to do coding, but yeah, it's a Research project, so there isn't much point in it other than person interest and wanting to waste time you could use on other things.

Depends on your project tutor too, but MEH!

Edit - And everyone knows that AR is the way forwards

 

[Wol]

Edit - And everyone knows that AR is the way forwards

Yea, I remember seeing AR stuff you were doing ages ago and found it really interesting!

If we are allowed codey stuff, defo joining forces!

Agreed. Even if not, I think it would be interesting.

Wol, He didn't pay for them, He got them sent to him for FREE :/

I know, but that doesnt mean that he doesnt have more sense than money

Who did you email vibbles? I'm tempted to see what they have.... >.>

 

[Traxata]

Maybe we could all tell them that we're doing a iRP on VR, and see if we can all get free goggles?

hmm...

 

[Wol]

As for the Head tracker which is built into these units, none of the above games support it

http://www.vuzix.com/iwear/products_vr920_support.html

That disagrees. Says that it should have tracking support for tf2. Although it also has "4" next to CoD, so dunno what thats meant to mean, as the options are 0, 1 and 2

 

[Haven]

so what sort of resolution do they pump out ?

 

[elDiablo]

800 x 600, as small displays still SUCK. You can get 1024x768 for a price, and I think even higher than that if you want to go STUPID MONEY. Which is a shame, cos I love this kind of shit

 

[Traxata]

When I spoke to vibs about them last time, I think he said something along the lines of a 60" monitor?

 

[elDiablo]

It is the same view area as a 60" screen, but that is because they are so close to your eyes. It's really a nothing measurement that the marketters of the companies use to make it sound more impressive

 

[Wol]

mmm schpiel.

in the same way that if i put my head up close to my nice monitor, its the equivalent of watching a 1km wide monitor at a distance of some number of metres away .

Trouble is you cant focus each eye separately. Which is a pain as i have one short sighted, and one long sighted eye.... *sigh*. spinning around a lot in games (portal) seems to spazz up my eyes a bit.

And you look wierd randomly clicking and typing.... with blank screens in front of you! heh.

 

[VibroAxe]

800 x 600, as small displays still SUCK. You can get 1024x768 for a price, and I think even higher than that if you want to go STUPID MONEY. Which is a shame, cos I love this kind of shit

To be totally honest, I'm actually fine with the small res, a bit higher would be nice, 1024x768, but any higher than that and i don't think you would really notice much of the difference, without using a slightly larger display itself