Using Oculus Rift with my 52 year old eyes?

[Anonymous]

I'm really interested in buying Oculus Rift - mainly for playing racing games (PC2, AC RRE etc) - but I'm a bit unsure how it will work with my not so perfect 52 year old eyes... 

I use contact lenses but have far from sharp sight on short distances. I need almost an arms length for reading a magazine or using a tablet for instance. There is also quite a big difference in lens strength between left and right eye. 

Experiences from any of you out there regarding this?

EDIT: Googled that the Rift have a focal distance of 1,5 m - does this mean that if I have a sharp vision on this distance, I'm fine? Sorry for the somewhat banal questions, but this is all new to me...

[Anonymous]

I myself can not read a thing normally without reading glasses on and was concerned about that when I got my Rift.

After receiving it I was pleased to find it was not an issue for me in VR, did not need reading glasses at all.
Of course your situation may be very different and may not be the same for you.

[kojack]

SkinnyCyclist said:

EDIT: Googled that the Rift have a focal distance of 1,5 m - does this mean that if I have a sharp vision on this distance, I'm fine? Sorry for the somewhat banal questions, but this is all new to me...

Yep, it means your eyes focus as if the screen is 1.5m away. So if you can see clear at that distance in real life, the rift should be fine. That includes virtual objects held close to your face, everything in VR will be at a focal distance of 1.5m.

[Anonymous]

Yup. If you need glasses to see stuff 1.5 meters away then you'll either need glasses, contact lenses or prescription lens inserts (the WidmoVR ones are the best!). If you can see stuff clearly at 1.5 meters away then you'll be fine without them.

And your mind will be blown when you try driving games in VR, especially if you have a steering wheel controller. The resolution isn't great though if you're used to a high res monitor but honestly the immersion of being INSIDE one of these cars as if you're really there more than makes up for it imo.

I'd also highly recommend getting a HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) too for flying games. Elite Dangerous, War Thunder and DCS World amongst others are also amazing in VR. The Thrustmaster T-Flight X is as cheap as chips and is great value for money.

[DaftnDirect]

@SkinnyCyclist, my eyes are 53 years old and sound very similar to yours. It depends how long you think you'll be spending wearing the headset. If you're comfortable focussing at 5ft for an hour or 2 at a time then you should have no problem with the Rift. If your eyes are like mine though, I find long periods of time focussing at a single distance can effect my long distance focussing over a period of weeks or months.

I use an old pair of glasses that are not as strong (not so distant focusing) as my current pair. So are a bit more relaxing on my eyes than my current pair of glasses. I've also taken the step of removing the arms on this old pair and fixing the remaining part inside the Rift so it's as comfortable as wearing contacts (which I don't get on with well).

[Anonymous]

snowdog said:

...And your mind will be blown when you try driving games in VR, especially if you have a steering wheel controller. The resolution isn't great though if you're used to a high res monitor but honestly the immersion of being INSIDE one of these cars as if you're really there more than makes up for it imo...

I have a decent set up (and a complete HOTAS flight sim setup in a closet somewhere...;) so now I'm almost convinced! 

Thank you all for the replies.

[Anonymous]

Once you play these games in VR you won't want to play a sim game flat ever again, despite the lower resolution. Elite Dangerous in particular will blow your mind the first time you see these three things:

1) The inside of your cockpit

2) The inside of a space station

3) The first time you jump out of hyperspace

You know that the ships, space stations, planets, suns and asteroids are big but you really don't 'get it' until you see these things in VR. Those three things above are literally jaw dropping moments the very first time you see them. B)

[CGH001]

I'm like 103 and I  have glasses for general use and separate stronger reading glasses for reading and computer use. Strangely enough, I've found that I don't need any glasses at all when 'rifting' and everything looks good. I've spent a fair bit of time in Project Cars, Asseto Corsa, DCS and Elite Dangerous and they all look good and readable.

[RattyUK]

^^^ What he said.. .

I'm a few years older than you and find the rift fine.  The focus seems to be whatever your eyes regard as 'distance' as I see perfectly with glasses prescrition for TV watching 🙂

[edmg]

I'm another one who needs reading glasses, and a great thing about VR is I can see everything clearly without them.