While you wait, another Rift review. DK1/2 owner.

[Anonymous]

Just got my Rift Monday,  April 11th. I am a previous DK1/DK2 owner, and I own the Gear VR (S6).

I pretty much knew what I was expecting - An upgraded DK2, and Rift did improve well. This is my review.

Setup: A breeze. Happy to see everything function like a consumer version. I like how Oculus is focused on simplicity - It just works. 

HMD ergonomics: More comfy than the DK2, but honestly you still feel an HMD sitting on your head, it's not a huge difference, but overall I liked it. It's a great design and I can agree that this is a plus for an HMD. Though, remember it's still an HMD on your head, it doesn't feel like some magical design that you might think it is, like it being a pile of weightless air on your head. 

Screen/Optics: A marginal upgrade from DK2. Screen door is there, but very fine now. The problem now with current VR is not screen door but pixel density. My biggest gripe is seeing lack of definition in the distance, or the aliasing on certain objects - right there you lose immersion. But, I will say that I was happy with the advancement in the screens, I can agree that Rift's screens is at an acceptable consumer level, but still can use a lot more improvement. Think of it like low resolution phones when they were released. One thing I am very happy with is the reduction of the black smear, that was horrible in the DK2, but it is now purely gone.. but then there is the new problem, lens flare. 

Lens Flare: Does it exist? Yes. Is it, bad? Yes. The thing about the lens flare is it's a strange way to annoy the user. To me, it didn't really take away immersion, it was just something annoying. The best way I can think to describe it, is like having a smudge on your windshield when driving a car. Then you drive into the sun, and the rays of the sun flare all over your windshield and obstruct your vision, then you need to move your head to see clearly. The flare in Rift blurs out some detailed parts of the screen and immediately annoys you. If you try watching a film in the theater, it's the worst, because you don't move your head much, so the flare will just cover up half the screen, so then you need to move your head, but doing this throughout a movie is just plain annoying.  

Field of view: Honestly, it feels small to me, but somehow the overall lens clarity helps this issue. What I mean by this, is the sweet spot is very large now, and when you move your eyes around the entire lens view, everything looks crisp. Before with the DK1/2 you could look around, but it was mainly clear in the center, but did feel like a bigger FOV. I think the biggest improvement that VR HMDs need to make is the FOV. I still never get the feeling of presence, as I feel like I am looking through goggles towards a screen. 

75 -> 90hz upgrade: Here I was expecting the 90hz to help with presence. I did not notice any change with the 90hz compared to 75hz. Maybe I am not that sensitive, but 60hz->75hz helped a lot, but 90hz really didn't change my experience at all (still feels like DK2 to me). 

Headphones: Great choice to implement, sound good, helps with instant immersion, but I would just say they are headphones. (I am not a headphone connoisseur).

So to end my CV1 Rift experience. Is the Rift a fantastic HMD? Yes, I think so. Was it better than I was hoping for? It is pretty much what I expected, an upgraded DK2. Is this the HMD I was dreaming for back in 2013? Basically, yes, I would be very happy with it, but there was an unexpected piece of technology that was introduced... 

Truth is, and something that I have firmly been a believer in, is the introduction of Roomscale/tracked controls, and how important that feature is. All I could think about when I was in Rift was the ability to interact with objects. The moment that shocked me in Rift was about how tracked controls are essential when inside The Foo Show at the Firewatch hut. They kept saying, reach out and grab objects, but if your in Rift, look at the object and press these buttons. I immediately felt disconnected and didn't care anymore about how great Rift is. Rift could be 4k resolution and I'm wearing a lighter HMD; but to limit me to have to look at the object and press a button was pure immersion breaking - I so wanted to interact.

I know Rift will have Touch later on, and if they continue to hold their high quality designs, I believe they can become a great success. But reality is, Vive has Roomscale now, which I believe is a necessity in VR. I strongly believe Rift will not succeed with VR unless they incorporate solid Roomscale with Touch. If Roomscale never existed, Rift would be one of a kind, and would evolve into great VR. But, thank goodness for competition, because we are seeing how fast new ideas/tech can push innovation for the consumer's benefit.

In conclusion, Rift is an amazing HMD, it is very polished, and in my opinion it just lacks Roomscale. Playing Lucky's Tale was awesome, and truly showed off how refined the Rift has come. But after 20 mins of Lucky's Tale, I felt like I was just playing a super immersive game on my monitor...I never felt like I was actually in VR, and like wise with many other games/apps I tried in Rift.

If you are conflicted on which HMD to get, ask yourself an honest question. What do you really want from VR right now? To be in the game, or to sit back and watch the game?

[Uberwolfe]

Great review, thanks for posting 🙂

[V-Walker]

Nice that you could be honest even with an investment in it. My feelings are much the same as yours about the requirements for compelling VR (it being more than just a HMD).

Having spent a long time with DK1 (and currently DK2), I was in no rush for more of that without proper ways to interact. Unless the HMD itself had been leaps and bounds beyond the DK2! For it to be more like a sidegrade, with some drawbacks, but cost so much more just didn't seem right to me in the end.

anyway, it is what it is and the two sides have laid their cards on the table now. At least from this day on all the required information is out there (well, other than release date on touch, capabilities and price) so VR fans can hopefully make a much more informed choice than the one we had just a few months back when everyone was on the same hype train for a single brand.

[Chewie71]

Thanks for the review tranceology3. Man, as excited as I am for consumer VR to finally be here I can't help but be a little bummed out at its shortcomings, lens flare specifically. I hope you're being a little hyperbolic when you say that lens flare covers up half the screen! That one detail is an instant deal breaker for me.

[Anonymous]

@  tranceology3,thanks for the review,to get a bigger immersion in the rift i play racing games,the smaller FOV,you
think you wear a helmet,i have an racing wheel with force feedback,in the game you see your hands on the wheel,and after a short time you think,thats your real arms in the rift,and the force feedback and the buttkicker under my racing seat simulates the forces from the car and the underground,its not in the game but its near the mark,seated games,with a buttkicker chair a very helpful to increase the immersion.
My really best game was The Grand Canyon VR  Experience with DK2 in a motion simulator for about one hour,after
a short time,i thought i am in the game, i am on the river in a kayak at night,i was shocked how fast my perception
was misled.In the real world i have a kayak and so i can compare the real world and with" in the Rift" and for me
it was very ,very near.

[Ricktor_Black]

Thanks for the review.  I'm thinking for people like me who have never owned a DK1 or DK2, the Rift CV1 is going to be more impressive.  I tried a Rift DK1 a couple times at PAX East for about 10 minutes each time and I was sold instantly.  I can only imagine how good the Rift will be with as much time as I want with it.

About room-scale VR can somebody tell me if I'm crazy here?  Oculus Touch ships with a second sensor correct?  At least it looks like that on the webpage.  If that is the case, once we have Touch we have two sensors and there should be nothing stopping Oculus from doing room-scale VR at that point right?  Once we have two sensors it's just a matter of locking down the software (and there are plenty of smart people at Oculus to figure out that side).  I don't see why the CV1 can't do room-scale VR in the long run.  The only thing we are really missing would be the front-mounted camera.

[Zoomie]

@Ricktor_Black I tend to agree. 

The Touch controllers will ship with a second camera according to the Oculus site.  Most demo setups have shown both cameras in front of the user, giving enhanced coverage to the front for close controller interaction, but leaving a small dead-zone in a 10-30 degree arc of coverage directly behind the user.  Still, setting the second camera kitty corner should give the same sort of 360 coverage as the default Vive Lighthouse setup.  You can read more here.  Even now, the HMD is designed for standing 360 with IR LED's on the back.

Meanwhile the front camera may be a small issue or it could turn out to be a massive one.  If Valve can figure out how to do room-scanning with only one camera or some sort of enhanced AR mode, it could be a very big deal.  

Until then, it's a neat feature I feel is actually more use in seated VR than in room-scale.  In room-scale you should have an empty play area. What use then is a camera?  In seated mode, you're at a desk where you need to see the keyboard, mouse, gamepad, and beer can!  That's where I feel the camera would be most useful.

My plan for the Rift is to simply lift the headset momentarily or look through the nose gap - but the front camera would be nice to have.