I was just wondering loosely on various implications to this :oops:
If this is truly the direction they're headed, then developers would most likely focus their support for the input solution everyone will have, the one that comes with the Rift.
This could spell trouble for competitors like Sixense.
So then it would make sense for Sixense to market themselves heavily towards consumers and developers, now that the DK2 becomes available, because if they fail to establish the STEM on the market before CV1 appears, it could well be too late.
Are we seeing such positioning from Sixense already? Are Sixense courting Oculus to make them go with STEM over a inhouse solution?
However when Microsoft came exclusively with Internet Explorer, fearing monopoly the European Union interfered and made them include competing web browsers. Not sure if this is a relevant action when it comes to hardware though.
Yes, I just read that and it had my head spinning. Obviously tracking and digitising hands came to mind, fascinating. If the camera focuses down enough, developers could incorporate code where just moving the knees by standing on the spot could be translated into walking motion. This could make other input devices obsolete. (Unless you are pregnant or have a big belly 😄 )
While it does obviously make for an initial no extra cost method of input, and an amazing way to incorporate your body into the virtual world (awesome news!), I don't think it will cause Sixense much trouble at all.
I've always thought that the best input solution would be hand tracking or haptic vr gloves with a haptic motion controller.
Just having your hands isn't a good enough experience if you want to hold things and feel your environment, really feel like your holding a sword, gun, or a crowbar, etc.
Simply by playing the Half Life 2 VR mod showed me this. When I was holding the gun and physically pulling the trigger, or holding the crowbar, it felt like I was physically holding each of those things with the hydra in my hand. That makes a huge difference for immersion.
Now having your hands tracked will be amazing for many things, but in situations where your holding something, you want to have that physical fedback.
My set up will be PrioVR for full body tracking and motion controllers, with or without hand tracking. Though, for the applications that don't need motion controllers, just the hands recognition and PrioVR motion sensors will be perfect .
All in all Oculus have to have some kind of input device for CV and hand tracking seems like the way to go for that baseline point. All the other stuff are extras to enhance that immersion, but not entirely necessary.
I think the article is more forward looking in regards to the camera. For now though, it will more than likely just a camera to see the outside world w/o taking the headset off.
However, this can have a huge impact for game developers. I presume this is why they included the usb slot on the dk2 (for experimental development with a webcam)
Current WIPs using Unreal Engine 4:Agrona - Tales of an Era: Medieval Fantasy MORPG
Doesn't sound like a leap motion deal. That part of the article describes the potential function of the outward facing camera as "a kind of external heads-up display that would allow you to grab a soda, for instance." The gesture tracking potential of the outward facing camera sounds like a nice bonus that will come "someday", as the article says.
I'm very happy to hear that this feature is being explored. That was the first topic that I posted about here. I still feel that this feature is indispensable for mainstream adoption, even if gesture tracking and AR applications are still years off, most people will want this "silver line" anchoring them to the real world.
Oculus engineers don't seem to be much for idle talk. If they feel comfortable mentioning the addition of an attached camera then it will serve to do more than they are sharing with us currently. I suppose we will only know for sure when CV1 comes out but it seems like every step of the way with DK1 and now DK2 they have delivered more than was expected based on earlier press comments.
They seem to be in the good habit of not generating hype around features they can't currently deliver.
"willste" wrote: Oculus engineers don't seem to be much for idle talk. If they feel comfortable mentioning the addition of an attached camera then it will serve to do more than they are sharing with us currently. I suppose we will only know for sure when CV1 comes out but it seems like every step of the way with DK1 and now DK2 they have delivered more than was expected based on earlier press comments.
They seem to be in the good habit of not generating hype around features they can't currently deliver.
Yes, I would not get too carried away. But also like you said, they do seem to deliver more than what was expected, so I think, like they've spoken of before, they have a few tricks up their sleeve that will surpass our expectations, based on what we will have seen with DK2.
Typical lurid splash, but hey, that's the name of the game for cover hooks for (articles within) magazines. The romance has to be on the cover, otherwise the potential buyer may pass it by.
I'm sure Palmer and crew are getting used to it by now.
Palmer probably had his picture taken at least a few dozen times (probably closer to a 100) before they were satisfied that they had the shot in the can. Usually it turns out to be in the first few shots taken, but they take the rest of them anyway.
Intelligence... is not inherent - it is a point in understanding. Q: When does a fire become self sustaining?
