Virtual reality’s time to shine: Hands-on with the Oculus Rift
After decades of virtual reality headsets that failed to live up to their somewhat sci-fi promise, it wouldn't have been a shock if developers and gamers cast a jaded eye toward the Oculus Rift Kickstarter campaign. Sure, the Rift boasted of crucial improvements to optics, head-tracking, and design issues that have held back previous similar headsets, but it was still an unproven prototype in a sector that has seen its fair share of failure. Now that the campaign has brought in nearly $2.5 million by selling development kits to nearly 10,000 game developers around the world, though, it seems that the time for a truly mass-market VR headset might finally be at hand. ...
What the Rift lacks in resolution, though, it makes up for in incredibly smooth head tracking, an area that seems to have become an absolute obsession for the Oculus team. While I was perfectly satisfied with the way my view updated seemingly immediately as I looked around virtual rooms, Iribe said he'd like to get the refresh rate on the final consumer units down to the "single digit milliseconds," rather than the 15- to 30-millisecond rates on the current display. "That's what we're pushing on.
See the full story here: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/09/virtual-realitys-time-to-shine-hands-on-with-the-oculus-rift/