Rift Won’t Be Superseded by New Version for ‘at least two years’

SupraWez · 19 May 2017 at 14:51

http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-rift-cv1-superseded-new-version-least-two-years-rift-2-cv2/

During an interview at the Game Developers Conference at the end of March, head of Oculus’ PC VR division Brendan Iribe stated that the Rift will remain the company’s flagship VR headset for “at least the next two years”. The report by The Verge also discussed the company’s future direction for inside-out tracking and glove-free hand tracking.

Devrij · 21 May 2017 at 10:26

That's good and bad. Good that owners of the rift cv1 made the right choice instead of waiting for years to try VR, but bad because I want the new stuff now!!

Legend · 21 May 2017 at 12:32

That doesn't surprise me at all... and it makes sense. It's logical they will want to bring something significantly better to market and at a far more attractive price. Given the high cost of the first gen, it's not going to go down well with ANYONE if the next Rift/Vive offer only marginal improvements at a similar price. The first adopters will be angered and those who held off because of the high cost to entry will be even more disappointed. Wireless is definitely going to be something they will want to perfect for sure.

MadMossy · 21 May 2017 at 17:25

I reckon there will be a new Vive early next year with plenty of improvements, specially if they bring all the recently announced addons togeather into one package.

vive with 4k + wireless + eye tracking = bliss!

Legend · 21 May 2017 at 18:29

MadMossy said:
I reckon there will be a new Vive early next year with plenty of improvements, specially if they bring all the recently announced addons togeather into one package.

vive with 4k + wireless + eye tracking = bliss!

4K wireless VR in a year lol?! Go easy on whatever you're smoking!!

There would be no benefit to them bringing out a slightly improved version, they will wait until there is a significant and worthwhile upgrade. The wireless kit is going to be third party. HTC will do it themselves integrated but not anytime soon.

MadMossy · 21 May 2017 at 18:56

Well we have wireless available, we have eye tracking available and we have 4k. Its only a matter of putting it into one package.

Legend · 21 May 2017 at 19:10

MadMossy said:
Well we have wireless available, we have eye tracking available and we have 4k. Its only a matter of putting it into one package.

Yes but 4K won't be making its way to VR for years yet. Nor do we have GPU yet capable of driving it. Wireless will be coming to Vive as a third party add on soon (at a cost of about £200), but it's another step to actually integrate as HTC/Oculus will obviously want to do.

Jae-So · 21 May 2017 at 21:41

I'm still holding off, as above wireless is a must.

GBRusty · 22 May 2017 at 07:09

I wouldn't say wireless is a must, it's a lovely, lovely thing to have but the screen quality has to be first.
If getting the quality up to 4k levels means still having wires it'll be worth it.
If both happen then VR heaven.
Next would be headset weight and design.

When can we go full matrix and just plug ourselves directly into the PC?.. Actually, good point, even if that were possible, would you even want to plug yourself into a PC? What would happen with a virus, worm or even just a crash to desktop? <shudder>

ArmitageShanks · 22 May 2017 at 09:24

Legend said:
Yes but 4K won't be making its way to VR for years yet. Nor do we have GPU yet capable of driving it. Wireless will be coming to Vive as a third party add on soon (at a cost of about £200), but it's another step to actually integrate as HTC/Oculus will obviously want to do.

Eye tracking gives you foveated rendering. Foveated rendering opens the door for rendering 4K at 90fps with current GPUs (and potentially wireless 4K). And it's probably less than 12 months away.

The only thing we're probably waiting for are 4K OLED panels that can be driven at 90Hz and don't require selling body parts to afford. But that's more of an economic holdup than a technical one.

SupraWez · 22 May 2017 at 10:17

As with the latest Batman release you can achieve a very good foveated rendering affect without eye tracking using just software.

All this 4K talk, are people wanting 4K per eye or something and then for it to be wireless and light too

When the current models were released people complained about the power of the PC required to run them and how much the units cost, can you you imagine how much extra tech would need to loaded into the headset to get anywhere near 4K and able to receive at that rate, plus the PC to drive it, people thought it was already expensive I would say something like that would be three or four times the current costs and would certainly not be lighter

GBRusty · 22 May 2017 at 10:34

We live in hope that it can all be done and for less money

SupraWez · 22 May 2017 at 10:38

GBRusty said:
We live in hope that it can all be done and for less money

Of course, I am sure it can be, but combining all those requests with low cost I think will be a little while off yet.

GBRusty · 22 May 2017 at 10:47

Luckily (or maybe not when I see my bank statements) i'm into VR for the long haul and costs will be met, by hook or by crook.
Damn my mortgage, I'd rather buy the latest upgrades.

Legend · 22 May 2017 at 12:27

ArmitageShanks said:
Eye tracking gives you foveated rendering. Foveated rendering opens the door for rendering 4K at 90fps with current GPUs (and potentially wireless 4K). And it's probably less than 12 months away.

The only thing we're probably waiting for are 4K OLED panels that can be driven at 90Hz and don't require selling body parts to afford. But that's more of an economic holdup than a technical one.

Yes, the ONLY thing, cheap 4K OLED 90Hz panels... no biggy, few hours work and job done lol!

I will eat my face if this dream 4K wireless VR device you describe is available in a mere 12 months. No way never. I'm not suggesting it's a decade away, but 12 months just won't happen. It's going to be 2 at a minimum, but even that may be optimistic given the hurdles they still have to overcome, particularly in respect to driving costs down... that's a MUST.

Your optimism is admirable, but it's just not reality. Even if technically it were possible (which I agree it's not THAT much of a stretch), the cost of such a device would be astronomical. One thing is all but certain... no way is the next gen of VR going to be more expensive than the first... it would be absolute suicide on the part of Oculus or Vive to even think of that outcome.

ebilcake · 22 May 2017 at 14:31

Not that surprising, I think if you want a 4K display you will have to accept compromise which is something I don't think Oculus will accept.

Which is interesting because the SDE from the lower resolution is a compromise itself.

MadMossy · 22 May 2017 at 17:26

Wonder what the specs will be for googles standalone daydream headset. A photo of a prototype was released not long ago and it looked like it had hardware for eye tracking.

ArmitageShanks · 22 May 2017 at 17:55

Legend said:
Yes, the ONLY thing, cheap 4K OLED 90Hz panels... no biggy, few hours work and job done lol!

I was more commenting on your statement that it isn't possible for performance reasons, but OK.

MadMossy · 22 May 2017 at 17:58

Apparently samsung will be announcing a 1.96" 4k bendy OLED panel tomorrow

http://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-stretchable-display-revealed-774109/

Devrij · 28 May 2017 at 21:29

How would we stream 4k 90fps to the headset wirelessly anyway without worrying about packet loss and latency, let alone bandwidth