Oculus Rift – virtual reality coming to a living room near you
If you haven’t heard of the Oculus Rift yet it’s likely to be the next big thing in virtual reality technology, it’s a virtual reality headset featuring individual screens for each eye providing an immersive 3d environment that could revolutionise everything from gaming to training surgeons, fighter pilots and even social media. Initially funded via a Kickstarter campaign in 2012 the company behind it, Oculus VR have gone from strength to strength rapidly progressing from a startup to being purchased by Facebook in 2014 for around $2.3 billion.
Though it sounds like something from films like The Matrix the reality is that stepping into an immersive virtual world is closer than most people imagine, with the Oculus Rift likely to debut towards the end of 2015. I was lucky enough to try this technology myself at EGX expo where the Elite Dangerous team were demoing their space simulator using the latest development kits and the experience was truly impressive. Once the headset and headphones were on you find yourself transported to the cockpit of a modestly sized spaceship traversing the solar system, turning your head up and around you can see a full 360 view outside the windows, and look down and you see the same flight stick and throttle you are flying with, moving in sync with your actual movements and adjustments. Gone is the thought of being in the middle of Earls Court with thousands of people shuffling around, and this is just the beginning.
Though many applications in development are gaming related the potential for this technology is massive, imagine your online shopping experience changing so you’re walking through a virtual store, with the option to interact with other customers and browse the shelves as you could in the real world. This could have great applications for the disabled and elderly who find venturing out rather difficult, and it could connect people across the globe instantly in the same virtual environment.
The potential for training for risky and expensive procedures is great too, for example keyhole surgery or astronaut training. With both entertainment and professional applications virtual reality will further shift our expectations of what the future will hold, and at the moment it looks like the Oculus Rift will be the first device to bring this kind of technology into the living room, with the anticipated price for a headset around £250 these have potential to change our online experiences dramatically, be prepared to find out how deep the rabbit-hole goes!