Oculus CEO Using Android As Model For Expansion

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Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe announced today that he wants to sit down with any hardware maker willing to talk partnerships.

The goal: boost adoption. That's precisely what's happened with Android, which now runs on 81 percent of mobile devices worldwide, according to the latest report from market researchers IDC. Iribe is eyeing a similar tactic and is opening its arms wide to get Oculus' tech onto as many devices as possible.
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Hmm, what am I missing? Android works well in that it is a basic software experience. As a piece of hardware, I don't see the benefit as much; there is not much underlying similarity if all the hardware is vastly different. And in something like VR, which has been a hard sell, hardware dominates the experience. People will go for the Walmart cheap version, see it suck, then give up on VR again.

While I'm not a fan of Apple's closed ecosystem, in a way they set the table for Android's legitimacy by having a controlled experience with a flagship device. If people experience a Ferrari, they're more likely to buy a WRX to get a similar experience for less cost. If people experience a Yugo, they're not likely to buy a Ferrari to pay more for what they may believe to be the same experience.
 
Tried the Oculus at E3 and was blown away. They need to up the resolution to something like 1440p per eye but for what is basically a prototype I was absolutely blown away. I'm tempted to buy a $350 dev pair and then just cough up the dough again whenever the final comes out, that's how cool this thing is.
 
TwistedAegis said:
Hmm, what am I missing? Android works well in that it is a basic software experience. As a piece of hardware, I don't see the benefit as much; there is not much underlying similarity if all the hardware is vastly different. And in something like VR, which has been a hard sell, hardware dominates the experience. People will go for the Walmart cheap version, see it suck, then give up on VR again.

While I'm not a fan of Apple's closed ecosystem, in a way they set the table for Android's legitimacy by having a controlled experience with a flagship device. If people experience a Ferrari, they're more likely to buy a WRX to get a similar experience for less cost. If people experience a Yugo, they're not likely to buy a Ferrari to pay more for what they may believe to be the same experience.
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I need to read the actual article when I have time, but I'm thinking that this is more of a "make your mobile/android device" work with OR. Which to me would mean providing dev tools, APIs, or whatever, so people could develop OR based software for mobile/android devices. I don't see that limiting what's being done on high-end machines/platforms in any way. I think it could be cool to use an OR, and not be tied to your PC in some instances.
 
I would understand working to integrate with multiple devices, operating systems, etc. But the article is talking about hardware makers, so not sure.
 
I'll check it out in a bit. That is a bit odd, unless it's just to make sure devices have the necessary outputs and such to drive OR.
 
Seventyfive said:
Tried the Oculus at E3 and was blown away. They need to up the resolution to something like 1440p per eye but for what is basically a prototype I was absolutely blown away. I'm tempted to buy a $350 dev pair and then just cough up the dough again whenever the final comes out, that's how cool this thing is.
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This x100. I became a believer when I first loaned my friend's DK1 and spent the weekend playing Borderlands and L4D2 and a few other titles. I've already preordered a DK2 knowing it'll be obsolete, its a powerful enough experience that the $350 is inconsequential.
 
From what ive gathered, an option they are considering is the ability to have a slot (or a phone specific case) on the front of a nonscreen oculus unit where your modern phone can sit. Your phone (of which everyone has) can provide the display panel, a plethora of orientation and location sensors, a place for data input and (dynamically oriented) audio output, a camera (for true hud overlays) some computational power.
 
Just hurry up and partner with SOMEBODY, so we actually start seeing these things in stores.

It doesn't matter how many partnerships you set up if the product never actually makes it onto the shelf.

(and no, the dev kits don't count as a consumer product)
 
sir-gold said:
Just hurry up and partner with SOMEBODY, so we actually start seeing these things in stores.

It doesn't matter how many partnerships you set up if the product never actually makes it onto the shelf.

(and no, the dev kits don't count as a consumer product)
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They heard you!
 
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