Microsoft Plans a Virtual Reality Headset for Xbox One

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

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Microsoft has been working quietly in the background developing a competitor for the Oculus Rift designed for the Xbox One. Reports have been circulating about the VR device, but precious few details have made it outside of the project. But now, rumors of a developer kit that has been distributed to game developers have been verified, so the possibility of gaining some information about Microsoft’s contribution to the world of virtual reality should be forthcoming.

While there's no information on the design of the headset or the type of games being developed, Microsoft is rumored to officially announce the VR headset at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June.
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Seriously, this is where competition instead of cooperation can hurt everyone. If they don't come up with a set of standards for the game developers that all VR headsets comply with as a base, then it's going to fragment this market. You'll see a war where some developers support all (albeit quick-patch work like), others will support their own (or partners), others will support the biggest market player, and then some will support the ones who pay them the most (Ubisoft).
 
consoles aren't about standards which is what I have always said consoles harm everyone are essentially the definition of what is wrong with gaming.
 
This is great news! I'm excited to see Facebook's VR getting pushed aside while lots of companies fight with each other for a very small market. Like people are already saying, it'll really help bury this junk in a dark abyss of "Top 10 Tech Failure" articles where it belongs anyway.
 
This looks like an interesting thing to come. I would imagine it will have it's own hardware to work with the Xbox One. Also, it makes since for a manufacturer to support it's own platform. Only problem I have is I get motion sick so VR might not work so well for me.
 
VR is nice, but for the time being, I'd be satisfied with a high-quality wearable display. AMOLED, of course.
 
Do they own any patents for VR and headsets?
Can they squeeze the required 120fps into 32 megs of esRAM?
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
This is great news! I'm excited to see Facebook's VR getting pushed aside while lots of companies fight with each other for a very small market. Like people are already saying, it'll really help bury this junk in a dark abyss of "Top 10 Tech Failure" articles where it belongs anyway.
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It's okay, not everyone can see in 3D.
 
Microsoft would be smarter just to embrace the rift. No one wants to buy 2 or 3 versions of everything. It would be a lot more attractive than Sony's version.
 
Don't worry folks .. in the end this device will be saddled with incredible red-tape, restrictions and questionable fit and finish, oh and let's not forget performance issues. After all, we are talking Microsoft here.
 
I really don't see the consoles catching up to the Rift. It has a huge headstart on research and technology, but most of all, the consoles simply can't drive the resolution/ framerates necessary for a good VR experience. Maybe they're going to sneak a second GPU into the device that heats up on your face...
 
/Thread: Microsoft sucks, they suck and cannot produce anything good, Microsoft Sucks, they should support something that will not work with their hardware, Microsoft sucks and a VR device cannot have good hardware internally. /Thread

Did I miss anything? Oh yeah, Windows 8, now it is all good.
 
@ManofGod

Basically yes

One only has to look so far as Windows 8 ( broken ) Windows Phone ( a joke ) Xbox One's lack of performance, restrictions / red tape that because of greed is keeping literally hundreds of great reviewed indie games off the system. Also, keep in mind, Microsoft is a follower. They haven't been an innovator or leader in their space for years. Microsoft should be transparent and open about VR. They want to disrupt the market in hopes of gaining control at some point. Buying Minecraft? Very very very desperate act. Notch purposely delayed the deal with Microsoft for Minecraft so it could make it onto the PS4 which Microsoft didn't want to happen.

So you can understand why a lot of us here have more than dubious expectations about this outcome.
 
tetris42 said:
I really don't see the consoles catching up to the Rift. It has a huge headstart on research and technology, but most of all, the consoles simply can't drive the resolution/ framerates necessary for a good VR experience. Maybe they're going to sneak a second GPU into the device that heats up on your face...
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Unfortunately that's all irrelevant, any VR device released by Sony or MS will likely get more publicity/marketing and far outsell Rift, assuming they come out any time soon.

This despite the fact, to your point, they will no doubt be far inferior to the Rift and their disappointment will tarnish the appeal of the Rift(and VR in general) to the masses.

In short, Sony and MS, fuck off.
 
I have a hard time believing that the xbox one has enough power (resolution,framerate) to impliment vr with the level of grahics that gamers are accustomed to. Unless they seriously up the performance with an addon.

I think the wii u graphics level would be more acceptable for transition to vr.
 
Taco said:
Unfortunately that's all irrelevant, any VR device released by Sony or MS will likely get more publicity/marketing and far outsell Rift, assuming they come out any time soon.
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Well, I get the impression Facebook is willing to throw some resources at it...
 
SixFootDuo said:
Also, keep in mind, Microsoft is a follower. They haven't been an innovator or leader in their space for years.
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Well to be fair, forcing a tablet UI on desktop users certainly WAS a pioneering move. Also their initial Xbox One plans were going to make it the most restrictive console ever made (except maybe something like Onlive). So I'd say they've been innovating plenty in terrible ideas!
 
The xbox (the PS4 to) doesn't have the necessary grunt to run a proper VR rig, not unless you're dropping the visual quality down to half life 2 levels.
 
nice. microsoft is always too late. mobile phones? pfff. motion controls? hah. minecraft? they love getting trolled. next they develop a new optical disc format.
 
So at a bare minimum it would need to hit 75hz/fps at 1920x1080 to be passable. Lower refresh rates/fps ruin the experience, and the Rift DK1's resolution of 1280x800 produces a notable screen door effect.

I can't see how either of the consoles can pull this off well.

The cloud? Heh
 
With the console's hardware performance, I don't think VR is a good idea. 30 fps VR is going to give people a massive headache.

Maybe they can do it for games like Minecraft though :p Or games with non conventional 3D graphics style, such as Team Fortress 2 style. Doubt they can do it for the likes of Killzone or Halo
 
Hornet said:
With the console's hardware performance, I don't think VR is a good idea. 30 fps VR is going to give people a massive headache.

Maybe they can do it for games like Minecraft though :p Or games with non conventional 3D graphics style, such as Team Fortress 2 style. Doubt they can do it for the likes of Killzone or Halo
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You know, I was actually thinking if they re-coded it, Minecraft is maybe the one game they could hit every checkbox with for VR performance. You get Minecraft out of Java and the game could become massively faster.
 
RedSh1rt said:
So at a bare minimum it would need to hit 75hz/fps at 1920x1080 to be passable. Lower refresh rates/fps ruin the experience, and the Rift DK1's resolution of 1280x800 produces a notable screen door effect.

I can't see how either of the consoles can pull this off well.

The cloud? Heh
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AFAIK that's completely impossible because both consoles use HDMI 1.4 which can't handle 3D at 1920x1080x75hz.
 
The XB1 does have the power needed. MS will just half the resolution, but use both figures added together for marketing. The critics will roast it, the MS fanbois will defend it, and that will be that.

The Rift went from interesting product that I thought would be very, very, niche to near completely falling off the radar for me when FB bought it. The Sony and MS VR devices do/will not compete with the Rift. Very different niches. The Rift VR device will not be used primarily for gaming imho. I honestly think the Rift will find more use in education, (ojt without the risk for heavy equipent operators, medical students, etc.), than on a gaming PCs.
 
GORANKAR said:
The Rift VR device will not be used primarily for gaming imho. I honestly think the Rift will find more use in education, (ojt without the risk for heavy equipent operators, medical students, etc.), than on a gaming PCs.
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I think they'll have to split it into consumer and business sides to do that. medical equipment for example has very rigorous standards that aren't needed for consumer stuff.
 
Oh great - another set of goggles to give my motion sickness :)
I some company can address this. I have used the Rift DK1 and DK2 - both cause me grief. Don't get me wrong, the experience is awesome. I just pay for it for several hours later with being dizzy and a nausea feeling afterwards.
 
I would be happy about this but after getting my xbone and kinect and watching microsoft pretty much abandon it within the first year, im not puttign any chips on the table for this 'revolutionary' device.

Kinect is a great piece of hardware, but with no software it is just useless and allows me to control movies with voice, which is about a $15 device to me :/
 
tetris42 said:
Well, I get the impression Facebook is willing to throw some resources at it...
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Facebook is going to need to create use cases and an audience, then sell to that audience.

PS4 and XB:One has both of those already, developed over the course of the last 15 years or so. MS and Sony only need to throw some adverts out there and box their turd.
 
traycerb said:
I think they'll have to split it into consumer and business sides to do that. medical equipment for example has very rigorous standards that aren't needed for consumer stuff.
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Yes, and the beautifully obscene price tag and profit margins that go with medical equipment. Facebook made a good buy I believe, just not in the way many think.
 
Yeah. Because Facebook is so familiar with the medical industry and has enough connections to make it happen. Good in theory, but if they decide to go that route I'd be amazed if they made any waves before 2020.
 
Taco said:
Facebook is going to need to create use cases and an audience, then sell to that audience.

PS4 and XB:One has both of those already, developed over the course of the last 15 years or so. MS and Sony only need to throw some adverts out there and box their turd.
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You say this like the Oculus Rift is some obscure thing. It got bought by Facebook BECAUSE it had so much attention. MS, Samsung, and Sony, are making VR devices BECAUSE of the Oculus Rift. There's a decent number of rampant PC enthusiasts who have been waiting for this sort of thing for decades. If they ever ship it will help sell itself from anyone who tries it, then realize just how tame other games on a flat screen are by comparison.

MS and Sony on the other hand, yeah, while they are targeted to gamers, because of the limitations, I doubt it will do as well. I would put it more in line with Kinect or PSeye / PS Move sales.
 
Yeah, Rift is going to kill it with that massive PC gaming audience.

I love PC gaming as much as the next guy. But compared to any POS released on any mainstream console, the Rift most definitely is obscure. Console gamers are not going to switch to PC to make use of the Rift.

I don't know, maybe Steam and Rift will team up to explode into the living room? Maybe a hail mary like that would work, still seems like a stretch though.
 
In what universe does Microsoft expect to be able to run a VR headset on an Xbox One?

The thing is way, way too slow. WAY TOO SLOW.
 
SonicTron said:
In what universe does Microsoft expect to be able to run a VR headset on an Xbox One?

The thing is way, way too slow. WAY TOO SLOW.
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The console universe where everything is too slow anyway?
 
It may not be known well but Seattle has been a key area for this development since the '80s. You don't really think Microsoft hasn't had at least a part in some of this. Don't forget about Boeing either. You might be surprised at the technology that wouldn't exist without Boeing.
 
mtrupi said:
It may not be known well but Seattle has been a key area for this development since the '80s. You don't really think Microsoft hasn't had at least a part in some of this. Don't forget about Boeing either. You might be surprised at the technology that wouldn't exist without Boeing.
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Tell us more.
 
I'd be cool with it. It would be for Xbox One only, of course (as most console peripherals are). My biggest thing - it would get the technology into the hands of the mainstream public. This would get the hype build up and then the higher quality competitors (Oculus Rift) can come in for PC and make a biggest splash. OR wouldn't work well for the Xbox One, as many have mentioned - it's too slow for high frame rate, high quality visuals.

While it may not be the best product on the market - it'll be the best VR solution for the Xbox One (only solution).

Don't like it? If the big issue is that it's on console then you're not the target demographic for it anyway. I wanted the SegaVR solution back when the MD/Genesis was out.

I can't believe the hate and backlash this is having.
 
450 said:
Tell us more.
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Okay

In the '80s Boeing already had OLEDs and Cold cathode in the lab and LCDs on planes.

Boeing was a big factor in cell phone and satellite networks.

VirtualVision in the '90s did the equivalent of google glasses but the technology wasn't ready then.

Microvision is nearby.

This means there is a significant pool of experts in the field in Seattle.
 
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