Oculus Rift Update Could be More Modest Than Previously Planned

AlphaAtlas

[H]ard|Gawd
Staff member
Joined
Mar 3, 2018
Messages
1,713
Last week, Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe left the company, and Techcrunch seemed to think that it wasn't on the best of terms. An "inside source" claimed that Facebook canceled the "Rift 2", and now a "a source familiar with the matter" is going into more detail. The Oculus Rift's successor was allegedly supposed to be a "complete redesign" of the original system, but the successor Facebook has planned now is less aggressive and more iterative.

In the wake of the overhaul's cancellation, the company will be pursuing a more modest product update = possibly called the "Rift S" - to be released as early as next year, which makes minor upgrades to the device's display resolution while more notably getting rid of the external sensor-tracking system, sources tell us. Instead, the headset will utilize the integrated "inside-out" Insight tracking system, which is core to Facebook's recently announced Oculus Quest standalone headset. The "Constellation" tracking system on the current-generation Rift offers precise accuracy thanks to the static external sensors that track the headset and Touch controllers. While the Insight system would likely offer users a much more simplified setup process, a clear pain point of the first-generation product, "inside-out" tracking systems have greater limitations when it comes to the lighting conditions they work in and are generally less accurate than systems with external trackers. While Oculus has long led the way on hardware advances, this release could be seen as the company playing catch-up with competitors like Microsoft, which has partnered with OEMs including Samsung, Lenovo and LG to release headsets on its Windows Mixed Reality platform that also feature inside-out tracking as well as higher resolution displays than the Oculus Rift.
 
While it will limit competition, i have a vive pro, i can see this actually making sense.

My wireless vive pro setup, while AWESOME.. isnt cheap, LOL

Oculus will make a lesser, yet cheaper setup and sell more.
 
Rift CV1 here. If it's a tick-tock, I'll wait for either 1 overhaul or 2+ iterations.
 
I jumped on the oculus train when it was $400 for the whole system and a ton of game, great purchase and great fun. Have a dedicated oculus rig with a 1070Ti and it's smooth/sexy. even a modest bump call it Gen 1.5? I'm not interested unless there's a healthy FOV increase, wireless baked in, and a decent bump in resolution. Anything less, and it's just not worth the time or money.
 
I don’t mind the “iterative” approach but if they think inside-out tracking is the way to go then I’m off the Oculus train for damn sure.
 
I don’t mind the “iterative” approach but if they think inside-out tracking is the way to go then I’m off the Oculus train for damn sure.

I take it you mean inside out is bad because of the current limitations?

I agree with you based on current limitations. I don't expect oculus to significantly improve on those in the next release.

That said, long term, inside out will win. I'm a vive user, but I soo get VR some day needs to be a small pair of glasses you put on your head and it works anywhere with no setup and do so cheaply.

We are a long way from that, with any kind of image quality and tracking accuracy, but we know outside in is a dead end technology. At least for consumer level VR. Commercial, maybe outside in has a niche, a big one monetarily. Education, needs cheap and easy above all else. Consumer, cheap and easy wins in volume by far.
 
Meh. Inside-out is a solvable problem. Bad lighting? Chuck a dumb-as-rocks IR-laser point-cloud projector in the corner of the room. Need more accuracy? Get some optional outside-in tracking cameras and aggregate the data.

The real problems for VR are wide-FoV optics, foveated rendering, and cheap and reliable wireless video.
 
You can't sell your company to Facebook and then act surprised when your product gets facebooked.

That said, we definitely need more users over almost anything else, if we want great games.
 
Don't be surprised if FB stops selling the PC Rift and tries at the PC-less version. It will be cheaper and easier to sell.
 
If Quest and lower cost but easy to use hmds is the focus at Oculus, it's really fine with me. There are other options for the high-end enthusiast. I have a feeling pimax or whatever won't be successful enough though.
 
<- Current Rift owner, won't be next gen..

May I ask why? I don't own it and I own no headsets, I really don't want to bother personally until it's much better resolution per eye and the screen door effect is gone. Even if I buy 4 2080ti's I can't find a headset to use with them sadly. But curious about people that have bought in what they think and why.
 
Cause the next gen may be cheaper but will come integrated with Facebook and ads to "Give you a great experience" (Also known as Data-Mining). :LOL::oldman:
 
Last edited:
I take it you mean inside out is bad because of the current limitations?

I agree with you based on current limitations. I don't expect oculus to significantly improve on those in the next release.

That said, long term, inside out will win. I'm a vive user, but I soo get VR some day needs to be a small pair of glasses you put on your head and it works anywhere with no setup and do so cheaply.

We are a long way from that, with any kind of image quality and tracking accuracy, but we know outside in is a dead end technology. At least for consumer level VR. Commercial, maybe outside in has a niche, a big one monetarily. Education, needs cheap and easy above all else. Consumer, cheap and easy wins in volume by far.

I do believe In a self contained system that is simply plug and play (without sensor setup or calibration) but as it stands, inside out tracking has a lot to overcome and not just with lighting issues.

I side out assumes that we only care about the half-hemisphere of movement we are capable of with our hands in front of our face. So far no headset has proposed cameras on the rear of the HMD. That works fine 90% of the time but when you get multiplayer elements involved, for example, then tracking looks crap to the observing digital onlooker once your hands or whatever’s is tracked is out of sight.

It has a ways to go. A couple generations or more to go. Not now.
 
May I ask why? I don't own it and I own no headsets, I really don't want to bother personally until it's much better resolution per eye and the screen door effect is gone. Even if I buy 4 2080ti's I can't find a headset to use with them sadly. But curious about people that have bought in what they think and why.
They are coming. Pimax 5k/8k.
 
It has been over 3 months since I have even put on the Rift. The novelty wore off pretty quick and I find it a bit fatiguing after a few minutes of wearing it. The wires piss me off too and just add to the frustration. Many games make me quite sick and once I feel that way I cant do anything for the next several hours. I think I will just sell it and wait a few years for fully wireless setup.
 
Who would buy Rift after it was bought by FB?

I would. I did.

I do not care for FB; I don't use its service. However, I am not going to let a product branding stop me from buying an otherwise good product.
 
May I ask why? I don't own it and I own no headsets, I really don't want to bother personally until it's much better resolution per eye and the screen door effect is gone. Even if I buy 4 2080ti's I can't find a headset to use with them sadly. But curious about people that have bought in what they think and why.

A number of reasons. They seem more focused on mobile than PC. Lucky getting fired over his political views (which I don't like no matter what side you are on). Now Irbe leaving.

I'm pretty sure my next headset will be the one coming from Valve, directly. That's the one worth waiting for imo. It will have the same screen resolution of the Vive Pro, with better FOV, knuckles controller, light house AND inside out tracking (by the sounds of it), and will come with a Half Life based VR game.

Fuck yeah...

Trust in Gabe bro

Fuck Zuck..
 
I'm pretty sure my next headset will be the one coming from Valve, directly. That's the one worth waiting for imo. It will have the same screen resolution of the Vive Pro, with better FOV, knuckles controller, light house AND inside out tracking (by the sounds of it), and will come with a Half Life based VR game.

This right here.
 
Back
Top