Sixense has published a new video showing their forthcoming virtual reality CAD program, MakeVR, in use with the Oculus Rift. 
The software is an ambitious project by Sixense, creators of the Razer Hydra, to combine advanced CAD modeling software with an intuitive control system, powered by the Hydra.
Speaking with Edge, Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe confirms that we won’t see the Oculus Rift 2 / consumer version in 2013. Though not necessarily a surprise, this is the first official confirmation of that fact that I’ve seen; there could be a silver lining. Additionally, Iribe talks about the future of VR and how smartphones might play a role.
We’ll be heading to Cologne, Germany on August 21st when the biggest gaming convention in Europe kicks off. Let us know what you’d like to see.
Using the Oculus Rift requires switching back and forth between your normal resolution and the Rift’s 1280×800. The standard method of doing so on Windows requires one too many steps for my taste, so I tracked down a handy free utility that switches between resolutions with a quick keyboard shortcut.
Earlier this month I took a look at Lunar Flight, a game by indie developer Shovsoft, that has been working to integrate Oculus Rift support. I called it “a highly compelling Oculus Rift virtual reality experience ,” definitely one of the best fully fleshed out titles for the Rift. Now the developer has announced that the Lunar Flight Oculus Rift beta is public for anyone with the game to try — better yet, the game is on sale with a massive discount!
Though it’s been a few months since the Zombies on the Holodeck alpha was released, I still think it’s one of the best game experiences in the Oculus Rift thus far. Don’t get me wrong — there are some other really cool ‘experiences’ that folks have made of the Rift, but Zombies on the Holodeck has some real gameplay elements which show what the future of VR gaming might be like. One unfortunate issue with the original alpha was lack of calibration. The team has been working on a new build which greatly improves the gunplay thanks to a calibration system for the Razer Hydra.
The Virtuix Omni Kickstarter launched back at the beginning of June and is now 5 days from completion. The project recently crossed the $1 million mark (congrats!). As the Kickstarter for this omni-directional VR treadmill comes to a close, Virtuix has announced the retail price for the Omni and a last-minute stretch goal for an exclusive Omni game called TRAVR. We also have a brief Q&A with Virtuix CEO Jan Goetgeluk about the future of the VR treadmill.
Hey there VR fans. A bit of meta news today — the Road to VR Facebook page just ticked up to four digits, we’ve officially got 1000 ‘likes.’ To celebrate, we’ve got some VR swag for you.
Independent blogging is tough work, but it’s made a bit easier when you are passionate about your topic. My colleague Paul and I have been pouring our personal time and resources into Road to VR — we think virtual reality is a topic well worth writing about. And while 1000 likes on Facebook might not mean too much to a passerby, each like feels as a personal thumbs up from someone that appreciates what we do.
So we want to say thank you for supporting us — when you help spread the word, it really benefits us! And of course, thanks to Palmer Luckey, Oculus, and other folks who are making all the great stuff and doing all of the important research that we get to write about!
If you are a new member of our site who wants to stay up to date through social channels, you can find us on Facebook and Twitter.
Now, before I bore you to tears… there’s something for you!
We’ve still got some VR paraphernalia from GDC 2013, courtesy of the good folks at Oculus, and we’d like to pass it on to you.
Here’s how to get some:
We wish we had some for everyone, but this will be first-come-first serve. We’ll contact you at the email address with which you registered to comment so keep your eyes peeled!
And to take us on a little trip down memory lane, here’s our 5 most popular articles:
Oculus VR Inc is making steady improvements to the Oculus Rift SDK; the company recently launched version 2.3. Along with some other changes comes the Oculus Rift Configuration Utility which lets players measure IPD, input height, and create a profile to bring those settings into Oculus Rift games.
VirtuaView, the promising Multiplayer Virtual Cinema and Meeting project, is coming to the end of it’s IndieGogo campaign. Its author Christer-Andre Fagerslett (aka Namielus) has released a new video highlighting the project’s potential.
Beyond the question of safety (Oculus’ official recommendation is that children under 10 not use the Oculus Rift) and the fact that the child’s IPD is probably too low to properly see through the Rift, one has to wonder what psychological impact virtual reality might have when used from an early age.
Back in January, Microsoft Research revealed an interesting project called Illumiroom. The system, which uses a Kinect and commodity projector, scans the environment around your TV and uses the info collected to intelligently project extra info around the TV with the goal of creating a more immersive gaming experience. Back then we only got a teaser of the tech — now Microsoft has made public a more detailed account of the system’s capabilities and a full paper detailing the techniques.
Yesterday, LG Display announced the world’s thinnest 5.2-inch full HD display. As more panel makers announce full HD displays of this size, it means more choices and lower costs for the forthcoming Oculus Rift consumer version.
The creator of the Ocean Rift demo is hard at work on an atmospheric FPS for the Oculus Rift that looks wickedly fun. The game affords full avatar embodiment with arms controlled by the Razer Hydra. So far the developer has released a few teaser videos and plans a public demo release in the near future.
If you’ve been following the Oculus Rift saga since the beginning, you’ll recall that Hawken (2012, Meteor/Adhesive) was said by the developers to have Oculus Rift support as of the open beta launch on December 12, 2012 — even before the Oculus Rift would start shipping to Kickstarter backers. Many months later, the VR community was left wondering what happened to the project when it failed to materialize. Now, Oculus tells Road to VR that the project is still in the works, and reveals the unfortunate reason for its delay.
