Meant to be Seen

Unlike the two previous demos, however, it monitors the user’s head movements in real space, and it’s able to translate those movements into not just orientation changes — looking up, down, or behind you — but also as actual motion, which previously was possible only by using a game controller in conjunction with the Rift. It utilizes an “outside-in” system: an externally mounted camera tracks small LED lights on the prototype’s faceplate, adding three “degrees of freedom” (forward/backward, left/right, and up/down) to the Rift’s tracking ability. Up until now, developers and early Oculus adopters have only been able to accomplish this by taping a Razer Hydra motion controller to the side of their Rift headsets. Now, though, leaning down while playing the demo brings you closer to the tower-defense game, and lets you watch the armies you control firing turrets and launching minions. It’s the first look at an untethered VR experience.


“We’ll need some seat belts for people,” says Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe. “You want to stand up, you want to walk around

JoeBob89: I can't wait to see their next prototypes at the 2015 and 2016 CES! No one makes better prototypes than Oculus!