For those interested in VR head mounted displays, you might want to check this out -- a new company, backed by industry names like John Carmack, is selling prototype dev-kit versions of a VR HMD for $300 on kickstarter.

http://www.kickstart...p-into-the-game

I'm a complete sucker for good crowd-funded projects, and I love my TrackIR5 + triple-monitor gaming, so I've jumped straight on the bandwagon. Looking forward to adding Oculus Rift support to my engine in ~December ;)

Thoughts?

Just a random question (which is probably stupid but I feel it's relevant to ask), how does it work for us people with vision handicaps, can we adjust the focal distance to prevent blur, or do we have to keep our contacts/glasses on while using it? (looks like glasses would get crushed though)

They've added a FAQ in the above link -- sounds like dev-kits won't be very glasses friendly, but the final consumer version might.

This really depends on the shape and size of the glasses. The developer kit is designed to sit as close to your eyes as possible which makes it a bit unfriendly for glasses. That said, we'll do everything we can to make it as comfortable as possible for the developer kit and we have a lot of great ideas for supporting glasses in the consumer version (especially since huge portion of the Oculus team wears glasses everyday!).[/quote]

Ah neat I didn't see the FAQ at the bottom, thanks. I can see myself buying this as consumer later, once games start to support it, which is looking good as apparently there are automatic integration plugins for a few major engines. I've always wanted one of those VR headsets but could never be tempted enough to actually go out of my way and purchase one

While it looks intresting given my own visual issues (most of my vision is biased to my right eye) the description of 'as close to the eyes as possible' makes me think it probably wont work for me which is a shame....

I was just about to buy the 300$ option when I realized I have to own a credit card to pay via amazon... and I don't have one.
Maybe I will get a prepaid CC tomorrow because that thing sounds really good and I'm a sucker for geeky hardware hacks.

personally this doesnt excite me at all. I would much rather have augmented reality head gear so I can walk about my own house (or perhaps a football pitch) and shoot baddies hiding behind my couch. With a head device that can process 3d environment in real time this seams possible. Of course if the processing power cant fit inside head gear you could off load it to a server or pre compute alot of stuff.

I think this is just a quite whim to make a bit of extra dosh to fund it and also to promote it. Carmack doesnt even need to use a platform like this and I think they are encroaching on people who actually need funding.

CLANG is a much better choice if you are going to support an indie kickstarter http://www.kickstart...260688528/clang

personally this doesnt excite me at all.

I think this is just a quite whim to make a bit of extra dosh to fund it and also to promote it. Carmack doesnt even need to use a platform like this and I think they are encroaching on people who actually need funding.

The reason Carmack and others are supporting it is because what's required for a good head mounted VR display is pretty simple, but nobody is doing it. If you watch the GDC video of Carmack/Doom BFG; it talks about a lot of the problems he has with current VR displays, and he has some interesting points.

I would much rather have augmented reality head gear so I can walk about my own house (or perhaps a football pitch) and shoot baddies hiding behind my couch... With a head device that can process 3d environment in real time this seams possible. Of course if the processing power cant fit inside head gear you could off load it to a server or pre compute alot of stuff.

CLANG is a much better choice if you are going to support an indie kickstarter http://www.kickstart...260688528/clang
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The former of these two is totally non-trivial. People have been working on this for years. It's not like nobody is trying to make things like that. I'm not entirely sure they fit quite the same niche either.

On the latter, it's a cool project, but it isn't functional yet as far as I can tell. That's my biggest problem with CLANG atm (OUYA too). Either way I don't see why both projects can't be funded.

This looks pretty sweet. If I had a stable job I'd probably hop on board.

I posted the Battlefield 3 simulator not too long ago here if people are interested look it up on youtube.

Carmack doesnt even need to use a platform like this and I think they are encroaching on people who actually need funding.

It's not Carmacks project, he essentially just "endorses" it.

CLANG is a much better choice if you are going to support an indie kickstarter http://www.kickstart...260688528/clang
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Was anyone else disappointed that that KS isn't about the compiler?