I made a video showcasing snippets of various projects I am working on, from big to small. The song used is "What This Could Be" by The Hamster Alliance. I have a lot on my plate!
2014: Upcoming Projects
Oculus Rift DK1: One-Year Anniversary
It was one year ago today that I received my Oculus Rift Development Kit. It was also the day that the passing of Ryan Davis was made public, so I waited until the 9th to actually start covering the device. Wait, that's wrong. I missed delivery of my Oculus Rift on the 8th due to Ryan's death and had to wait until the next day for UPS to try again. I even put a sign on the door the next morning. (This post was already made public before I realized my error.)
In my year of having it, I only made nine videos, covering seven different demos. The motion sickness I would experience would sometimes be so severe that I wouldn't feel normal until a couple of days later. I have ordered the Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 and am hoping it resolves such problems. I hear that it has and expect delivery of my unit soon, barring any production issues. In the mean time, I'm going to do what I physically can to cover as many DK1 demos as possible. Not only to feel justified in my purchase of the device in the first place, but also so I can better appreciate the improvements of the DK2. Videos can be easily accessed through my dedicated Oculus Rift page.
Oh, one more thing. The fake project name I created to access the Oculus Rift Developer Center was "Attack on Fluffy Booty". It was the first thing that came to mind. I was reading a lot of hype about Attack on Titan at the time.
"Please don't attack my fluffy booty."
White Guys Wearin' Oculus Rifts
The White Guys Wearin' Oculus Rifts Tumblr is the "number one web resource for images of white guys wearin' Oculus Rifts!"
Upon discovery of this site, I went trawling through its archives to see if the photo I had taken back in September 2013 made it on there. I was posted up on March 20th.
My Face is on the Front Page of Giant Bomb
It was announced that Facebook bought Oculus VR today. When I did my evening check-in on Giant Bomb, I noticed something familiar about the promo shot Alex Navarro chose for his article covering the matter.
Let's zoom in on that...
Oh, it's me!
I had a photoshoot back in September 2013 and took my Oculus Rift development kit with me to get a nice promo shot I could use for any future coverage of the device I might do. I uploaded it to the Oculus Rift page on Giant Bomb immediately upon receiving it, and it looks like Alex decided to use it! The photo was taken by David Pascua, who did a great job of angling everything so the cord and control box aren't visible.
Oculus Rift: Museum of the Microstar
Watch me get sick as I cover the Oculus Rift version of Museum of the Microstar, a narrative-driven experience made by RUST.
Oculus Rift: ParrotCoaster Demo
Take a quick ride with me as I check out Jeff Murray's latest ParrotCoaster demo using the Oculus Rift. Jeff Murray is the owner of PsychicParrot Games, who you may be most familiar with as the makers of Death Ray Manta. Shuhei Yoshida, President of Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment, made a #DRMPSVita joke on Twitter when announcing the game was coming to the platform in the midst of the #PS4NoDRM campaign.
Oculus Rift: Infinite-Realities' 3D Nude Scan of Joceline Brooke-Hamilton
Disclaimer: This video features a high-quality, 3D scan of a fully nude woman.
Lee Perry-Smith (director at Infinite-Realities) has released another Oculus Rift demo containing a 3D scan of Joceline Brooke-Hamilton. This time, fully nude, the scan of Joceline is repeated five times, each model featuring a different type of shader. From left to right you have: Polymimetic Alloy (T-1000), Massage Oil! (I called it "Massage Oili" in the video as I couldn't discern the exclamation point with the low-resolution of the Oculus Rift), Powdered Skin, Linear-Polarized, and Metalized.
Here is the first video featuring a different scan of Joceline Brooke-Hamilton in which I go into more detail about the technology and its future possibilities.
Oculus Rift: Infinite-Realities' 3D Scan of Joceline Brooke-Hamilton
Lee Perry-Smith, director at Infinite-Realities, took a high-quality 3D scan his company did of Joceline Brooke-Hamilton and created a demo in Unity for viewing with the Oculus Rift. I go into detail about his company's work, do a close examination of the 3D model, and talk about the inevitable future that 3D scanning and virtual reality is headed toward. Open Broadcaster Software wasn't allowing me to do a 1080p capture of the demo while using the Oculus Rift, so I included additional footage at the end of me capturing the demo from my monitor (while holding the Oculus Rift in my hand) so you can see just how high-quality the 3D model actually is.
Wubby's (NeoGAF) review of Custom Maid 3D, a game that supports the Oculus Rift and comes with a controller for your penis.
Oculus Rift: Tuscany Demo 2.0
It's been a while since I used the Oculus Rift, so to ease myself back into things, I decided to check out the updated Tuscany demo.
Oculus Rift and Razer Hydra: Sixense Tuscany Demo Highlights
This is a highlight reel of my previous video that covered the Sixense Tuscany Demo using the Oculus Rift and Razer Hydra. Don't pump up your volume to hear me talk! My audio levels were off and I added subtitles.
And I'm aware that you can't use both hands to grasp an object, but it felt wrong not to do it with the larger ones.
Download the Sixense Tuscany Demo.