InfinitEye interesting competition for the Oculus Rift

This has a 210* FOV with two screens. Prototypes are still as light as the OR. This is a small startup company, and we haven't seen much competition for the OR from the larger companies yet.
The OR development team are well aware there is alot of competition out there, and are keeping there progress alittle closer to the vest recently. Interesting times. Google InfinitEye for more info.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH86II2CwdE

Interesting times ahead!

One of the most frustrating things about watching this technology is the fact that we can't actually "see" the effect it produces if you had it on.

I do remember some years back, going to see a technology show and they had some head mounted screens back then. I thought at the time "wow its going be like watching a movie in the cinema". What it was actually like was placing two small screens in front of my eyes with loads of peripheral intrusion, I was most disappointed. I hope things have moved on!

I also still worry about the whole controller issue, HOTAS is all well and good, but to completely eliminate the ability to look down at your controls is still an issue ( IMHO ).

The HOTA's thing may well be a issue for many, BUT I think for most people it will be completely outweighed by the immersion level the new hardware brings to the table. That said the Oculus Rift development team and other developers are well aware of the issue and are looking into ways around it. If it can be done satisfactorily is another question.

I rarely have to look down at my keyboard at all when I use it, and with HOTAS everything should be straightforward.

My main concern remains that any successful device will need continuing support from developers or they'll be useless gimmicks. The OR has gathered enough attention to possibly achieve continuing support, but there's not going to be much room for many different devices unless they all converge on some well defined standard which allows developer to implement things just once, not for every single device.

I'm not sure that this Infinite Eye project has what it takes to break through: the specs are great, but for the moment it's just a 3 persons team with limited funding I guess - what OR did extremely well was to gather a lot of money and a huge press coverage during their kickstarter campaign, and then they manage to keep the hype up and meet with a lot of people in the industry. For the moment I'm keeping my hopes up for the consumer version of the OR as it's now more or less guaranteed to start with a huge lineup of games supported, including several sims.

I would agree with you about the keyboard, certainly for any fps I'm playing I pretty much can use wasd without ever glancing down. What I'm talking about is with sims.

One thing I really enjoy using is an instrument screen in DCS ( and hopefully soon in CLOD! ). Even with trackIR and I doubt OR you just don't get the same effect of having instruments there in front of you. No matter how much I play about with the trackIR settings actually moving your whole head to scan an instrument panel is not the same ( or as realistic ) as just being able to glance down with your eyes.

Also the 3 way controller for prop sims ( mixture prop throttle ) isn't the type of controller you would necessarily want to keep your hand on throughout the flight and you have the prospect of flying with what amounts to a reversed instrument hood, where you can see outside the cockpit but inside your blind and have to rely on touch rather than site! Certainly the hog throttle is a different ball game and would allow you to quite comfortably keep your hand there.

So for those that like a separate instrument screen ( the likes of HELIOS ) or those that have invested in extra dedicated instrument solutions then OR and the like won't be a perfect match.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really looking forward to this type of product and I hope I will be able to adjust to it, I just wonder how well it will all gel together.

Did anyone manage to get CLoD working with the Rift yet? It doesnt seem to appear on the supported list for the third party Rift drivers.

Yeah, would be interesting to know which work best. Or if paying for VorpX is worth the difference over Vireio.

I have both VorpX and Vireio. VorpX is the more professional product with more supported games and is worth buying - the cost is not massive. But I could not see any particular difference in the 3d presentation. Any subtle differences in quality may get lost because of the low resolution anyway.

The best 3d presentation comes from the natively supported games - HL2 and Truck Simulator being the ones I am playing.