Video: "I Spent a Week In a VR Headset, Here's What Happened"

(Click here is the video does not play)

From Disrupt on March 7, "On February 20th, 2019 we put a guy in a headset for 168 hours. Hosted by: https://twitter.com/jakwilmot." For one week, Jak Wilmont was constantly wearing VR headsets, save the couple seconds it took to change from one to another.  While the video doesn't mention Second Life, it does involve virtual worlds.

His response when the challenge is finally over, "Oh my gosh, the graphics are so good."

Hat tip: Nydia Tungsten

Oculus Rift Available at Best Buy, For Nearly $600

Most regular users of Second Life have probably heard of Oculus Rift, the Virtual Reality headset that's been under development for a few years, which has long gotten the attention of Linden Lab which soon worked to make it compatible with Second Life, and was bought up by Facebook two years ago. Also about two years ago, one could place an order for a first generation unit for $350, and there were hopes for a more economical model for when it officially hit the market.

Finally the other day, I saw one for the first time at my local Best Buy. Finally the Oculus Rift headsets weren't just something being talked about on the computer, but available for me to get in the store. But as it turned out, the price hadn't dropped from two years ago. It was $599.99. They were selling a few brands of (low power) computers for less than that. If one adds the Oculus Touch hand controllers, the price goes up to almost $800.00.

For someone making a hundred thousand a year, this probably would be no big thing. But for a blue collar worker like me making less than a quarter that, the cash would be harder to come by. It is noteable to mention that when Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg was demonstrating Sansar to reporters last month, he did so using the Oculus headset and hand controllers.

Granted customer reviews are very good, rated an average of 4.4 out of five of over a hundred reviews with 87% saying they would recommend it to a friend. But for someone with a tight budget, it may simply be out of reach. At least until the price goes down.

"So close, and yet so far."

Bixyl Shuftan

Facebook Buys Oculus Rift for Two Billion Dollars (Main Article)

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Tuesday, it was announced that Facebook had purchased Oculus Rift for two billion US dollars. “Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow,” stated Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder and CEO, “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.”

The announcement from Facebook stated the deal was for about $400 million in cash and about 23.1 million shares of Facebook stock valued at 1.6 billion US dollars. It was also stated "The agreement also provides for an additional $300 million earn-out in cash and stock based on the achievement of certain milestones."

The news of Facebook's latest acquisition, a month after they had bought the messenger platform WhatsApp for $19 Billion, came just after it was announced that 60,000 Oculus Rift units had been sold in it's first year. Hamlet Au of New World Notes thought this news, while impressive on it's own, also suggested a greater potential demand for virtual reality headsets. As the units had sold for $350 US dollars, "it's a very solid data point suggesting there is a mass market for a cheaper consumer model." Facebook's announcement claimed the figures were more than 75,000 units.

Early on, Linden Lab showed interest in the virtual reality headset, enough to start working on integrating it with Second Life in an "unofficial capacity." Hamlet Au then called the move then an "enormous gamble," but one it should take. Now, with Oculus Rift's future being a mass market one, Hamlet felt the Lab should invest more than ever.

Facebook also has some former Lindens on it's staff.  Cory Ondrejka. Linden Lab's co-founder is the head of Facebook's mobile division. Jim Purbrick, another Facebook worker who once worked at the Lab, posted, "Apparently I work at a virtual worlds company again."

Reaction appears to be mainly positive, people anticipating Facebook's large coffers able to generously fund research and development. But there have been some complaints, notably about concerns about privacy and datamining. On Oculus Rift's Kickstarter page, many posted complaints about the move: "I hate to see Oculus join facebook. Facebook is something I hate from the bottom of my heart (never joined it) .. the news totally ruined my day and I'm thinking of canceling my pre-order." The BBC reported that the creator of Minecraft, Markus  Persson, creator of popular online game Minecraft, had cancelled a deal with Oculusafter hearing the news, "We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus. ... I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out."

So why did Facebook buy up Oculus Rift? The social media  giant has been buying up a number of acquisitions. So perhaps it's mainly for another source of revenue. But there may be other reasons. Perhaps Mark Zuckerburg is looking to catch the next tech wave. Perhaps Facebook is trying to appeal to younger users, which have been leaving as more older people sign up. Or perhaps it is, as one man in a CNN article put it, "to hedge against the day that the era of the social network as we know it becomes totally played out?"

This is clearly big news for virtual reality and virtual worlds. The money behind the multi-billion dollar company means promises for more and faster developments. But what will be the catch?

Sources: BBC, CNN Money, CNN, Facebook , New World Notes,
Image Credit: Robyn Beck/CNN 

Bixyl Shuftan

Oculus Rift VR, By Philip Rosedale's New Company, Coming to Second Life

Jo Yardley, the lady known for her work on the 1920s Berlin Project, had a few things to say about something on the more futuristic scale of things: Oculus Rift.



Last month, Second Life's creator Philip Rosedale, who has moved on to found a new start-up company called "High Fidelity," announced "a new kind of virtual reality platform" called Oculus Rift, a "high field of view, low latency, consumer-priced virtual reality head-mounted display." Although the company's primary interest seems to be 3-D gaming, Halmet Au reported that Linden Lab was interested in this technology, with "several Linden staff … working on integrating Oculus Rift with Second Life in an *unofficial* capacity."

Jo states Oculus "truly is a game changer," "I can already imagine myself walking around those dark narrow streets, looking up, down, around me. Finally being able to see my city trough my eyes in stead of the eyes of my avatar. … It could give SL an enormous boost, put it back in the view of those who might have forgotten about it, and it could show off a whole new side of the OC."

Chatting with Rod Humble, Jo quoted him as saying, "Hopefully we will be sharing some vids within a few weeks then get into testing after that. I don't want to overhype this BUT SL+OR is like having dinner with Stefan Zweig and Peter Altenberg."

Hamlet Au called integration an "enormous gamble" that he earlier doubted the Lab would undertake. And in one article Jo Yardley linked to, the writer felt OpenSim would get it first. But it looks like Rod Humble, noted for his experience in gaming, will be having Linden Lab work on it.

Sources: New World Notes, Jo Yardley's Second Life

Bixyl Shuftan