Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe Steps Down

Re:Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe Steps Down by cc439 on Tuesday December 13, 2016 @05:56PM (#13172031)

> I wonder if they should have made a "Super DK2". Lower quality headset hardware but Rift quality tracking and touch support at a lower price.

As the owner of a DK2, I can say that would have been a much wiser strategy. They CV1 costs roughly twice as much as the DK2 but the increase in cost is mainly attributed to adding features rather than improvements to the weaknesses of the DK2.

The biggest drawback to the DK2 was its low display resolution and having tried the CV1 and Vive, the bump to 2160x1200 made little improvement. The switch to a standard RGD pixel layout from the DK2's pentile display made more of a difference than the resolution itself. The increase in refresh rate also added little benefit over the 75hz of the DK2 in my experience.

I was massively disappointed by the news that the CV1 was forgoing the leap to 4K but I was still willing to buy in to the superior pixel layout and positional audio if the price difference mirrored the tiny improvement in the overall experience. I was expecting a $400 headset and was floored by the $600 price point.

Now I'm just clinging to my DK2 and hoping Oculus doesn't completely kill support for it while I wait for another challenger to recognize this huge gap in the market. I would have already bought thr OSVR HDK2 if it broke the HDMI spec and allowed for a true 75hz+ refresh rate.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe Steps Down by pmoriarty on Tuesday December 13, 2016 @06:56PM (#13172528)

"The biggest drawback to the DK2 was its low display resolution"

I disagree. The biggest drawback of the DK2 and every other VR headset on the market is that the headset itself is big, bulky, and uncomfortable.

VR manufacturers really need to get the headsets down to around the size and comfort of regular glasses to prevent them from being tossed in the closet with the rollerblades and other novely items which are too annoying to use on a regular basis.

Once the novelty wears off, people will stop using it if it's not comfortable and convenient.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe Steps Down by cookiecaper on Wednesday December 14, 2016 @12:51AM (#13174150)

I agree. I also think that the mass appeal of VR is much lower than most tech enthusiasts believe. It's a novelty that everyone probably wants to try once just to see what it's like, but I don't think many people really want to play games or regularly immerse in experiences that way. It decreases your environmental awareness far too much imo, and I think that long-term, many people will believe it's creepy to be that sucked into a device, and walking around with a huge block attached to your head.

I've heard some people say that AR is really where VR can make mass-market appeal and I'd certainly agree that prospects for something like an environmental HUD a la Glass are much better than an "immersive" experience that leaves you blind to the real-world.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe Steps Down by tudorw on Wednesday December 14, 2016 @03:54AM (#13174678)

I agree, this is certainly not a demand driven product, I've played around with VR since the 90's and for some use cases it is unimaginably useful, yet for daily consumer entertainment the experience is not physically comfortable enough, interactive TV was not popular, people generally fill their time with lay back viewing, even when given more 'exciting' alternatives. Look at videogames, despite the potential we are still mostly stuck in realistic looking scenarios that permit us to play out violent fantasies, their are scant few titles that explore the deeper side of human experience, the indie scene is much richer in this regard, there is so much growing up to do in the 2d medium I am sceptical that adding a dimension will resolve these entrenched issues.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe Steps Down by erikpukinskis on Tuesday December 13, 2016 @09:16PM (#13173268)

Yeah, they focused on comfort, when the primary market was early adopter gamers who don't really care about that. They could've been earlier to market and sold better if they had focused on raw performance and features.

Clean up the fit and finish and minimize VR sickness for the mass market 2.0 product. Early adopter products are about keeping people engaged with content and unique features.

[ Parent | on HN ]