Already in the wild for over a month now, Rift Core 2.0 Beta has seen its first substantial update since launch. The January update addresses performance and general ease-of-use of Home and Dash, but more importantly provides solutions to some rather niggling issues.
Considered a major overhaul to the platform’s underlying user experience, Rift Core 2.0 was only available through the Public Test Channel since launch last month. Now, Oculus says Rift users on the default branch will have automatic access to Core 2.0 beta without having to opt into the more incremental Public Test Channel updates. While classic Oculus Home is still the default for non-test-branchers, you can now toggle Rift Core 2.0 beta on an off in the Settings menu.
image courtesy Oculus
Oculus says a number of rendering, stability, and performance fixes have come to Home and Dash as a result of the update. Dash is the platform’s in-app menu system which also allows you to use desktop PC applications and switch apps while still interacting in VR apps. There’s also some updates to how Dash works when you’re running apps purchased through Steam or other app marketplaces—no doubt polishing Valve’s recent update to SteamVR that allows Rift users to use Dash in Steam-bought games.
Now, all of this is well and good, but what about the annoying bits?
One niggling issue that the update addresses is the ability to “lock” changes in your Home, so you can inhabit the space without accidentally moving that perfectly placed object. The Lock option can now be found in the Settings panel in the Home menu.
Image courtesy Oculus
Speaking of niggling issues, this is the granddaddy of them all. Ever since the launch of Rift in March 2016, users have been pleading for an official way to easily install and manage their Oculus apps outside the confines of the default C: drive location. With the January update, Oculus is now letting you install VR apps across more than one hard drive or Windows folder, meaning you’ll finally be able to shunt your apps to that extra SSD. Pure joy.
Smaller, less-niggling niggles: when you add games and experiences to you Wishlist, you’ll get notified when they go on sale, making it easier to wait on that game that may need a few months after launch to finally shape up, both content and price-wise. You’ll also be able to see playtime hours and achievements for any game in your Library.
If you’re got a great idea, or found a bug worth squashing, Oculus suggests joining UserVoice forum for all feature requests.
As Oculus has pushed out iterative runtimes to support its consumer hardware, many of the beloved early VR experiments have fallen to the wayside, languishing without support and lost in the annals of defunct software. To remedy this, WEARVR, an independent virtual reality app store, announced a new competition challenging seasoned VR devs to update their original Oculus Rift DK1 and DK2 demos, games and experiences, and bring them back to support the latest VR hardware.
Dubbed the ‘Remastered Competition’, WEARVR is challenging developers to enhance, update and re-engineer their original Oculus DK content “to make it contemporary with new releases and fully functional on the latest headsets, including the Oculus Rift CV1.”
far from consumer-ready experience, Oculus SDK .05.01
The independent app store, which hosts a number of ‘legacy’ DK1 and DK2 experiences and games, is offering up cash prizes totaling $10,000 to the best Remastered virtual reality content submitted to the WEARVR app store before 1st May, 2018. Check out the rules and conditions here.
“These early demos are what compelled us to launch WEARVR and give the experiences the dedicated audience they deserved,” says WEARVR COO, Andrew Douthwaite. “Having tried and tested nearly every DK1 and DK2 demo out there, it’s sad to see that some of them haven’t made it to the consumer headsets. However, it’s understandable when you consider that these were largely created by new, or one-person teams.”
“What we’re trying to do with Remastered is give new VR users an opportunity to try these short experiences that helped the new VR industry grow so fast, as well as creating a bit of nostalgia for the VR veterans,” Douthwaite continues. “There are many developers who, perhaps, created a demo with no intention of selling it. This gives them an opportunity to monetize their demos, through WEARVR, whilst having the added bonus of prize money for best in class,” Douthwaite concludes.
Developers interested in reviving their early projects can enter here.
The opening keynote at the fourth annual Oculus Connect developer conference delivered several new product announcements from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, VP of Virtual Reality Hugo Barra, and others. This included new standalone VR hardware, a new price for the Rift, and many software and game reveals.
At $199, Oculus Go is a low-cost, all-in-one standalone headset launching in early 2018. On stage, Hugo Barra claimed that the headset was designed to deliver the “best visual clarity of any product we’ve ever built”, using a “fast-switch LCD” at 2560×1440 and an “all-new, custom optical design”. The lenses are an evolution of the ‘hybrid’ optics found in the current Rift. Sharing the same controller input set as Gear VR – a single controller and rotational-only tracking – apps will be “binary compatible”, working on both systems. Essentially, Oculus Go is an enhanced, standalone version of Gear VR.
Project Santa Cruz developer kits coming in 2018, we go hands-on:
Image courtesy Oculus
Described as the “first, complete, standalone VR system with full inside-out tracking and hand presence”, Santa Cruz developer kits will be available next year. The company revealed various improvements to the latest prototype, including brand new 6-degrees-of-freedom controllers, similar to Touch. Unlike Oculus Go, Santa Cruz is designed as a high-end, standalone system, with full positional tracking on both headset and controllers, but will be limited by the performance of its on-board mobile PC. Check out our hands-on impressions here.
‘Oculus Dash’ is a total interface overhaul, supports desktop apps:
Nate Mitchell, Head of Rift, described how Oculus has been rebuilding the core software from the ground up over the past year, introducing various improvements to ‘Rift Core 2.0’. Most significantly, Oculus Dash is a total overhaul of the Rift user interface, designed specifically for motion input. It combines the existing functionality of Home and the Universal Menu, while allowing access to traditional desktop apps. Mitchell claims Dash will offer “best in class performance and visual quality,” for PC apps in VR, setting the platform “on a path to replacing real monitors entirely.”
Oculus Home also completely rebuilt:
The Rift Core 2.0 update also brings a brand new Oculus Home space, with a more realistic visual design, with “state of the art lighting” and “dynamic soft shadows”, powered by Unreal Engine 4. This is customisable with toys, furniture, artwork and achievements, and is designed to be a persistent, social space, with the potential to create shared spaces in the future.
Rift receives permanent price cut:
Photo by Road to VR
Hugo Barra, Vice President of Virtual Reality at Oculus announced a permanent price cut of the Rift and Touch bundle to $399. The package still includes the same hardware bundle of headset, two sensors, two Touch controllers, and “six free apps” – although there are actually several more free apps available on the Store.
Industrial Training International is readying their VR Mobile Crane Simulator for the March ConExpo Event in Las Vegas. The simulator uses an Oculus Rift headset in combination with a modular rig, in order to significantly reduce the costs of training, compared to both real-world and older VR solutions.
Last September, Industrial Training International (ITI) announced the development of a ‘VR Mobile Crane Simulator’ (in this case, the term ‘mobile’ refers to the type of crane, rather than VR optimised for a smartphone). Created in partnership with Canadian developer Serious Labs Inc, the system is on schedule for a March launch, having run a beta program since October.
The simulator, which uses an Oculus Rift headset, comes in two forms – ‘Desktop’ and ‘Motion Base’. They use the same modular control system, including five joystick modules for the user to swap out to match the model of crane they are operating. The layout is mapped accurately to the real crane ergonomics to retain immersion, with foot pedals coming soon. The modular design allows for custom features to be added (such as force-feedback joysticks) if required. The Motion Base version uses the same joystick layout, but instead of being clamped to a table, it is a standalone unit, adding a chair with four actuators in the base, creating a convincing sense of movement. The development models are seen in ITI’s ‘First Look’ video (above) – the Xbox One controller shown was a temporary option while the desktop hardware was being fabricated.
ITI VR Product Manager Caleb Steinborn explains the effectiveness of the Motion Base, which is also used for their Aerial Work Platform simulator – another VR development from Serious Labs with equipment rental giant, United Rentals. “I have seen many people experience fairly extreme fear of heights while being hoisted into the air with the AWP simulator, all the while having never left the ground. The realism is truly an experience unlike anything else.”
There is also a small training benefit from sensing some of the forces acting on the crane, and in the case of the Aerial Work Platform, the vestibular feedback created by the actuators minimises simulator sickness. For the crane sim, the accelerations are lower, so nausea isn’t an issue, but it can reproduce an “extremely powerful” feeling of tipping a 100-tonne crane.
The Oculus Rift headset was selected by Serious Labs as they believe it to be the more comfortable and portable solution at this stage, however the sim supports OpenVR, and therefore could work on the HTC Vive, and other headsets. “Currently we use the Oculus Rift simply because at the time the developers felt like it was the stronger headset of the two. As the technology emerges, we will keep up with latest and greatest.”
Founded in 1986, ITI is a world leader in crane and rigging training and consulting; they are relied on by multiple industries such as mining, construction, and energy. Having dismissed older simulator options due to their high costs, impracticality, lack of depth perception and realism, ITI is now introducing a new generation of simulators that utilize VR headsets to create a far more compact, affordable option. Legacy solutions typically cost well over $100,000 – ITI’s simulator will be a fraction of the price.
The sheer scale of a legacy crane sim (ranging from the size of an actual crane cab to a semi-truck trailer) is the other major hurdle, with the shipping, setup and commissioning alone typically costing more than the entire purchase price of the ITI desktop sim. Having trained operators for three decades, ITI has received plenty of feedback from the industry, lamenting the high cost and low portability of legacy solutions, according to Caleb. “Most operators are not physically close to a simulator installation, so even when simulators are owned by the companies in question they are often underused.”
Offering the hardware at cost and charging a subscription for the software means that, in addition to the low cost of entry, subscribers gain access to the full training ecosystem as it becomes available, which will include new content (such as new crane models/types and new environments), new features (such as training events, networked “multiplayer,” enabling multi-crane lifts as well as multi-user lifts performing different functions), as well as future courses utilizing hand controls to train riggers, signal persons, crane assembly/disassembly, and more.
ITI provides real-world training courses at seven training centres in the United States and Canada – the mobile crane operator courses are capped at 12 students to ensure decent seat time in the crane for each trainee, and attention from the instructor. While real-world training is high quality, there are limitations in terms of seat time, available lift scenarios, and possible external conditions. The new VR solution can provide practically unlimited seat time, and can cover topics and events that aren’t easily reproduced (such as dealing with inclement weather) in real life. The cost benefits can be enormous, particularly when you consider the equivalent real-world worksite preparation and dealing with potential damages. It’s possible for a job that involves a single critical lift to be billed at a million dollars or more.
The simulation is realistic enough to provide all the operational practice needed to pass a practical exam from the NCCCO, but real-world training still has its place. “Our goal is to provide every possible training solution option to those who are in need”, says Caleb. “Sometimes that training solution will be a live, instructor-led course, and sometimes it is going to be a VR Simulator. It is our job to ensure that the quality of every option is of the highest caliber, and our VR Mobile Crane simulator is only just beginning.”
