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No, John Carmack is developing software for the Oculus RIFT being developed by Palmer Luckey. http://oculusvr.com/?page_id=2 http://oculusvr.com/?page_id=2 It

by nrp 14y ago

No, John Carmack is developing software for the Oculus RIFT being developed by Palmer Luckey. http://oculusvr.com/?page_id=2 http://oculusvr.com/?page_id=2 It is a pretty amazing piece of hardware though. Over 90 degree field of view for $500, rather than the $10000+ it still costs from anywhere else.

bryanlarsen 14y ago
That's just one of the many HMD's that Carmack has played with and hacked on extensively. It's quite clear from the interview that Carmack has done quite a bit of hardware hacking as well as software development.
fatjonny 14y ago
"It’s worth noting that the prototype Carmack is demoing wasn’t made by him, but by another Texan builder of VR headsets. It’s using the same tech and principles as Carmack’s own version, which was unfortunately unable to make the trip to E3." It sounds like he is making his own headset as well. The demo was not on his, though.
- varikin 14y ago
  That was my impression. It sounds like he is really just looking at all options to figure out what does and does not work and why. To that extent, he is building and modifying hardware to experiment while also working with manufacturers.
ctdonath 14y ago
It's been, what, 17+ years since I bought my Virtual I/O iGlasses? Amazing how long it takes some technologies to catch on, if ever. The RIFT is certainly an improvement (1280×800 vs 640x480); we'll see if the "visual acuity" twist and improved tracking gives VR the push it needs. Hopefully Carmack (and if anyone can, it's him) can solve whatever the limiting nuance is. Then again, the Newton came out around the same time, and took just as long to be reborn in a viable "killer app" form (iPad). Between Carmack, RIFT, and Google Glass - with "smartphone" power making the needed CPU cycles portable - maybe we'll finally see VR happen.
- mattstreet 14y ago
  I get that augmented reality needs to be portable for most applications, I'm not so sure VR needs portable CPU power. Other than that I agree with you.
- ctdonath 14y ago
  ETA: "wireless" is very important. Even if the host CPU is just a few feet away, either it must be wireless or on the user. Getting tangled in wiring is really annoying. Trust me.
- droidist 14y ago
  Yeah, it's interesting how technology often takes around 20 years from invention to reaching the market place. (Perhaps not so) coincidentally 20 years is also the period of a United States patent.
judgardner 14y ago
sensics p-sight was the best available last time I cared to look, in the $100,000+ range =/ http://sensics.com/products/head-mounted-displays/pisight-ultra-panoramic-hmds/specifications/ http://sensics.com/products/head-mounted-displays/pisight-ul... the trouble with stereoscopic curved displays seems to be keeping them calibrated to your eyes properly, slight shifts of the head clamp messes things up pretty badly

by nrp 14y ago

bryanlarsen 14y ago

That's just one of the many HMD's that Carmack has played with and hacked on extensively. It's quite clear from the interview that Carmack has done quite a bit of hardware hacking as well as software development.

fatjonny 14y ago

"It’s worth noting that the prototype Carmack is demoing wasn’t made by him, but by another Texan builder of VR headsets. It’s using the same tech and principles as Carmack’s own version, which was unfortunately unable to make the trip to E3." It sounds like he is making his own headset as well. The demo was not on his, though.

varikin 14y ago
That was my impression. It sounds like he is really just looking at all options to figure out what does and does not work and why. To that extent, he is building and modifying hardware to experiment while also working with manufacturers.

ctdonath 14y ago

It's been, what, 17+ years since I bought my Virtual I/O iGlasses? Amazing how long it takes some technologies to catch on, if ever. The RIFT is certainly an improvement (1280×800 vs 640x480); we'll see if the "visual acuity" twist and improved tracking gives VR the push it needs. Hopefully Carmack (and if anyone can, it's him) can solve whatever the limiting nuance is. Then again, the Newton came out around the same time, and took just as long to be reborn in a viable "killer app" form (iPad). Between Carmack, RIFT, and Google Glass - with "smartphone" power making the needed CPU cycles portable - maybe we'll finally see VR happen.

mattstreet 14y ago
I get that augmented reality needs to be portable for most applications, I'm not so sure VR needs portable CPU power. Other than that I agree with you.
ctdonath 14y ago
ETA: "wireless" is very important. Even if the host CPU is just a few feet away, either it must be wireless or on the user. Getting tangled in wiring is really annoying. Trust me.
droidist 14y ago
Yeah, it's interesting how technology often takes around 20 years from invention to reaching the market place. (Perhaps not so) coincidentally 20 years is also the period of a United States patent.

judgardner 14y ago

sensics p-sight was the best available last time I cared to look, in the $100,000+ range =/ http://sensics.com/products/head-mounted-displays/pisight-ultra-panoramic-hmds/specifications/ http://sensics.com/products/head-mounted-displays/pisight-ul... the trouble with stereoscopic curved displays seems to be keeping them calibrated to your eyes properly, slight shifts of the head clamp messes things up pretty badly