I got an Oculus Rift CV1 In 2016 and started developing VR interactive sims using the Unity Engine and found the dev process tedious. There are many times you need to wear the HMD and take it off, look at code, then into unity UI and back to 3D modelling app etc. It's a slow repetitive pattern.
As others have mentioned, the eyes / camera motion sensors and telemetry tracking HMD felt like invasion of my privacy too.
Everytime i finished a session of dev for VR or playing some VR games I would use home made cardboard caps to cover the motion sensors and disconnect the HMD after use. It was a chore to do this every time though.
When facebook added their first firmware update to my Rift, It became sluggish to use. I returned it and was refunded. I then bought a 3D projector and use face tracking camera instead so i can look around still like you do in VR and have a higher fidelity experience playing racing sims etc. Also for space games, the big screen feels like I'm using a view screen on the starship enterprise.
Its convenient, It's more social too because others can share the experience. For now this suits my needs. Hopefully one day i will look forward to getting a true next gen VR HMD and hopefully one that competes with meta on pricing and without the privacy compromise.
Couple of you asked how to set up headtracking. So here goes!
Head tracking 6DOF on compatible trackIR games.
Should be able to work also with none trackIR games using joystick emulation to map to the head tracker.
So this is an entry level tracking method and will hopefully
cost you nothing to try as long as you have...
Install both software follow instructions in the links provided above.
There are ways to improve the experience by using higher refresh rate cameras
A cheap way is to buy a PSEYE ( old playstation camera ) for $5 - $10
Which has 120hz refresh rate for smoother tracking. You can also take it antother step forward and
mod the camera by removing the IR filter lens from the camera to get superior tracking. I've personally
not needed to do this with my PS Eye camera because it works ok once you've tweaked the above software settings.
You can create a more immersive experience by using a 3D display/projector and using reshade https://reshade.me/ (Just make sure to tick the 3d depth shader when installing). Now your flatscreen games are 3D with 6DOF headtracking.
Did the same in 2016 - 2019 using libovr and qt with opengl and had the same experience. We worked mostly in the viewport however and only did vr sessions as needed as for the most part it was the same when iterating. I also believe it messed up my eyes a bit as it can be quite straining for prolonged periods.
I owned quite a few headsets but I got rid of them over time, the novelty wears off quickly and it's a good way to captivate people new to it but the setup quickly gets cumbersome and impractical for day to day use unless you have a dedicated space for it.
If privacy is an issue for you, there are non-Facebook/open-source-based headsets being developed out there :]
> I bought a 3D projector and use face tracking camera instead so i can look around still like you do in VR and have a higher fidelity experience playing racing sims etc.
Is this a custom setup? It sounds pretty cool / you should consider making a video showing it off.
As others have mentioned, the eyes / camera motion sensors and telemetry tracking HMD felt like invasion of my privacy too.
Everytime i finished a session of dev for VR or playing some VR games I would use home made cardboard caps to cover the motion sensors and disconnect the HMD after use. It was a chore to do this every time though.
When facebook added their first firmware update to my Rift, It became sluggish to use. I returned it and was refunded. I then bought a 3D projector and use face tracking camera instead so i can look around still like you do in VR and have a higher fidelity experience playing racing sims etc. Also for space games, the big screen feels like I'm using a view screen on the starship enterprise.
Its convenient, It's more social too because others can share the experience. For now this suits my needs. Hopefully one day i will look forward to getting a true next gen VR HMD and hopefully one that competes with meta on pricing and without the privacy compromise.