Project Morpheus
The queue management for Project Morpheus was some of the best I've seen. They gave out time cards to everyone coming to their stalls in the morning and then people were free to do whatever until their appointment. If not for this, I wouldn't have decided to endure the line for The Order. Next time, everybody should follow this. It really lets people manage their time far more efficiently and see more of the show.
They had a reasonably large booth with about 12 demo areas arranged in 6x2 partitions. Each partition had a display in front for people in queue as well as the public to see what the attendee saw. They had various demoes running and depending on which one freed up, you were directed to that area. You didn't really get to choose which one you wanted to try. From what I could recall, they had that sword training demo that we have all seen (Castle?), the shark demo (The Deep) that I've only read about, a street luge racing demo that looked really cool and a space dogfight. There were a couple more there that didn't seem as much fun. While I waited in line, I asked the representative a bunch of questions
"So.. Is this a new hardware prototype or is it the same one people have seen before"
"Yeah it's the same one"
"Ok. Does 2015 seem like a realistic timeline for release?"
*Squirms*
"Well, the biggest blocker isn't the hardware. It's the content. We are still working hard to get more support for the hardware and line up unique experiences for mass market appeal"
It's probably not happening in 2015, guys
I continued probing.
"What target price are we looking at here? $299 to $399 would be ideal. Isn't that what the guys at Occulus are shooting for?"
*Squirms 2: Electric Boogaloo*
"Hmmm, yeah, it's too early to tell, but expect it to be priced competitively to other products in the market"
I was up next. The shark demo awaited me.
I got to the demo station and was greeted by the polite rep. Though I've read a lot about this demo, this was my first VR experience and so I was super excited! He quickly placed the device on my head and it was surprisingly comfortable. It didn't feel non-existent, but hey, for a big ass box strapped to my face, it felt more comfortable than wearing lab goggles. It didn't immediately look right as the image was really blurry. He asked me to move the headset up and down until I could see clearly. When I complied, the image sharpened and he secured the headset at that position. I'm guessing this wouldn't be required for the retail version.
As soon as the adjustments were made, I felt totally immersed. I couldn't see anything besides the static text in front of me. I remember there being concerns about "leakage of light" below, but I didn't see any. So whoever amongst you who had that issue has head dimensions that aren't morpheus-compliant. You might want to get that rectified.
The demo fired up and I descended into the deep in a cage. I immediately noticed 2 issues. The field of view was not nearly covering my peripheral vision. It was just pitch black to the sides. That was a slight let down, but I still felt like I was completely in this virtual ocean, albeit with goggles that restricted my view. Secondly, I could see the individual pixels like I would if I stood too close to a TV screen. I asked the rep about it and he said it was already 960x1080 per eye, but they plan to increase pixel density around the center and decrease it outwards in their next revision, since eyes tend to focus on the center.
The demo had me in a cage with a useless flare while the shark was pounding and chewing on metal. Everyone knows how it plays out, so I won't get into the details. But holy shit, that's the most realistic in-game shark I have seen! Every time it got close, I instinctively flinched. The system had also calibrated my height, so I could bend my knees and my virtual knees would bend too. Input latency seemed tolerable and I could quickly adapt. However, with all the moving and flinching, the system lost sync with my body once and I started seeing my feet even while looking straight. Felt weird and hilarious. That was promptly adjusted and I continued looked around and shooting flares just for kicks. For those few minutes, I was a hapless diver stuck in a cage with a hungry shark gradually unwrapping its gift. It's impossible to imagine what that feels like unless you try out VR for yourself. Minor graphical issues like resolution, aliasing, texture quality etc. become secondary, because your brain is overwhelmed by the sensory overload. Once the demo was over, I asked if anyone had experienced motion sickness and he said in all the demos he has done all year, not one person had it. So that's good news.
I came out as excited as I went in. This could be the next big thing and I would buy it regardless of cost. But it just isn't there yet.
