Oculus Rift VR headset reaches Kickstarter goal within hours
updated 05:20 pm EDT, Wed August 1, 2012
Virtual reality display endorsed by gaming luminaries
A Kickstarter drive for the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset reached its $250,000 goal within hours of starting. The headset, endorsed by gaming legends John Carmack and Cliff Bleszinski, boasts a 110 degree diagonal and 90 degree horizontal field of view, a resolution of 1280x800 split into 640x800 per eye, and 6 degrees of freedom with a claimed "ultra-low" latency, a problem that has plagued VR systems in the past.
The initial completed developer kits are estimated to begin shipping in December this year at a price of $300. An unassembled option at $275 has already sold out. The original unassembled version contains the same developer center access, SDKs, documents, samples, engine integrations and a copy of Doom 3 BFG to test with as the completed version, but would be sent in parts and require the use of a hot glue gun to complete it.
At the time of writing, the Oculus Rift Kickstarter campaign is almost at double the original target, and still has 30 days to go. The Ouya Android-based games console, another gaming Kickstarter project, also reached its goal within the first day, and currently stands at seven days left to run.
