Oculus Rift Specs Doesn’t Include Room Scale; Creator Talks About VR Motion Sickness

The Oculus Rift specs do not come with room scale as a default. However, the company did claim that they can deliver that feature but they did not see the need for it as of the moment.

Polygon reported that the biggest difference between HTC Vive and Oculus Rift specs appear to be the former's room scale feature. Vive allows players to walk around an entire room as they play.

The Facebook-owned VR headset does not have that feature yet. However, the company insisted that they could provide that option if they wanted to.

"Some people will really want room scale," Oculus head of worldwide studios Jason Rubin said. "It's definitely cool. We have the tech ability to provide room scale. Our tech doesn't preclude that."

Rubin hinted at the possibility of the feature being added in the Oculus Rift specs, though. "At some point we'll demo that," he added.

The publication noted that the Oculus Rift specs include a single sensor that is designed to track the user's head and upper body movements. Later this year, a second sensor will be available when the Oculus Touch controllers are shipped.

With two sensors, the VR headset can now create a more compact version of the Vive's room scale VR. The Oculus Rift specs will have sensors that are designed to track a smaller space of about 5x11 feet.

"We don't believe that the consumer has the space in general," Rubin said. "Has the commercial viable space of the 15-by-15 foot square."

Meanwhile, Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey shared his thoughts on motion sickness caused by VR. The Independent reported that "changes in velocity" are responsible for upsetting the stomachs of players.

The problem comes when players don't get other sensory feedback even though they appear to be moving in the virtual world. "Moving at speed doesn't actually make people sick; once you're moving and at equilibrium that's fine," Luckey said.

"The issue is constant deceleration and acceleration. It's actually the duration of that change, rather than the magnitude, that makes people change."

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