Fool me, this is real good shit ! [the VR thread]

[pogo]

New Hololens video. Interestingly they show the “from the eye” view in a few places so you get some idea of the letterboxing effect described by many testers. Only some idea though as it’s still a simulation, and it’s unclear how representative it is. Ars who have recent experience of it say:

Even this video only gives a partial impression of just how limited the effect is. That's because the aspect ratio of the video window itself cuts off a large part of the peripheral vision you have when using HoloLens in real life. The unseen area above, below, and to the side of what the video shows is just unchanged reality when using HoloLens, making the tiny "magic window" effect seem even more pronounced.

[gumboot]

Microsoft might do well to completely black out the region they can't actually draw in. Or to black out just a little bit less. It'll cost people their peripheral vision, but it could have a huge effect on perceived coverage area.

[pogo]

No way. Having your peripheral vision is one of the major benefits of Hololens. It makes them much more suitable for long periods of use. You could just keep them on all the time, or all the time you were in a lab/workshop, even when not in use. Also having peripheral vision minimises the chance of getting nauseous.

[gumboot]

I finally got the face tracking 3d effect on Fire phone to look like a 3d effect. I have to close one eye to kill my depth perception (rather, my flatness perception) and rock the phone in my hand rather than bob my head about.

So I guess stereo does matter. At least, it helps in overcoming some of the other problems like the gross latency.

Opening my other eye kills the effect immediately, and closing it again it only takes a second to come back.

[seibu]

So, I've recently been arguing with Oculus. Since they've dropped Linux and OSX support my DK2 is of no use to me. In fact, it was mis-advertised and mis-sold. What I paid for was a multiplatform VR headset which I could use to develop for the consumer Rift. What I now have is a Windows Only VR headset which I can only use to develop for deprecated APIs which wont be compatible with the consumer version. So I asked for a return & refund.

Their argument - We experimentally supported Linux for eight months so tough shit.

I'm going to put it all in writing but I expect there's not much I can do with them being a US company. I think they're unprofessional and unethical. They really seem like a two-bit operation. Their drivers, even for Windows, have never worked properly. The Linux and OSX support, even when it existed, was a joke. Take a look at their developer forums - nothing is responded to or improved. I'd really like to get my money back for my DK2 just so I can stop having to deal with them.

[gumboot]

No chance it came from California, is there? California is far more consumer-friendly than the reputation that the rest of the US has. It's like a little wee Europe inside of the states.

[MegaZoid.]

I just installed cm11 on my fire phone today....its awesome.

[seibu]

No chance it came from California, is there? California is far more consumer-friendly than the reputation that the rest of the US has. It's like a little wee Europe inside of the states.

Ooh, yes. Yes it did!

I wonder if they extend their protections to non-US citizens like myself? Thanks very much for the info. I'll put on my researching trousers.

[venusian]

Seriously, it was sold specifically as not a consumer product. Trying to apply consumer law to it is silly. IMHO.

[seibu]

Seriously, it was sold specifically as not a consumer product. Trying to apply consumer law to it is silly. IMHO.

It was sold as a development kit. Which is now not usable as a development kit on 2/3 of the advertised supported platforms.

If it was a consumer product I'd actually be less annoyed!

[gravy]

Consumer law applies here as far as I understand. It doesn't matter that Occulus sold this as a dev kit or what kind of agreement you signed prior to purchase, they can't erode your consumer rights.

That said if you bought it as a sole trader or as a company your recourse may be limited compared to an individual's rights.

All of that aside do you acutally have a claim?

The old SDK still works doesn't it?

And are they intending to reinstate support at some point?

gaz

[seibu]

Consumer law applies here as far as I understand. It doesn't matter that Occulus sold this as a dev kit or what kind of agreement you signed prior to purchase, they can't erode your consumer rights.

That said if you bought it as a sole trader or as a company your recourse may be limited compared to an individual's rights.

All of that aside do you acutally have a claim?

The old SDK still works doesn't it?

And are they intending to reinstate support at some point?

gaz

Thanks!

I just bought it as a regular guy. They say they 'may' reintroduce support for OS other than Windows. There's no guarantee. Personally I seriously doubt it'll happen. It's very obvious from following their SDK efforts that their internal team is completely Windows-centric. They've never had the expertise to properly support the OS they promised to. The existing Linux and OSX SDKs are a joke.

My beef is that the API has already moved on significantly from the last multiplatform version, so development for platforms other than Windows is already out of date. Plus, as graphics drivers and other parts of the abandoned OS move on, the deprecated SDKs will inevitably stop working completely. They barely work now. And so many parts of the DK2 are propitiatory and undocumented that a fully working Open Source SDK has proved impossible to create, despite some really talented people working on it.

So basically I now have a near-brick, and will very soon have a brick.

The DK2 is now sold as "Windows Only". That's all very well, but it's exactly the same piece of hardware that was sold to me and others as "multiplatform". And it now, effectively, isn't.

[gravy]

Well yeah, I think your point of argument is the Linux SDK isn't fit for purpose. I don't think you could claim a refund on the basis that it may not work one day. I'm pretty sure if it did stop working but was outside of a couple of years you wouldn't have a claim either, bit fuzzy on that to be honest.

I think arguing that the old SDKs don't work or aren't fit for purpose may be tricky as there's a shit load of examples of them being used out there, sometimes in shipping games.

All in all: TRICKY

But good luck

[seibu]

Put it this way: If you ordered a DK2 while they were still advertising it as multiplatform, but by the time it turned up it was being advertised as Windows Only, you'd expect a refund, right? Well, every other Linux and OSX developer is in that situation really, just on a longer time scale. You can say: you've had eight months (ish) of support so you've got your money's worth. But have we, really? All I feel Oculus have done in effect is waste my time.

Anyway Oculus have told me they're not refunding anybody. If you bought it for OSX development the day before they made it Windows Only, it's tough, apparently. In fact there's a guy on the developer forums in exactly that situation.

[seibu]

I think arguing that the old SDKs don't work or aren't fit for purpose may be tricky as there's a shit load of examples of them being used out there, sometimes in shipping games.

For Linux?