Reality Check - 5 Amazing non-game uses for Oculus Rift

How about a 3D full 360° Movie.

we should use this to control military grade robots that way we can send robots to conflict zones without risking actual people

that way the enemy will be buthurt cause even if they manage and "kill" one the user just gets the experience and controls another robot, sort of like a cyclon warrior

I know this is going to sound like a cheesy marketing line, but the Rift really does seem to be opening things up to a whole new way of interacting with the world, nay the universe!

Ford's use seems a bit lame. They've been designing cars without it for a century. How much of an improvement could it be with it? I can imagine Rift having limited success in helping PTSD. I for one certainly wouldn't want to sit and watch a traumatic event of my life over and over again, but it's harder to escape a memory than it is to simply close your eyes or take off a headset.

Its use as a training tool for amputees is pretty cool and probably the most noble use mentioned in the video. It'd be awesome if that proved to be successful.

NASA's use for Rift, and it's applications as an AR device have awesome potential for your everyday punter, and NASA's use of it to control robots makes me wonder what would happen if the military made use of it. The AR application makes me think of that scene from Minority Report where Anderton is walking past all those people having various VR experiences. Some of them were not all that wholesome.

A non-gaming use I find fascinating is the "out of body experience" or even the "body swap" experiment: with the proper setup the Rift lets you see from the POV of any person, and by providing the same stimuli to the same parts of your body and the body of the person whose POV you are using, the effect is your brain recognizing that person's body as your own.

It's thrilling.

Are there any naysayers left who still think Oculus is just a gimmick that will fade into oblivion like motion controls?

People that have early versions of the Oculus Rift seem to gush about how great it is and yet Palmer Lucky keeps telling us about reducing latency, need for better display parts, new wireless development, and on and on. Point being, if it's already mind-blowing fun at this stage what will it be like in 5 years with a big consumer base, savvier developers, and cheap off-shelf parts designed for VR? This could start a whole new phase for the desktop pc.

It'll be very useful in the field of Architecture or Civil Engineering.Create a fullscale virtual 3D model of a building,then use the OR to survey the building or allow your clients to take a look at it before work on the building has actually started.

Please GS, don't go down the route of "5 amazing this" and "8 strange that".

It's insulting.

I've had the chance to use the first dev kit Rift on several occasions and it truly is an amazing experience. It's the future, or at least a big part of it, without a doubt. I'm far far more excited about the final consumer Rift than any of the new consoles.

The way Rift is working, It looks so damn close to Quest World!

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Honestly, I saw some posts and videos a couple years ago about how surgeons ere using Kinect 1.0 to do certain surgeries. If this makes surgeon's better at removing cancers, tumors, performing brain surgeries or other difficult surgeries, etc. then this is something this would be really beneficial to people. Medical science is where the future needs to go. Customizing this technology with the ability to switch what the surgeon is looking at on-the-fly (be-it xray, vascular, more precision, etc.) seems like a no-brainer to me. The ability to adapt it to other technology that exists could mean a new MRI or understanding of medical science.

just want to know if banana stickers will stay on.

How about manually controlling your robot vacuum cleaner!? Think of the fun you'd have freaking out the cat.

I could use this thing to make my wife look like Mila Kunis while we are banging?!

Here is one possible use of oculus rift :D

http://digg.com/video/using-oculus-rift-to-swap-your-gender

The last one was by far the most practical and useful.

I see a world with everyone wearing Oculus Rift contact lenses or implants. We'll all be waving our arms about interfacing with virtual windows, apps and objects that don't actually exist in reality. Everyone will see what you are doing and using because all Rifts will be linked via network.

The catch is, if you take off the contacts or implants, you will be living in a world of people waving their limbs about and staring at - nothing.

Yay!

So what you're telling me is that this will have the same problem with Kinect in terms of gaming? It will have very fancy technology and many potential uses....but not for gaming. Is that it?

It'll probably be a long time before the gaming audience can really sink their teeth into this. Ask the WiiU, the Kinect, the PS Move, or the PS Vita....you can have good hardware, but if you don't have games that use that hardware and use it well, you will still fall short of your expectations.

I think the walking on Mars thing is useless cuz it's just like walking in a desert -- nothing to see. But allowing virtual trips to other cities or tourist attractions, for example, would be great. The last one is also very cool. I'd love to be able to replace everybody around me with hot, virtual blondes! ;-)

Since I got the developers kit there's not been one day where I haven't used it, I just can't bring myself to play games any other way, Oculus is the closest thing to being in the game, it's a lot of fun when you're drunk as well :)

Great stuff! I'm convinced is the types of applications like these that will make AR/VR integral to our society. I'm currently working on an application which places the user in a tailor made environments within a MMO scenario with the intent that the environment will mitigate the types of psychological conditions mentioned in this video while promoting creativity and triggering the imagination. I'm currently working to adapt this platform to control a cell containing 5 6 axis robotic arms through virtual reality as yet another way for the physical and virtual to interact. The project is on Kickstarter so please stop by, check it out, and please leave feedback!

Thanks!

Non-Gaming Kinect & Oculus = Win.

A LOT of gimmicky, unintuitive, clunky VR was made and tried since the late 80's, and probably even earlier. It was especially common to see it in the 90's.

The OR is nothing like any of that. It's relatively small, ergonomic and light, it's intuitive, and measures movement almost completely 1:1. The developers are making big breakthroughs in display technology to make the picture seem as natural and comfortable to our eyes as possible.

This thing is nothing like the VirtualBoy, or any of the "VR" to come before it.

I'm going to figure out a way to attach my OR to my ATH-AD900's. So comfortable I will never, ever have to take it off.

Those were pretty cool, and that last one in particular seems really amazing. I wish I had the chance to make something like that. The funds, the time, the lab, the people, the knowhow...sounds nice right now.

So now we know that the kinect, the oculus rift, and the omni treadmill could work together as I have wanted for some time. Is there a harptic feedback glove that we could also work in?

1:36 - guy reacts to robot trying to grab his junk.

Fantastic episode. I thought the virtual car was cool until "wearing a virtual Oculus Rift whilst wearing an Oculus Rift" popped up. I wonder if there's an amount of money I wouldn't be prepared to spend to have the Oculus Rift in my life... ?

i want to learn to cook without blowing my kitchen

should i get oculus or get a wife?

i only have money for one

We could watch movies with this, wow. Occulus Rift is going to be quite a revolution.

Btw., check out my new blog about technologies - http://indigostech.blogspot.com/

Wow the last one is pretty sweet.

Augmented reality is within my reach! I just have to wear this brick on my face! Surprisingly tempting...

The last one is the best realy cool!

The last one looked really cool.

Is that a Kinect?

What a good start for OR. Im pretty sure OR will deliver what most are looking for in the future.

@randalmcdaniel8 But you wouldn't feel it. And that is what sad about it.

For me the last one was the best one. I can't wait to try this piece of tech!!!