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Comment by drcode | Hacker News Reader

One of the current annoyances of the oculus rift is that it requires a cable that restricts freedom of movement... I'd bet dollars to donuts a big part of the Oculus development effort right now is going specifically towards these kinds of "prediction" algos so that a more low-powered PC with a battery can reside in the helmet, which can communicate with a custom low-latency wireless network to a "base station" that holds most of the GPU horsepower.

I think a lot of software innovation is still possible that will allow a VR headset to mask maybe a 50ms delay (smaller than in OP) with advanced algos, allowing you to get photorealistic, real-time graphics through low-power hardware that fits in the headset.

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A few times John Carmack has mentioned that they are working with Android. I think they've given up wireless networks and are simply waiting for the hardware to shrink to the point where you can embed the computer in the Rift.

The new rift literally uses the complete front panel from a Galaxy Note III. Complete with (unused) touch sensors and connectors.

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Oculus+Rift+Development+Kit+...

I was specifically talking about GPU/SoCs on the Rift rather than connecting it to a PC.

> it requires a cable that restricts freedom of movement.

I don't see how this matters at all. If a cable doesn't restrict movement, surely a table, chair, wall, mountain, lake, ocean, cliff will restrict your movement. You can't emulate infinite environments when stuck in the physical world.

I'm actually working on figuring out user experience principles for VR. I have a Google Cardboard-style rig that I use with my Galaxy Note 3.

From my own experience, working with a keyboard at a desk doesn't really work well, for various reasons. For one, it's pretty restricting to the movement, and trying to scale the tracking to compensate so you can view a full 360 degrees in a shorter head-swing is both still limiting because you can't perform multiple rotations, and is still extremely disorienting. For another, having a physical sensation of a fixed object that isn't reflected in the visual display also breaks immersion. Also, if you have you move your hands off of the keyboard at all (like, to adjust the display on your face), it's really hard to find it again.

There is currently no good way to do user input in VR. About the best experience I've had so far was standing up, using a bluetooth gamepad.

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