Hello everyone…
I’ve only been using the Oculus for a short time, to be honest… I had read about the lack of definition in depth and it’s true that it’s a bummer, because they could improve a lot, it’s a downside that the Oculus has and I’m not going to deny it.
Having said the downside… the sensation is totally IMPRESSIVE. I’ve been playing car video games for many years, like most people, and we all know the circuits to the point that we could draw them… well, from the first time I put on the Oculus… all the circuits are different… all of them.
Each curve is different… for example… the series of curves after the back straight of the Catalunya circuit is not how I saw them for years…
Nordcheifle (or something like that) is incredible… it has nothing to do with playing with one or three screens. The sensation of being in the car and on the circuit is total.
I have sometimes found myself trying to push the buttons on the simulator… to that point you think you are there… When it is not well configured I get dizzy… but when it is well configured there is no problem… The competition in Iracing is incredible… having cars so close and at the same time keeping the distance is great… even more so when one is not a phenomenon like me…
I totally recommend it. It is not cheap… because it is not… and you need a good team… but if you want to feel like you are on a world circuit… either you go to VR or you will continue playing…

I’ve tried them in several simulators like LFS, Iracing and AC, and I’ll never forget the first time I drove the LFS Mrt5 in South City. I was skimming the walls and the feeling was incredible.

Well, a couple of weeks after I received the Oculus Rift (OR), I think I can now give my opinion on them.

First of all, I must insist on what I read and heard so much about them before I had them, and which always left me with doubts. You have to try them. Nothing more. If you don’t try them, you won’t really know what it feels like, no matter how much they tell you and how many videos you watch. I have had contact with many people who have them or have tried them. Some were disappointed and others delighted. I think it all depends on how much you tolerate the graphic quality of the OR. Some find it completely insufficient and others don’t. I am among the latter.

It is true that they don’t look all that good. Everything that is close, for me, has a very good quality, and as the objects move away, they blur and suffer the worsening of all the negative effects (lack of resolution, grid effect, aliasing, etc…). If you can bear this negative aspect, you will almost certainly not be disappointed. The only thing that can make you give up is if it affects you negatively in terms of dizziness or headaches or something strange like that, or if you can’t stand certain discomforts that come with using them. I live in Seville and I don’t need to tell you how hot we are here. Without air conditioning it would be practically impossible to use them here, because you would sweat like a pig. With a good temperature, you notice a certain heat in the area, a little sweating, and maybe some itching or pressure in the support areas. These are discomforts that each person must assess if they are able to bear, if they have them. I have not had dizziness, but if I am not rested, due to lack of sleep or work or whatever, then with the OR I suffer a little more than with the screen. But the truth is that in that state of tiredness to which I refer, I don’t feel like driving with a screen either.

So much for the negative. And it’s not that I can now list a hundred positive things, no. Maybe there is only one, but damn, how heavy it is. And it is the much talked about immersion. As I said at the beginning, it cannot be described, or no matter how well you describe it, no one will be able to get an idea, not even an approximate one, without trying them themselves. The first time I put them on, driving a small single-seater, I had a familiar feeling, which was the same as I have felt when I have ridden karts. I will not go on, because as I said, words are superfluous.

I advise anyone who tries them to do so with various games/simulators/applications, to get a more general idea. For example, although I use them mainly with iRacing, I have tried flight simulators, other games and experiences, and perhaps the one that gives me the most graphical deficiency is iRacing. For example, after the last update, Assetto Corsa looks incredible. For me, infinitely better than iR, and that is even though I have configured everything as advised by the great gurus of the subject. And the hardware is the same, meaning that there is the possibility of improving the visual aspect, optimizing the games correctly. However, the day that the hardware evolves and offers better quality, there will be no one who can refuse VR.

Without further ado, I would like to thank everyone who has given their opinions in different media, which have guided me in this decision and especially Carlos for his notebook, his videos and his comments and answers to doubts and questions. Greetings to everyone.

Javier Horta

My experience with the Oculus DK2 headset goes back a little over a year now, mainly in driving simulators and Elite Dangerous.

First of all, I’ll say that I’ve seen three drawbacks:

– The ergonomics aren’t all that great, it’s a bit heavy and the fastenings aren’t optimal (if you don’t hold it tight it moves a bit).
– The resolution falls a bit short when you have to look beyond a few meters.
– The FOV (Field Of View) could be a bit larger since it’s currently equivalent to wearing swimming goggles.

However, despite all this, the immersion more than makes up for it, you enter the virtual world 100% at real scale and you’re not limited by the size of your screens. In the case of driving simulators, it’s impressive to ride around the circuits perceiving every unevenness, no matter how small, especially if they’re laser scanned. I will never forget the first lap of Mount Panorama, or my first corkscrew, although special mention goes to Nordschleife, which is a real feast for the senses (and this circuit has always been very difficult for me). As for Elite Dangerous, I must say that it has me hooked, it is impressive, especially now that you can land on some of the planets.

This year, three headsets are coming out: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation PSVR. The price of the first two is going to be an impediment to the massive adoption of this technology (although their quality is expected to be superior) and it may be Sony who brings virtual reality to many homes. In any case, the future is very promising and in a few years, if the prices of the necessary HMDs and PCs can be reduced, success should be assured.

The experience is incredible, the simulator transmits a sensation that can hardly be found in other entertainment systems.

At all times you feel that you are immersed in the situation:

The steering wheel reacts to your movements and the force feedback perfectly simulates the behavior of the steering in the different situations that arise, as well as counter-steering and any type of irregularity on the road.

The VR system is an experience that is difficult to explain, you are simply within the scene, you move both in rotation and in position within the cabin and the depths and sensation of speed feel real.

We also have to highlight the vibration system that makes you feel everything from the engine when you have just started it, to the kerbs. Any irregular surface will be immediately transmitted to the entire vibration system and makes you feel at all times whether you are on the track or off it.

And last but not least, the configuration of buttons, pedals and levers. All of them configured in such a way that the simulation is as close as possible, 1 to 1, to the experience lived in a real car.

Conclusion, it is a totally different way of experiencing the world of motors, in this case the simulation, from what I did before, together with my controller or some generic steering wheel, 100% recommendable!

With the launch of the first commercial devices for virtual reality, the perspective regarding the realism that we can achieve has increased considerably. Once you combine virtual reality with sim racing, it is very likely that for people looking for maximum immersion, it will be difficult to return to single or multiple screen setups. We lose track of time because of the immersion it offers us, facilitating maneuvers at the limit, braking or simply, the hard fights between several drivers on the track. The car/driver unit becomes one and we no longer have to (in many cases) anticipate the reactions of the car. Immersion helps us feel everything much sooner and therefore, react much more in time and in a super intuitive way. Thanks to visual immersion, stereoscopic view and real scale, we no longer feel that distance or lack of connection so noticeable that was often felt with other conventional screen configurations, since our mind feels that the steering column of the car is several palms away from our hands. All this and many more details make virtual reality the perfect accessory for simulation lovers looking for maximum immersion, or as in our case, for real pilots looking for the same objectives.

First of all I want to thank Mr. Latorre for his kindness and help, the truth is that I went to try the OSW and the OCULUS convinced (due to my short experience in Simracing) that I was not going to notice anything different from my T300 + the three screens, how wrong I was… it is impressive how you notice the weight of the car and when you play a piano how you notice the roughness of it, I have no words and with the Oculus you feel inside the car, I am more of a Dirt Rally person and you see the ravines as if you were there and I was not very into Assetto and after yesterday I am going to be a lot of Assetto because the feeling is of being inside the car 1:1. I can only say I CAN’T BELIEVE IT
Regards

When you put on the Oculus you are no longer in your room at home, you enter a virtual world that makes you feel totally different. You are there, I can’t explain it any other way. And the brain likes that because you get much more involved in the experience.

This CV1 version is already 100% suitable for competing in simulators such as iRacing, Assetto Corsa or Live For Speed. And it is only the beginning, as year after year there will be new models (from Oculus and other brands) that will improve the resolution, grid effect and FOV.

This is a before and after in sim racing.

It is a pleasure for me to be able to comment on some impressions about the Oculus Rift DK2 virtual reality glasses. Last year I decided to get some because I couldn’t resist the long wait promised by the commercial version.

The main use I was going to give to the glasses was to use them in my simulator. At the time I bought them, I still didn’t have my DIY motion simulator ready, so I had some doubts about their use in motion systems because sudden movements would disrupt the tracking and its positioning, so while I was finishing my project I was using them in my static cockpit.

You all know that this system, despite having improved its predecessor model (DK1) thanks to absolute positioning, continues to produce dizziness or anxiety in a percentage of the population. Well, basically I have been part of that percentage that doesn’t tolerate too many sessions with the glasses, so at first after playing for hours I ended up quite dizzy when making different turns in the game and not noticing any movement in my body.

As good news for those of you who have experienced this, I will tell you that these dizzinesses can disappear or be greatly minimized thanks to the improvement of the sensations.

How do I know this? Well, because I currently have a movement system built by me and perfectly optimized, as well as Bodyshakers in my seat.
Once my system was finished, I was able to test and clear up any doubts about whether the glasses were functional when my simulator moved abruptly, and what a surprise!!! The first thing you notice when the simulator moves with the glasses is that it seems like you are inside the car, and despite the movements of my system it seems like nothing is moving, the tracking keeps its shape at all times, and my 2DOF system, when I get close to the steering wheel, I perceive it with the glasses in a very natural way.

I’m serious, for me it’s been a big change to play with the Oculus with movement and vibration, I feel totally connected to the car, you barely go around a few laps and you forget that it’s a simulator and you assume that what you feel is the noise of the engine and that the car is doing exactly what you would expect with respect to what you see.

What seems like magic is undoubtedly possible thanks to the Oculus, I’m tired of watching videos of expensive motion systems with a miserable screen or at best three, a revolution has begun and it seems that the Oculus is here to stay, and we can’t look back.

In my case the change has been revolutionary, feeling like you’re inside the car, taking the curves in a way as natural as if you were in the middle of the track, no more calculating the lines or the fear of risking a few tenths because of looking at a flat screen.

I also recognize its limitations, those of us who have tried it still miss a higher resolution, but the Oculus CV1 are already ready this year and come with better features and important new features. I undoubtedly believe that for Simracers it is very important to take this step since they bring a whole new dimension to the simulation, taking the sensations up a notch, as Carlos Casas says, first a decent cockpit with a seat and steering wheel, then Bodyshakers and if you want more… OCULUS.

I’ve had the Oculus Rift DK2 for over a year. As soon as I tried them I was amazed by the 3D sensation they give you, even on the screen to configure them, where you simply have a desk with some cards. You could look anywhere, up, down, behind… It was a completely new sensation, nothing to do with the 3D on TV or in the cinema.

At first there was practically no software compatible with them (very simple demos, but they left you speechless). As the months went by, simulators began to appear in which they already worked with Oculus (Live for Speed, Richard Burns Rally, iRacing, Assetto Corsa halfway through, …) and that’s when it became clear to me. Monitors were dead as far as simulators are concerned. Of course, we are very far from the resolution that a monitor gives you, but the immersion that it gives you, the feeling of “being inside”, that cannot be given to you by any monitor. Being able to turn your head and see the pilot next to you, the 1:1 scale sensation they achieve, …

I’m looking forward to the Oculus CV1, to get that improvement in resolution, comfort, smoothness and tracking that they promise. But even if they were the same as the DK2, I’ll never go back to monitors.

Well, to start off, I’ll explain that I was a Formula SuperToyota and Formula Renault 2.0 driver. My first feeling when I sat down and put on the Oculus was simply, SPECTACULAR! It took me back to my days as a real driver in a second. The truth is that it’s a feeling that no matter how much I explain it, I don’t think I’ll be able to convey it with words, since I know more about other things. I will say that driving a single-seater is simply the essence of driving, seeing the wheels of the vehicle you’re driving is something sublime, that’s why when I took the Formula 1 and looked from my seat in the car and saw the wheels exactly the same as when I was driving them, not only feeling the piano on the steering wheel, but seeing how the suspensions work, I was amazed. In short, the immersion that the Oculus give, for me is the best, I don’t think I’ll go back to driving in simulation with three screens. I don’t think it makes me feel even a tenth of what I’ve felt with the oculus. Greetings to all.