Oculus Rift Development Kit (DK2) Preview (2024)

Oculus VR has been trying to bring virtual reality to the masses for a few years, but that crucial part where the technology reaches the masses still hasn't happened. The Oculus Rift Development Kit we looked at last year impressed us with its affordability and functionality, but it wasn't ready or intended for consumers. The $350 Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 (DK2)tweaks the original's design and drastically upgrades its display and motion tracking with higher resolution, lower latency, and a separate camera that follows the headset, all for just $50 more than the previous version. It's an impressive upgrade that shows a lot of potential, but we're still at least one generation away from seeing an Oculus Rift that we'd recommend you buy.

Design
The DK2 ($350.00 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) looks sleeker and more streamlined than the original Oculus Rift, with a slightly curved profile that lacks the blocky protrusions of the previous headset that screamed "This is a phablet inside a Tupperware." It's about an inch wider and deeper than the first Rift, at 7.2 by 3.8 by 5 inches (HWD), and weighs a slightly chunkier 14.7 ounces. The DK2 lacks the separate, wired control box of the original Rift, however, so both displays actually weigh the same 1 pound, 2 ounces with all cables and controls included.

Two wiresrun up from the forehead panel of the DK2and meetin a single, cloth-covered, tangle-free cable looped through the elastic straps that secure the display to yourhead. The cable is a solid six feet long and changes at a small in-line box near the end back into a pair of foot-long USB and HDMI cables, which both power the headset and connect it to the computer. The box also has a 3.5mm port for syncing with the included camera, as well as a power adapter port. The power adapter isn't needed for the headset itself, which gets enough electricity from the USB connection. Instead, it powers a USB port hidden (along with another 3.5mm port) behind a rubber door on the headset. It lets the DK2 power accessories, instead of using even more of the connected computer's USB ports.

That design issimpler than the multiple connections to the control box of the previous Rift, with the headset's physical controls shaved down to a single Power button and a single power light to the right of where the cables connect to the display. All you need to do is plug the USB and HDMI connectors in (after installing the required software), and the DK2 is powered and ready to go with its internal motion sensors handling head-tracking. The motion-tracking camera requires an additional USB connection to the computer, and a 3.5mm connection to the in-line connector on the headset cable.

The DK2 comes in a sturdy cardboard carrying case that's a step down from the plastic case included with the original Rift. The case is built well enough to reliably hold the DK2's parts in foam cut-outs. The entire package includes the headset, the motion-tracking camera, a power adapter with several international wall socket heads, a second set of lenses for nearsighted users, an HDMI-to-DVI adapter, and mini USB and 3.5mm cables.

Display and Fit
The motion-tracking camera makes things a little more complicated than the first Oculus Rift, but it's still fairly straightforward.The camera looks just like a normal clip-on webcam, with a stand that can attach to monitors and laptops or screw into a tripod mount. The camera features mini USB and 3.5mm ports that respectively connect the camera to your computer and the headset with the included cables. The USB cable lets the Oculus Rift software on your computer recognize the visual head tracking, and the 3.5mm cable syncs the camera to the headset itself.

Besides the motion-tracking camera, the most notable addition to the DK2 is the 1080p OLED screen. Like the original Rift, the DK2 uses a single display to create a picture, splitting it up with lenses into halves for each eye. The DK2 moves up to 1080p compared withthe first Rift's 720p, offering 960 by 1,080 pixels for each eye. This results in a much sharper picture. The new screen boasts lower persistence than the first Rift's LCD, which reduces motion blur and judder and hopefully will keep users from getting disoriented or sick. The headset also has a built-in latency testing system to reduce display lag to improve the experience even more.

The DK2 fit fairly comfortably on my head, though since the display can't be worn with glasses, I had to use the alternate "B" lenses for nearsightedness. Fortunately, it worked fairly well once I focused the lenses properly through the individual dioper adjustments for each eye, and the 1080p picture in front of me looked crisp.

Because the cable runs over the back of the head, it can drop down over the neck or shoulders and feel slightly awkward. This was particularly notable when sitting in a high-backed chair that pushed the cable against me if I didn't loop it over my shoulder. It's fairly easy to adjust, but this design aspect makes it seem as if the DK2 was meantto be used facing away from the connected computer rather than towards it.

Demos and Content

Demos and Content
Because the DK2 is new hardware and relies on the most recent Oculus Rift SDK, demo software was hard to find during testing. Well-established demos used with the original Oculus Rift simply won't work with the DK2 until the developers recompile each demo with the newest SDK to support the headset. There are a few hacks and tweaks to get older demos to work with the DK2, but they're awkward and kludgy solutions.

Fortunately, a handful of DK2-compatible demos are available, with new ones being released regularly as more and more developers get the new hardware and SDK. I tried the DK2 with a few very simple proof-of-concept demos.

At the time of this writing, the most functional DK2 demos come from Rift Away(Opens in a new window), which has put together four free (donations accepted) rides and mini-games in Unity. Cyber Space and Hell Waltzer are virtual carnival rides, Chilling Space is a spacewalking experience, and Mining Mike is a virtual endless runner.

Cyber Space straps you into a large, vertically spinning ride that rotates your seat up and down as it moves, giving you a full view of the plaza under you as you swing closer to and further from it. Hell Waltzer is a whirling teacups ride positioned around a large rotating skull and surrounded by demonic imagery. In both demos, I could look in any direction and move my head in three-dimensional space, though I had to sit back farther than usual when playing Cyber Space, because the head tracking would otherwise place my vision behind my virtual skull and leave me looking down at a bizarre neck-stump. Cyber Space also has an exhilarating ejection feature that flings the rider into the air at the push of a button.

Chilling Space is a very serene walk in space, driving around debris in Earth's orbit. It also tracked my head movements flawlessly, and let me behold the 3D majesty of (admittedly low-detail, Unity engine-based, virtual) space. The demo lets you shoot asteroids, but it's not really a game in any sense. The closest demo to a full game is Mining Mike, an endless running exercise that uses the keyboard to jump between three tracks on a mine cart and avoid obstacles. It's functional, simple, and fairly entertaining, but the ability to look around in your mine cart is more likely to trip you up compared with looking forward to avoid rocks and other carts. Still, it's a nice enough proof of concept.

Head tracking seems more accurate with the DK2 in my tests, thanks to the addition of the camera following the movement of the headset and augmenting the internal sensors. The demos followed my movements in six axes (pitch, yaw, and roll; and vertical, horizontal, and depth positioning). It's difficult to determine how much precision the camera adds compared withjust the internal sensors, but it appears to be an improvement.

Still Working on VR
The Oculus Rift DK2 improves on the original Oculus Rift in several ways, and at $350 is still one of the most affordable and accessible devicesavailable for experimenting with virtual reality. However, it's still a development kit, and while you don't have to be a developer to use it, there aren't manythings you can do with it that go beyond interesting novelty or tech demo. Because of this, we can't give the Oculus Rift DK2 a formal score. However, it's a nicelystreamlined and well-made step forward from the original Oculus Rift that could someday help bring VR to the masses.