The googly eyes make the whole video experience.
“For better or worse,” as Cymatic Bruce says, this developer’s decided to put up video diaries of his Oculus Rift virtual reality experimentation. His Rift arrived earlier this month and, ever since, he’s been toying with various Steam titles, everything from Half Life 2 to Team Fortress 2. See Mirror’s Edge in a completely new way; just try not to wince when Faith tumbles to her all-but-inevitable doom.
Bruce had better luck here than with his Portal 2 experience, which left him – and possibly also you, if you watch it – a little woozy. There’s clearly some kinks to be worked out, but this self-described “VR enthusiast sharing his thoughts,” as Bruce puts it, is willing to give it a shot. Though sometimes – as with his Dear Esther experiment – older technology and shifting shadows kinda throw a monkey wrench in the works. Music and sound, in Dear Esther‘s case, more than made up for it. “The horror game element is going to come into play,” Bruce says, “something flickering on the edge of your vision, and combine that with someone whispering in your ear … I would make [that game], and then I wouldn’t play it!”
Bruce’s one man band, Cymatic Software, is something he’s only able to devote spare time to at the moment. “The idea of VR has fascinated me since childhood,” says Bruce, “but unfortunately the tech never really delivered on the promise of movies like Lawnmower Man and Johnny Mnemonic.” Now he has something that might just do the trick, and – Razer Hydra interface and snazzy eyewear at the ready – Bruce is trying out a brave new world.
Source: Cymatic Software
