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market over the last few years such as Epson's Moverio, NEC's Tele Scouter and
the Oculus Rift which can be described using the sensorial form of immersion for
AR since they overlay graphics onto the real world through see-through optics or
by rendering CG over live video to opaque displays. It's important to understand
these devices and the affordances they provide in order to explore what differentiates
them from new platforms that are now forthcoming which are better categorized as
providing social immersion for AR.
While technically the Oculus Rift is a VR HMD, given the fact that there are
other vendors (Ovrvision
2014
) offering camera modification attachments to enable
real-time video overlays within the Rift display, it is worthwhile to compare and
evaluate the Rift as a viable head mounted AR device. The latest version of the
Rift dubbed Crystal Cove incorporates markers on the outside of the Rift along
with an external camera that enables head tracking so that as users move their
heads in the real world the virtual environment responds accordingly. This is a key
feature for designing an AR system since the computer needs to know exactly where
to position virtual objects on top of the live video stream as users move around.
The AR-Rift (AR-Rift
2014
) is also particularly interesting as it enables users to
create virtual desktops within AR to create entirely new ways to work with standard
applications.
As one of the most commercially successful HMD manufacturers, Oculus Rift
raised ten times more than the original $250,000 Kickstarter campaign goal. It is
therefore important to understand how they are focusing their business interests
on the gaming sector as evidenced by hiring several of the most influential game
developers such as Epic's John Carmack and EA's David DeMartini as key company
strategists. This will likely make the device much more powerful and user-friendly
than if it were intended primarily for scientific or military use like so many other VR
headsets. It's then worth considering how game consoles have become increasingly
social as they have become inherently networked. Both the PS4 and Xbox One have
added built-in DVR systems to enable gameplay recording and playback as well
as enabling sharing those videos to social media sites like Facebook. Perhaps even
more importantly, Sony has added broadcast capabilities to the PS4 so that users can
stream their live gameplay (with live picture-in-picture camera view of the player)
to sites like twitch.tv and ustream.tv with the push of a button on the controller.
Some of these home broadcasts reach tens of thousands of viewers and in the first 6
weeks since launch, PS4 users have already broadcast 1.7 million streams generating
more than 55 million minutes while being watched by 22 million sessions (Twitch:
PS4 streaming 2014). These broadcasts are accompanied by chat windows to enable
discussion both within the virtual community as well as with the original player.
It's then very likely that these highly established game consoles will influence the
Rift and so we can consider how these emerging video sharing platforms may be
integrated with a HMD like the Rift.
Google Glass on the other hand is a new device that might be best described
within AR as a heads-up display (HUD) rather than a HMD like the Rift. HUDs were
