What’s Inside The Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset?

What’s Inside The Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset?


The Oculus Rift might be something out of Demolition Man. Or it might be a Virtual Boy. However, it turns out it’s deeply ambitious, and iFixit has the first look at what’s inside the new VR headset.

To start, the OR — a development sample here — has a single 1280 x 800 resolution LCD (640×800 viewable per eye) with a horizontal field of view over 90 degrees, and vertical over 110. There’s a fair amount of setup before you can jump in and start playing, like choosing which type of cups go over your eyes, and measuring your inter-pupillary distance. The LCD is apparently high quality, and held firmly in place for when you’re turning your head, but keep in mind that OR has been loud about improving the display before it starts shipping to customers.

The motion controls are broken down to a microcontroller, a six-axis motion-tracking controller, and what seems to be a three-axis magnetometer used with the accelerometer to stabilise shifts. The control box — how the OR connects to a computer — has HDMI, DVI, Mini USB and DC-in inputs.

All in all, the Oculus Rift seems like it’s coming along nicely, though we’re interested to see how final versions turn out, especially with the display. Still, it’s encouraging to know that working samples are out there in the world. [iFixit via Engadget]


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