360-degree VR head tracking 3D glasses virtual reality box

Lets get an elephant out of the room. The audio integration is a HUGE step towards the Consumer Version since you are now not only immersed in games (or movies) through a visual aspect but your virtual world is now much cooler due to the 3D audio.

The 3D VR audio is developed by the guys from VisiSonics which is like a 7.1 surround system that the novaday headphones are using, but more interesting. It can be best described through an example of going to a 3D cinema where the sounds can be heard are all over the place. You hear a splash behind you, and the character in the movie turns around.

Only this time it is better.

As it is with the  Rift head-mounted display, the 3D sound is going to follow your head wherever you turn. You may here the sound coming from behind, from the top, below you, and the audio sound location is going to be extremely precise in terms of where your little head is located. All of this will be mathematically calculated so your ears hear the right information. This technology has been out before, and is arguably easy to make, but has not been so useful to implement before the virtual reality era.

Comfort of the Crescent Bay Has Been Increased Greatly.

Still, the comfort level has been greatly increased by changing the design of the strap that goes around your head. Now the strap itself is rigid, and it has a plastic LED trackings behind your back (it is what actually makes the 360 tracking possible) so it feels like you are putting on a sky goggles. Hot only is the strap itself changed, but the weight of the prototype has been considerably lowered, so your head will not be tired from wearing it around your head for hours on end.

It is the latest prototype headset on the path to the consumer version of the Rift. Crescent Bay features new display technology, 360° head tracking, expanded positional tracking volume, dramatically improved weight and ergonomics, and high-quality integrated audio.

The demo is designed to demonstrate the power of presence and give you a glimpse into the level of VR experience you can expect to see come to life in gaming, film, and beyond.

This is still incredibly early hardware.  There are plenty of technical challenges left to solve for the consumer Rift, but Crescent Bay is truly the best virtual reality headset we’ve ever built.

Unreal Engine 4 & VR
Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) continues to be one of the best engines for virtual reality development. Epic has dedicated huge resources to optimizing UE4 for the Rift and making it incredibly easy to build awe-inspiring VR experiences.