So far, this insider went on, some Linden developers are seeing some pros and cons with the Oculus Rift, especially related to Second Life. It does cause dizziness in some, for one thing, but rendering quality is good, for another. Here's the full breakdown:

Linden Lab is planning to integrate the Oculus Rift VR headset with Second Life, as I reported last week , and staffers just received a dev kit. Some developers like it, an insider told me, "others do not." As for Linden CEO Rod Humble? "I hear that Rod falls in the 'like' category." So now, my source adds, "I expect we'll try to get it working in SL just to see how it looks."

"1 - The lenses that provide the wide field of view on a single LCD screen also magnify the pixels. If you have good eyesight then the RGB sub-pixels are very visible.

"2 - Slow pixel response (time to go from light to dark) causes visual detail to blur when when changing view direction quickly. The blur detracts from the sense of 3D.

"3 - No acceleration detection, only orientation, so you can't strafe your view by moving your head to the side.

"These three problems, combined with apparent motion that does not match what your own proprioceptors are telling you, can cause some people to get nauseous in certain demos. Some people who were dizzy from one demo were not affected by others.

"Another drawback which probably doesn't contribute to disorientation is that the LCD has low contrast range between bright and dark. Not surprising given that you've got a low-cost LCD right in front of your eyes, but nevertheless one aspect that could be improved upon in the future."

That said, this insightful insider had some positives about the Rift to share too:

"A - The latency of the orientation detection is pretty good.

"B - The wide field of view helps immersion.

"C - Lightweight headset.

"D - Correct rendering/distortion for each eye so the sense of 3D was very good."

Final takeaway? "The Oculus indicates what is possible. Future headsets, with high resolution LCD's, accelerometers, and integrated 3D sound, will increase the sense of immersion."

Much thanks to my anonymous insider for the early thoughts. Seems like the question whether Oculus Rift will truly work consistently well enough with Second Life (or for that matter, any virtual reality experience) still remains an open question. More soon, hopefully.

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