Oculus Half Dome Project: A Revolutionary 140-Degree Fov Varifocal Vr

Oculus had a long and distinctive history of displaying prototypes and development apparatus. In keeping with this trend, Oculus VR, now a part ofFacebookTechnologiesreleased their latest VR headset a prototype called‘Half Dome’. Project Half Dome is a varifocal VR device, with eye-tracking and 140-degree Field of View (FOV) that pushes the boundaries of technology and provides high quality VR manufacturing. In the words of Robert Cavin, Eye Tracking Research Lead at Facebook Reality, “while eye tracking isn’t a new technology, eye tracking in a wide-FOV varifocal VR device is”. The varifocal lenses moves up and down based on what the viewer is focusing on. This improved and fascinating headset project was unveiled atFacebook’s F8 developer annual conference held in last year.

The Half Dome device matches with that of Rift and Rift S VR headsets, and users could confuse it with the original Rift VR. It has the same weight and size as the current Rift. Oculus’ Head of Product Management, Maria Fernandez Guajardo added that the company’s “continued innovation in lenses has allowed Oculus to pack all of this technology and still keep the Rift form-factor.” OculusVRHalf-Dome headsetboasts of higher resolution display, advanced dynamic ranges, enhanced optics and effortless setup. This state-of-the-art technology is the kind of VR investments the company is currently planning, something like an experimental device and still in the development phase. This device is not essentially a substitution of previous headsets.

Capturing the imagination

Half Dome prototype is built with extensive hardware innovations designed to increase visual immersion and comfort for the users. Oculus has totally remodelled the design of the VR headset. The remarkable change in the device is the addition of varifocal lenses to autofocused the VR images separately. This mechanism would let viewers focus on virtual objects at different depths, to appear more realistic to the eye, and making the entire experience more life-like. The varifocal lenses consist of assembly of moving parts which effectively adjusts the displays of the headset based on the wearer’s requirement. For instance, the virtual objects which the viewer is looking at would be the centre of focus, while the corners or background of the objects would be little blurry. In other words, viewers could focus on different objects at different distances through a varifocal mechanism called ‘Half Dome’. This pioneering virtual reality technology could help viewers overcome motion blur issues particularly when trying to observe closer objects.

Natural Interactions

Oculus Half Dome VR headset had wider field of view (FOV) from the original Rift (110-degree). The broader field of view would create the virtual world much more enthralling and immersive. The varifocal mechanism makes the graphics look more natural by actively altering focus to simulate light arriving from distant objects. This mechanism would also facilitate to focus on objects nearer to us. To sum up, it creates the light coming out of the headset to act like light coming out from the real world. This allows our eyes to function more thoroughly as they wouldin the real world.

Another remarkable attribute is the eye-tracking sensors within VR headset i.e., the competency for the headset to recognize exactly which direction your eyes are viewing. This incredible technology could take VR game to the next level. Case in point includes first person shooter game or using this tool to select and place chess pieces. In the words of OculusChief Scientist, Michael Abrash, “new Half Dome prototype with 4k high-resolution display panel will be essential to giving us clearer VR experiences in the future, further eliminating the screen door effect (SDE) seen in current headsets”.

Let us hope that this year’s Oculus Connect Developer Conference would disclose some more informations on project Half Dome. As of now, we would have to wait, and see if project Half Dome become the successor to the Oculus Rift.