Oculus VR adds Mac OS X support to new Oculus Rift virtual reality SDK
Facebook-owned virtual reality startup Oculus VR on Tuesday announced the availability of version 0.4.1 of its software development kit, bringing developer support for the popular headgear to Apple's desktop operating system.
Alongside the new SDK come Mac OS X-compatible versions of the Oculus Runtime and Unity Tuscany demo, according to industry blog Road to VR. Oculus says that because they do not ship a display driver for the Mac, the Rift will work in Extend Desktop mode.
There are a few lingering issues with the Mac-focused SDK. Developers will need to manually restart the Mac OVR service after updating firmware, for instance, and Unity apps will experience higher latency on Apple's platform.
The Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset whose development is led by legendary Id Software co-founder John Carmack, has long supported gaming on the Mac. Until now, however, Mac-based developers were unable to compile Rift-compatible apps, forcing them to use Windows instead.
Facebook purchased Oculus earlier this year for $400 million in cash, $1.6 billion in stock, and a $300 million earn-out.
Alongside the new SDK come Mac OS X-compatible versions of the Oculus Runtime and Unity Tuscany demo, according to industry blog Road to VR. Oculus says that because they do not ship a display driver for the Mac, the Rift will work in Extend Desktop mode.
There are a few lingering issues with the Mac-focused SDK. Developers will need to manually restart the Mac OVR service after updating firmware, for instance, and Unity apps will experience higher latency on Apple's platform.
The Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset whose development is led by legendary Id Software co-founder John Carmack, has long supported gaming on the Mac. Until now, however, Mac-based developers were unable to compile Rift-compatible apps, forcing them to use Windows instead.
Facebook purchased Oculus earlier this year for $400 million in cash, $1.6 billion in stock, and a $300 million earn-out.
Comments
So... why not DO that instead?
So... why not DO that instead?
Because that takes time and this is the first step towards delivering a great Mac experience. Their first priorities were to get the custom runtime operating on OS X. After this, we should see additional features and support. They're still only on version 0.4.1 – there's a lot of work yet to be done (1-2 years til v1.0 if rumors are correct).
Ah, so laziness. It exists in the PC version already; why not here?
Oculus Rift has supported Mac for a very long time. I myself have compiled Mac apps for Oculus. Over a year ago.
Certain VERSIONS of the SDK have come to Windows first. 0.4.1 must be one of those cases. But I know I downloaded an official new SDK release--for Mac--in the past couple of months.
"bringing developer support for the popular headgear to Apple's desktop operating system"
That happened last year!
Also, the Rift works on Mac in both extended AND mirrored modes. Not sure what specific situation may be referred to there.
I think a problem lies in forgetting the difference between the standalone SDK--for developers NOT using a game engine--and tools for developers who DO use an engine (like Unreal or Unity). I favor Unity myself.
The Oculus Rift is a dead end for Facebook. In fact, all VR headgear is destined to fulfill a very small market niche. Zuckerberg needs his head examined for wasting corporate funds.
I would have said the inverse. More than half of the teams developing games both for and with compatibility for Oculus pulled all support after the buyout. No one wants to be associated with Facebook.
The Oculus is, in my view, probably the best implementation of the technology to date, and its developmental use showed great promise in all types of games and simulation software. Imagine planning an addition for your house (heck, building a city) and being able to WALK THROUGH IT. Imagine playing a physics-based game set in space and being horrified when your singleship runs out of propellant while still off course. Imagine first person shooters, et. al.
Thing is, Facebook association has destroyed all interest I had in it and destroyed its chance to become a viable form of user interaction.
I don't know about the Facebook curse you speak of, but I think your imagination is alive and well as to the future of VR. I think because it's going to be much more than VR, in fact, because it represents an entirely new form of photographic, cinematic display. In fact the whole world will have to be re-photographed or re-video'd.
Zuckerberg seemed to say something that showed he got this aspect. We shall see.
On this point somewhat, imagine a film done with the Oculus in mind. Rather, designed for it. Not only would you have depth perception (in a manner that is NOT a gimmick, contrary to all 3D films to date), you could MOVE YOUR HEAD AROUND AND LOOK ABOUT SCENES.
It’d require a ton of cameras, huge investment, and sets built in nearly degrees using only natural lighting, and of course it wouldn’t be widespread enough to make money, so it wouldn’t be able to spend much money...
Basically an indie film. But making one as a proof of concept is an interesting thought exercise.
I've heard nothing but doom and gloom for Occulus for months now. I still haven't seen anything to suggest that these claims are correct.
They've made great hires
Great Acquisitions
And despite the backlash from so called "developers", there are still plenty of games incorporating rift support(or planning it).
Whether they want it or not, games will get rift support, thanks to the open source drivers available.
Ah, so laziness. It exists in the PC version already; why not here?
The platform is still in development, maybe we should reserve our criticism till the product actual ships to the general public, i.e. when it's on the shelves at your local computer store.