More Second Life Oculus Rift

Hamlet Au has an article titled: Oculus Rift Integration Coming to Second Life, Linden Lab Staff Confirm (Both Officially and Unofficially). I think in that article and in a previous article (ref) he makes several good points. And, it does look like Oculus Rift (OR) is coming to Second Life™. But, Hamlet doesn’t combine it with the LEAP Motion controller I think is needed to go with OR.

You are not going to be able to get a retail OR headset until at least 2014.

The video shows the OR with an omni-directional treadmill. That is NOT the kind of control system I am hopping for… but it might be good for me… but… how would that work in Zindra?

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Is 3D Safe for Kids

I was answering a question in the SL Forum about 3D and Second Life. The involved people seemed short on  info about how 3D works for single screens. So, I was looking for a good explanation of the state of the tech. I came across an article at Tech Crunch.

Title: A Guide to 3D Display Technology: Its Principles, Methods, and Dangers

The word ‘dangers’ caught my attention. How can 3D be dangerous? This is a 2010 article. But, it points out the nature of the human visual system and brain and what fooling it with 3D displays does. Something I had never heard of or thought about.

It seems people coming out of long 3D movies are having problems with depth perception. Oh fun! More incompetent drivers on the road.

The real problem pointed out is for young children. We really have no studies or solid data on the effect. But, the points made in the article seems intuitive, which doesn’t make them right. But, it is a serious consideration for those raising young children and exposing them to 3D TV and games.

Apparently this is enough of a problem that Samsung posted this warning on their site:

READ THE FOLLOWING WARNINGS BEFORE YOU OR YOUR CHILD USE THE 3D FUNCTION.

Update: See VR Matrix Disassociation from Real Life.