There are a lot of negative things to talk about today in the world of tech and gaming but they can wait for whilst you just wasted time reading this , or whilst you are reading this ( yes we PC owners multi task... no really not like the faux app switching in iOS ) you should and could be downloading the Beta for Crysis 3 ... time for some PC gaming time ... just fire up Origin and hit the get started button .. see you out there or not .. cloak engaged.... or maybe not .. as the open Beta requires a DirectX 11 capable GPU...
This is Crysis 3 at 5120 by 1600, this the res I typically play PC games at, happily upgrading hardware along with the rest of PC gaming kind .. the next move was to add two more or four more 30 inch screens ... until some semblance of sanity was returned to me ...
The problem with ultra high res PC gaming is those monitors not only cost , they require power , space and that you be chained to your gaming rig. At a point where I was about to create a wall of 30 inch 2560 by 1600 screens ..thereby negating the need for central heating in my house or ever leaving it .. the consumer hmd revolution started.. with the HMZT series for me which was quickly replaced with the smd ST1080 and Cinemizer OLED hmds .. These have kept me busy over the last year , especially since the arrival of the Cinemizer OLED headtracker and LEAP Motion prototypes..
I have till now purposefully been testing hmds on igpus like the Intel HD3000 , to show among other things that you do not need quad gpus or Nvidia or ATI gaming gpus to use hmds , game in 3D or add headtracking, voice recog, LEAP Motion VR leaning controls to your game..But I also want to explore how the difference in 720p 3D to 1080p 3D changes HMD gaming ..
Today we are going to be using the smd ST1080 and the Zeiss Cinemizer OLED to game with headtracking at true 1080p res in 3D . Both these hmds are next gen, they produce a perfectly flat screen of 100 and 40 inches respectively . Both weigh in at around the 180g mark WITH the headtracker attached and are thus the only hmds you can actually game on ..anywhere ..use or develop for now..take off and put on with one hand ..... So let us do so with one of the most gpu and cpu optimised games out there and also one of the coolest engines .. Crysis 3 and Cryengine 3
With the ST1080 and Cinemizer OLED hmds we can game with VR leaning control and do this at 1080p in 3D with... a gaming GPU ...my ageing HD5970 Black Edition and 5 year old gaming machine , consisting of a Skulltrail Mobo , 4gb RAM and a QX9775 CPU ... This should mean anyone out there on average hardware should be able to reproduce what I am about to show you even without resorting to going through a major upgrade ...
With the smd ST1080 and Cinemizer OLED we achieve this in different ways. And each has different strengths. Frankly I do not see any negatives to being able to play Crysis 3 on 180g hmds with 100 inch or 40 inch screens powered by a usb cable .. if you are reading comments to the contrary by industry or AV blog luminaries ask them how much time they have on these devices and what they have actually tried to do with them ... and ask yourself if they have a rival product to plug .. I am also going to control the game using VR leaning controls .. namely the Carl Zeiss Cinemizer OLED headtracker and LEAP Motion .. to show ...again that you can have lag free and latency perception free multiple VR leaning controls in your game now ..whether you are a developer or a gamer ...
Attaching the Cinemizer OLED headtracker to the smd ST1080 .. I had my crack team of engineers come up with this contraption to enable me to use the Zeiss headtracker , I thought of Kickstartering the design for my headtracker splint but I am simply not that evil and John Carmack was unavailable to hype my design, you can of course build your own ..using a bbq skewer (wooden) and some surgical tape .. kind of like how I could build my own VR goggles with a LCD screen/phone, optical lenses and a empty box of cornflakes (what people used before 3D Printers) ... Attaching the Cinemizer OLED headtracker to the Cinemizer OLED hmd is of course elementary ..
Once you play a FPS game with headtracking , you expect every FPS to move it's fov with your head movements and you are loathe to go back to knuckle dragging a mouse ... Let me be clear , there is no drift , or latency issue when using the Zeiss headtracker that you as a gamer can perceive in any existing game at this point , across consoles and PCs . It is the light weight and excellent ergonomics of the smd ST1080 and Cinemizer OLED that make hmd gaming with VR leaning controls like headtracking a reality and elevate these consumer devices beyond rival diy VR goggle dev kits ... the road to VR being a long and arduous one.. All the following pictures and video are from an actual game session around 5 hours , across both hmds , for those interested in such things I had to drop the difficulty from Super Soldier to Veteran ( criminal I know ) in order to be able to show how I can aim using the Zeiss headtracker as there is no screen cursor using the Super Soldier setting... I want to see how the experience of hmd with headtracker gaming change with the jump from 1280 by 720 (720p 3D to 1920 by 1080 (1080p) 3D : and compare how a scaling 1080p hmd like the Cinemizer OLED compares to a true native 1080p LCOS hmd like the ST1080.. Crysis 3 played at 1280 by 720 in side by side 3D using the Cinemizer OLED hmd and Cinemizer OLED headtracker
With 720p in game side by side 3D in Crysis 2 and 3 you can see blurring in the HUD text , in game world details are still impressive though ,with every setting at Very High. This is due to to the way the in game 3D is generated and not the res of the hmds being used.
and here is the play session using the Cinemizer OLED hmd and headtracker , all fov movement and targeting is through use of the headtracker alone :
The Cinemizer OLED does great with Crysis 3 maxed out at 720p side by side using the native in game 3D options . Remember when you play it is OLED colours and refresh rates that you are seeking to exploit as much as the 3D .. And my old 5970 has no problem pumping out this amount of detail 720p 3D on PC is different to consoles in that we can max out every detail even in Crysis 3 , exploit Direct X11 features ...that are not possible on consoles. Crytek famously listened to PC fans,ensuring this iteration of Crysis would take full advantage of PC GPU and CPU supremacy...
Both the smd ST1080 and Cinemizer OLED can use the in game side by side 3D option without the need for any additional driver Playing with headtracking is awesome to say the least , on the Cinemizer OLED you have a more comfortable ride with OLED benefits and clear 3D separation ,depth of field effects . The dark really is the dark , using the ST1080 you have a larger screen or fov and clearer hud text ..but Using the Cinemizer OLED or ST1080 like this is an excellent way to play, but we are not fully exploiting either the power of the hmds or the PC ...
Crysis 3 played at 1080p side by side 3D on the smd ST1080 HMD with Cinemizer OLED headtracking
The smd ST1080 is technically the most powerful consumer hmd in terms of raw res and it looks like it will remain so until smd release the 4K version . It is also the first hmd that I owned that had a clear flat screen , with text legible from one side of it's hundred inch screen to the other . Each of it's two LCOS screens has true native 1080p resolution . What this is means is not only can we can throw Crysis 3 at it in side by side 3D using the in game settings we can actually read every word of text on the Windows 8 desktop before hand to launch the game,write this blog post on it for instance . With a gaming PC we can run everything at Very High (which is Crytek for insanely detailed) and see every pixel of that detail without any warping or scaling .. When you fill the ST1080s 1080ps worth of pixels that is when it literally shines ..
Another strength of the ST1080 .. is that it has the widest support of 3D formats of any hmd in existence at this point Frame Packed/ Side by Side /Top Bottom at a myriad of screen resolutions and frequencies . For Crysis 3 this means we can jump straight in using the in game 3D option for side by side 3D at 1080p with every thing set to Very High..
Needless to say 100 inches of 3D ghost free true 1080p res Crysis 3 at very high settings is impressive , what really takes you there though is the fact that you are controlling the field of view with the Zeiss headtracker without thinking about it , you already tend to look around a screen when you play a game , with the Zeiss headtracker you are also moving the fov when you do this . Here is a 2D capture with written commentary of playing Crysis 3 at 1080p with very high settings and using the Cinemizer OLED headtracker for fov movement and aiming .. 2D let's me comment in writing "in video" to show you how the headtracker changes the way you play ..
You can see the Zeiss headtracker is so easy to use, not fussy at all or prone to tantrums , so easy going that even strapping it in a rudimentary fashion like this to a completely different hmd let's you game with ease. Oh and setup? Just connect it to a USB port and leave it still for 5 seconds . The Cinemizer OLED headtracker is a beautifully engineered piece of kit , weighing a few grams , easy to set up and instantly compatible with every game you own on PC and with a little work on your part all your PS3 and Xbox 360 games too.. As you can see there is nothing stopping you gaming with it using the ST1080 exploiting the true 1080p res of the hmd and the full power of your gaming rig.. true 1080p 3D is great , but how about using the most comfortable hmd in existence , the Carl Zeiss Cinemizer OLED ..
Crysis 3 1080p 3D played with Cinemizer OLED headtracking
With the Cinemizer OLED we have two options for 3D gaming at 1080p res. 1. Frame Packed 1080p and 2. over under 1080p .. using the hmds 3D settings you will see the Line by Line and Top Bottom options available to you .. Crysis 3 however in game 3D settings do not have over under or Frame Packed options that are compatible with the Cinemizer OLED .. Why bother with 1080p 3D at all when side by side 720p is available? With Crysis 2 and 3 , in game side by side 720p 3D on consoles and PC blurs HUD text , at 1080p that text becomes clear , crystal and what is interesting is this holds true for the Cinemizer OLED with it's lower native res as well as the true 1080p res ST1080 . The Cinemizer OLED hmd of course is going give you additional benefits , some of which may not be obvious and you won't find commented on in tech reviews.. Foremost of these is the fact that you really don't feel it when you wear it , it is THE most comfortable HMD with the finest optics to date.
Frame Packed 1080p with OLED is vastly superior to side by side 720p , the same is true for the few Xbox 360 games that allow this .. Halo AE ... and PS3 games too... However we want speed too so over under/top bottom is going to be more desirable for some.. to achieve this either your game has those options , or since I have Tridef as an AMD user we can use that to give us 1080p 3D
Option 1. Using the Crysis 2 profile from Tridef will let you run with the Frame Packed Option ... the problem with this is it comes a high cost in CPU and GPU power . The AMD HD3D driver is latched onto by the Tridef software .. which gives us Direct X 11 framepacked 3D which looks great but is impossible to film : FRAPS just captures it as 2D : So you will have to take my word for how impressive it is on the Cinemizer OLED hmd .. in 3D but this does give me an opportunity to comment in the video . Black is insanely black with OLED displays , for FPS gaming you cannot wish for better colours and refresh rates .
Option 2 : Tridef over under / top bottom is far better , we want to play the game maxed out and have Tridef do minimal work, I also want to be able to capture the raw 3D gameplay with FRAPs ...to show how headtracking works with Crysis 3.. From Tridef go to the options settings , set the display to standard , underneath select the option for top bottom . Then add Crysis 3 to your Tridef app box . Use generic settings, or select a profile for a game that uses top bottom 3D and now you will have 1080p 3D over under Crysis 3 that has minimal impact on performance , so if you are not packing quad gpus , or even if you are you can keep your max FPS intact and still game in Crysis 3 in 3D at 1080p like so : Note the sandbox nature of Crysis 3 is an excellent medium to use to demonstrate hi def 3D gaming with headtracking and hmds and this is several hours into playing
People will scoff at the lower res of the Cinemizer OLED .. in practice .. go try one .. you will not see the difference between a game at 1080p on the Cinemizer OLED and other higher spec devices ..really it is the most impressive aspect of the hmd . What you gain is that OLED refresh rate , that is essential for FPS and fast PC gaming .And on PC you can tweak aliasing and other details too if you need to adjust the image produced. If you want to work on a 1080 p res desktop then the ST1080 cannot be bettered at this point and I would not use the Cinemizer OLED for that kind of work ..however .. Resolution on hmds in a game or video does not work the way it does on your desktop display , pixel size , screen ratio, optics ,or lack of optical distortion , the quality of lenses or prisms used to magnify and enhance the images all come into play .. For long term use though , whether you prefer wearing a device due to it's comfort trumps all , you are more likely to use a comfortable device with lower specs for hours or minutes of gaming over a high spec device that is less comfortable . We are not going to be sitting still watching hi res 3D movies or staring at static pictures , I intend to be moving my head around as much as I would in a real world game of Crysis ... with the Cinemzer OLED hmd and headtracker ..it is effortless
Effect of higher and lower resolutions on Cinemizer OLED headtracker function There is none , the headtracker works just as well at extreme resolutions ( beyond 2560 by 1600 ..like my 5120 by 1600 desktop) as it does in 1080p 3D and 720p 3D .. most significantly it does not require any extra CPU or GPU power or additional code. This is the advantage of using a solution that can invoke both mouse and dof axes ... your game works right now , if you want to take time and optimize dof axes code you can ... gamers your audience ..like me are still figuring out how best to use headtracking in games ...games that we want to play ...all the games we own now across all the gaming devices we own now... In the next part to this test I am going to be adding LEAP Motion into the mix ... oh and it runs fine at 5120 by 1600 too .... check it out here :
You can find the rest of my VR ,HMD , Cinemizer OLED and ST1080 coverage here
UPDATE :!
Zeiss Cinemizer OLED + headtracker is available now for purchase , so now you can get in on the fun of playing PC , Console games just like me in 3D with lag free headtracking or develop with the sdk.. and see for yourselves the awesomeness of the a headtracker and OLED hmd combo that just works .. and works now ...these are going to sell out faster than light people ..hurry ..
For VR gaming to enter into being YOU have to become the controller:nothing in your hands but your hands, nothing controlling the game but you : so how do we step into the game ..or should I say how do you step into a game you want to play ..right now..?
And so I continue to experiment with VR leaning control in Crysis 3 at the extreme resolution of 5120 by 1600. In this play session I have discarded keyboards, mice, joypads only playing with VR leaning control. I have two control inputs working independently and doing different duties..Using the Zeiss headtracker for FOV and LEAP motion mapped in game actions using a laptop,Cronus and Bullseye that is connected to my gaming rig.
Put your hmd of choice on,awesome, you are connected to your display and sound like never before. Then you realize, you cannot see your controller anymore ....
HMDS like the Cinemizer OLED and smd ST1080 will let you look down to a keyboard or let you figure out where you dropped your joypad.. and pick it up to get back into gaming .. but the act of doing so, even looking down to get a bearing on the WSAD keys or a Function key on a traditional keyboard starts to degrade the whole VR leaning gaming experience. And you yearn for more natural control .. and no I do not mean Krazy Kinect or Wild Wild Wii gestures .. The thing is ..we are already there .. almost...
Most video game input is based on abstract translation of real movements, which of course shatters the illusion you are in a VR world .. Pulling off a PPK or Hadouken combo on a joypad that you see translated into 3D on your hmd is not the same as throwing those punches, or moving your hands and arms in the classic Hadouken Ryu or Ken pose and unleashing the move literally translating your real world movements into real VR in game movements.
Similarly waving wands and motion controllers ,again that you physically have to hold causes further disconnect ..so you want to touch that grass in Crysis 3.. please push your motion controller in direction x or y... is not as cool as just raise your hand and do it ... and wait till you get tangled in those wires ...or batteries conk out ... The difference with hmd or VR leaning gaming is that you will expect to be able to do that, coming up with any number of points or VR control hooks as I like to call them as you play.
This is a work (play?) in progress to look for solutions, so I am not quite there yet , but all the pieces are there for us to put together . In 2013 there is no reason why you cannot game just the like the kid from GAMER .....so let's make a Prophet our finger puppet:
I found using the LEAP the best solution for moving forward was either the thumb pinch, or mapping a downward finger movement to a backward or down mouse movement to a Bullseye left analogue stick "up" action. With Dangermouse and Bullseye this works excellently. And I found using a wired 360 pad to boot the Crounus led to smooth movement , setting the dead zone to a rectangle also helped. Now when I move my finger to the right Prophet moves smoothly.. As the Zeiss Headtracker is connected directly to my gaming machine , the head tracking now works independently .. Crysis 3 sees two separate distinct controllers . The headtracker controlling your FOV and the LEAP used to control ingame movement.
It will be very interesting to measure any difference between direct use of the LEAP with the gaming rig I am using and this Cronus bridge method. Theoretically I am using an i7 laptop to solely process VR input, that input is then taking control of my gaming rig . The immediate benefit is I can do something very simply that many LEAP devs are working on in code , i.e. replacing WSAD and joypads in FPS games It also takes seconds to remap mouse and LEAP actions with Bullseye ..no coding required. So if you prefer to move with the Zeiss headtracker ..say by nodding forward or looking left to move left .. connect the headtracker to the Cronus laptop map it in seconds to move forward when you mouse down or up and in seconds you have forward motion control using the headtracker. Connect the LEAP to the gaming rig directly , use Dangermouse and you have FOV control , and firing (if you want to live dangerously) with LEAP finger control .. and use both together ...
Either way both VR leaning input mechanisms work in tandem , at extreme resolutions without slow down. I am looking forward to attempting to find solutions to offload the latency in the Rift . Note the headtracker is how they say wickedly sensitive, wearing it gives you silky smooth motion, holding it, it's like it picks up every tremor and pulse in your hand .. In game you can hold aim steady or focus on a blade of grass ( yes I have too much time ) . It snaps on under a pair of shades quite easily .. and I often use it without the Cinemizer OLED hmd altogether
The following video shows how I can move an FOV of 5120 by 1600 in Crysis 3 , wearing the Cinemizer OLED headtracker, head bobbing is left on as I want to see how the headtracker copes with it :
Note how I am able to use the headtracker to use the visor to highlight enemies. All this takes minimum effort. you literally look for them through the blades of tall grass, as opposed to using a legacy method with a joypad or mouse drag ...discarding an abstract legacy controller movement that simply feels like it allows you get further in a game .. that you almost complete with muscle memory ... Using the Cinemizer OLED headtracker on the other hand makes you feel you are there mimicking real world actions that you would do as Prophet ..in this case peering through tall grass,letting you if not step into the game at least look into the game world.. this is VR leaning control ..
I will continue to add VR control layers and try different LEAP solutions,until I can complete this level and this game without resorting to non VR control keyboards ,mice or joypads ...on the portable Cinemizer OLED and SMD ST1080 displays in ghost free OLED and LCOS panel 3D. I have much more coming up since rejigging my now ancient gaming rig and with the arrival of next gen motion control like the Zeiss headtracker and LEAP ,with portable OLED and LCOS hmds that can handle 1080p resolutions, everything is coming together to change the way we game, oh and as you can see it does not need to be locked to one device, or to your gaming rig or to one hmd ..or one VR leaning controller option and this evolution in how we can game is not some distant hypothetical prospect or prophesy, or something being semi demoed on prototype hardware in a lab on borrowed hardware.. it's right here ...right now...
Playing Crysis 3 the other day in 1080p OLED 3D with headtracking also gave me the chance to test out LEAP Motion control on my gaming PC that was powering it.This is my first mess with Crysis 3 using LEAP control , as usual I am also looking for VR control hooks ..
At some point hopefully in the not too distant future and for Virtual Reality's sake not off the back of another kickstarter project (10000 voices sigh in concert), someone is going to create an ultra high res VR device. The best res I can currently manage is 5120 by 1600 by way of my desktop..
Once that is solved , the issue of how we interface with that world comes into play. VR fanatics always harp on about latency being a barrier, which they have so far failed to solve as the hardware has not arrived to solve it for them (: so as part of my Crysis 3 test I set out to see how LEAP Motion handles , dual screen and extreme resolutions , firstly just running the basic demos on Windows 8 and secondly in one of the most GPU and CPU intensive games out there . I achieved mouse control via the LEAP using the wonderful Dangermouse. This is one blindingly fast piece of software paired with one blindingly fast piece of hardware the LEAP Motion..
currently in a pre VR gaming world these wonderfully rendered blades of grass are decoration serving no function different to bitmapped 2D foliage in old Doom engine FPS games....
Using a resolution of 5120 by 1600 necessitates a control device with mm like sensitivity and that is what we get . In fact it is way too sensitive as you will see. But the power, the feel and immersion of moving your world , or touching it is second to none. And this is just messing about with the thing..but sometimes this is the best way to learn..
The LEAP brings so many game changing VR control ops:what if we had to brush aside this tall grass with our hands as we walked through? What if I could part it with one hand and aim through the gap with my right gun holding hand or headtracker?
Displays, portable, displays with ultra high resolutions will come, we are already at true 1080p with the smd ST1080, the next step is 4K and I mean 1 inch panels , powered by a usb even kinetic energy perhaps from all that headtracking?
With the LEAP we could draw the bow with accurate hand, palm and finger recognition far more effectively than with old gen motion sensing ..like the wii mote or Kinect
What is significant is we already have a fast enough control device for that VR and hmd revolution in the LEAP Motion even at a developer stage and it can be combined with Zeiss headtracking right now in any game or app. I did not need to tweak screen calibration or, mouse settings . The LEAP picked up the 5120 by 1600 resolution without issue.The Zeiss headtracker is even simpler to use , you plug it into a USB port and give it 5 seconds to lie still and calibrate ..then BOTH are controlling your 5120 by 1600 game OF Crysis 3 ..like so
Breaking the Virtual Reality Multiple Controller Fatigue barrier:
Here we are just controlling the FOV with the LEAP , for this type of game though we have to consider one of THE barriers to gaming in a VR environment... no not latency .. Mr Abrash.. but user fatigue...
VR gaming is going to require multiple forms of input , headtracking and hand tracking are just two. Amongst other issues the current state of this tech , the shear weight of it is going to cause it's own problems as is long term use of the LEAP ..
One of the magic things about the LEAP is it is a totally resistance free method of control , but your hands are also missing the support they usually have resting on a keyboard , mouse or joypad , and you can find yourself holding the controllers ..in this case your hands in steady positions or in constant movement , all the time having to use your strength to support them.
You may think you want to raise your hands and hold a weapon in a game , or control a gun sight that way but in practise raising your arm or hand , or both of them in a fast twitch game is going to cause fatigue.You are going to run around in a MMO or FPS for hours at a time , ask yourself could you do that in real life in the real world? Now transpose that behaviour to you standing in a small space playing your VR game...
We may all become fitter, you know like every one was supposed to with the Wii scale and Kinect ... or in the short and long term, Virtual Reality Multiple Controller fatigue combined with nausea may just be one more insurmountable barrier preventing VR gaming ever reaching mainstream.
Nothing's gonna stop us how ...?
For the purpose of this video I had my arm raised , just to show it was LEAP causing the FOV movement . However when I do game with the LEAP I find my hands are where they would be with a keyboard or joypad . The natural gaming position we are already used to .. I find myself placing the LEAP at a lower level than I am sitting so my hands are resting on my legs , or on the desk . All it takes to move is to use your fingers, at any time you can rest your hands on the desk or your legs and continue to game. The hmds I use like the Cinemizer OLED and smd ST1080 are so light , you do not feel them , the headtracker is a few grams , the small displays create minimal heat so fatigue and discomfort are no problem. It takes little effort to move the ST1080 and Cinemizer OLED hmds ..which makes them perfect for long gaming sessions ...
So as you can see both LEAP Motion and Zeiss headtracking handle extreme resolutions like 5120 by 1600. Playing with VR leaning controls already gives you a glimpse of how in VR versions of our games , gamers are going to expect to be able to interact with a game world , playing this level there is an awesome feeling of touching that grass, you know Ridley Scott style ,even though you are not at this basic level of control , you also expect to be able to manipulate objects like that grass and you expect to be able to draw that bow . For non VR gaming I would ideally set the LEAP as a WSAD + fire button replacement and combine it with the Zeiss headtracker for FOV movement and aiming. But for VR the options endless , you could pick up rocks, throw them to distract guards ( classic Crysis) , part an individual blade of grass , open doors etc all through the power of LEAP ...all without reinventing the games design wheel ..because I am sure you can see all the tools are already there for designers to start thinking outside of the old WSAD mouse control scheme. So people time to bring it...
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is available now for purchase , so now you can get in on the fun of playing PC , Console games just like me in 3D with lag free headtracking or develop with the sdk.. and see for yourselves the awesomeness of the a headtracker and OLED hmd combo that just works .. and works now ...these are going to sell out faster than light people ..hurry ..
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