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The cable
Video is sent to the Oculus Rift via
HDMI, with an optional DVI
adapter for laptops and newer
graphics cards. It also includes
USB, which carries data and
power to the device, and lets your
computer know what this bizarre
gizmo is. This 10-foot cable is just
the right length to provide a
consistently good signal without
any degradation, while remaining
The headset
All this feeds into the headset,
which connects to your head via
vertical and horizontal straps, with
the uppermost strap including the
HDMI and USB cable. Further
customisation is achieved with two
pairs of lenses, which magnify the
screen so it fills your field of view.
Oculus includes a tall set, for those
with normal vision and moderate
nearsightedness, and a shorter set
for very nearsighted users.
The components
Within the headset sits a single
custom motherboard, which includes
an ARM processor and control chips
for the LEDs. But the most insane bit
here is the Adjacent Reality Tracker
which was developed independently
of the Oculus Rift, but has since
become a key component. This
features a magnetometer, a
gyroscope and an accelerometer, all
of which combine to accurately track
the rift across all three dimensions of
three-dimensionality.
The screen
In Oculus Rift Development Kit 2
the screen was essentially an entire
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 phablet
with the smartphone bits removed,
but with the completely useless
touchscreen and logo intact. Its
1920 x 1080 HD resolution delivers
a 960 x 1080 display to each eye; its
refresh rate of 60 Hz keeps things
smooth, and a 100-degree
horizontal field of view means
theres not too much black space
around the edge of the display.
The audio
As mentioned in the intro, Oculus gave the headset a
massive boost in January 2015 at CES when it announced
that an upcoming Oculus Audio SDK would allow the use of
Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF) tech, combined
with the Rifts head tracking to create a sense of true 3D
audio spatialisation. This will allow Rift developers to
immerse users "sonically in a virtual world, surrounded by
realistic sounds in all directions."