For those who chose to order the consumer Oculus Rift from amongst the extensive competition and are expecting your head-mounted display (HMD) to be delivered, VRFocus has made the set-up of the virtual reality (VR) hardware simple with a step-by-step demonstration of the process.
Step One: Before getting the Oculus Rift itself set up you must make sure your PC can handle the high demand of performance the VR HMD is going to need. The main thing to check out is whether or not you have the latest edition of your graphics card installed. Oculus VR has released its own recommendations of which graphics cards to use, which as a standard is NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 and 980.
TIP: In order to get the best out of your PC NVIDIA has recently announced more powerful, energy efficient, and generally cheaper graphics cards, the GeForce GTX 1000 Series, so it may be worth waiting to upgrade your PC for VR. Of course there is also AMD to consider who also has its own VR graphics cards, including the LiquidVR SDK for developers.
Step Two: The real first step in getting the Oculus Rift set up on your PC is to run the installation program that can be found on oculus.com/setup. The installation process is said to take 30-60 minutes, will require 1.22 GB of disk space, and internet access is required, so make sure you are connected throughout.
Step Three: Once the installation is complete you will be asked to create your Oculus ID in order for you to sign in. Those with an existing ID do not need to go through this step as they can just synch their accounts to use the HMD.
TIP: As soon as you’re logged in with your ID you can adjust your privacy settings and also set up your payment card for purchases from the Oculus Home application.
Step Four: The setup of the hardware itself comes next. First plug in the USB 3.0 connector and HDMI cable for the Oculus Rift, as well as the USB 3.0 connector for the Oculus Sensor.
Step Five: Now to synchronise the HMD and controllers with your PC. Press the centre button on the Oculus controller, and then install your bundled Xbox One controller. Do this by firstly inserting the supplied AA batteries and inserting the adapter into a spare USB port. Press the Xbox button on the controller for a second, then press the synch button on top of the controller as well as on the adapter. Once the button stops blinking it has successfully connected.
TIP: An extension cable is supplied if the adapter takes up too much space in the back of your PC.
Step Six: You can opt to automatically register your Oculus Rift which is linked with the info of your Oculus ID.
Step Seven: Set up your Oculus Sensor using the installation software by inputting your height, and it giving you a recommendation of where to place the sensor on your desktop.
Step Eight: Calibrate your HMD by picking it up and moving it up and down, as well as side to side, in front of the sensor until the software confirms correct detection.
Step Nine: Adjust the straps in your HMD to make sure there is optimal comfort.
TIP: Oculus VR provides information for those who wear glasses at this stage in the setup.
Step 10: Enjoy!
Watch the video below for a guide on how to go about setting up your Rift, including connecting the HMD to your PC, how to set up the Xbox controller included in the pack, working your way through the installation software, and the all-important calibration of your Rift.
For more videos on HMD set ups and all things VR, stay with VRFocus.
