There’s a lot of confusion surrounding the Oculus Rift’s Room Scale user tracking. Oculus VR itself claims that its virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) is entirely capable of the concept, which has been popularised by its rival, the HTC Vive, but fans are yet to see any such demonstration of these. You’re not likely to see any such showcase before the launch of the Oculus Touch position-tracked controllers, then, but Oculus VR is insisting that it will demo the tech ‘at some point’ in the future.
Head of Worldwide Studios Jason Rubin recently said as much to Polygon. “Some people will really want room scale,” the executive explained. “It’s definitely cool. We have the tech ability to provide room scale. Our tech doesn’t preclude that.
“At some point we’ll demo that.”
So why has Oculus VR been so quiet on this front? According to Rubin, it’s because Room Scale tracking just isn’t viable to the average consumer right now. “We don’t believe that the consumer has the space in general,” he said. “Has the commercial viable space of the 15-by-15 foot square.”
Room Scale tracking refers to allowing a user to stand up and walk around a physical environment, having those movements replicated within the given virtual experience. For it to really work with the Oculus Rift users will need more than one sensor for the HMD. One arrives with the unit itself while another will be bundles with the Oculus Touch controllers when they launch in the second half of this year.
