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John Carmack's VR head-mounted display Interview (GiantBomb)

f@luS

f@luS

More than a member.
PuppetMaster said:
I was going to buy the Sony HMZ-1. But I tried one at a store and it didn't feel quite right yet. So I was going to wait for the next revision of that tech. But if Carmark's guy really can get that project going and is able to sell kits for ~$500 I'll probably get that instead.
Click to expand...

i tried at store, i wasnt happy at all

i bought, its amazing . Dont see any lag

and with some mods ( separate eyes focus) its really damn impressive
 
D

DieH@rd

Banned
PuppetMaster said:
I was going to buy the Sony HMZ-1. But I tried one at a store and it didn't feel quite right yet. So I was going to wait for the next revision of that tech. But if Carmark's guy really can get that project going and is able to sell kits for ~$500 I'll probably get that instead.
Click to expand...

With Oculus Rift you have cheap display with cheap optics that makes everything you looking into fish-view mess. Doom3 is specially rendered to address this issue, but everything else will be unusable.

I am gonna wait few more years for better hw, and better software support [if this optics became industry standard].
 
Z

Zaptruder

Banned
YES!

This is where you're needed John. Not making rockets or making graphics engines (although you did mighty fine work in the 90s)... but pushing forward the envelope of the most important technology of the 21st century.
 
T

The Dutch Slayer

Member
Any interview with John is just MIND FUCKING BENDING :D

he is so so so so so smart its not even funny :p.
Awesome interview very interesting talk about the tv business also.
 
F

Fantasmo

Member
Holy crap the things he's done and continues to get his hands in are nuts. The man sees retail hackjobs, sees what needs improving, learns the whole damn thing inside out, and makes people do a better job. And if they can't, he will. Software or real life, he's like the ultimate engineer.

This isn't just about latency, it's like he completely researched how the human eye works and translated that into hardware and software and optimized both sides as best as possible with today's capabilities.. practically by himself.. jesus.

And he does this with everything: networking, visuals, visual effects, the whole damn thing.

cubicle47b said:
He needs to stop saying "on there" so goddamn much.
Click to expand...

Carmack can say and do anything he damn well pleases! With a mind like that, something's bound to be different. This is no mere man.
 
E

EVIL

Member
This must suck for all those who have spent millions in VR tech and are developing VR head-mounted setups.

Here comes this programming and engineering genius from the "video game industry" and he hacks up a kit that works ten times better then anything out there as a hobby project.
 
M

MightyHedgehog

Member
EVIL said:
This must suck for all those who have spent millions in VR tech and are developing VR head-mounted setups.

Here comes this programming and engineering genius from the "video game industry" and he hacks up a kit that works ten times better then anything out there as a hobby project.
Click to expand...

Well, he has very deep understanding of the end-user application for the hardware and has been regular about his insistence for high performance and as low latency as possible with his dedication to 60Hz in all of his flagship releases. That's something that hardware engineers seem to be missing a lot of times.

Cool talk, though I doubt we'll see movement on this as quite as fast as he hopes. Would like to see more improvements for curved displays and 3D, personally.
 
Z

zomaha

Member
speedpop said:
"So this had been my little hobby project, but then the BFG edition for Doom 3D, it legitimized my work and I'm like okay this is something that I can integrate in to 3D TV support but the headmount display stuff is.. it makes even this 8 year old game a fundamentally different experience, it really is like nothing you've ever played like that. Ten times more graphics power doesn't give you that level of intensity."
Click to expand...

I agree with this. A functional VR headset would add a layer of immersion that I don't think amazing graphics could deliver.
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
PuppetMaster said:
I was going to buy the Sony HMZ-1. But I tried one at a store and it didn't feel quite right yet. So I was going to wait for the next revision of that tech. But if Carmark's guy really can get that project going and is able to sell kits for ~$500 I'll probably get that instead.
Click to expand...
Well, the HMZ-T1 is more suited towards ALL content. The wider viewing angle of John's setup simply isn't going to work with 99.9% of all content out there. You would need to specifically design your content to handle this setup.

The HMZ-T1 presents what amounts to a 16:9 display in front of your eyes.

What is being shown here is definitely more appealing, but the software isn't ready yet. It's something that could become special with more time dedicated to it.
 
E

ElFly

Member
Not really happy about how Brad moves his head a lot and there's barely a response on where the camera is pointing.

Wow the audio is terrible in this video.

e: what does carmack do about his prescription glasses?
 
A

Alexlf

Member
I just wanted to mention that the HMD itself is actually being designed and built by PalmerTech from the MTBS3D forums, and will be kickstarted over the next few weeks for the mentioned price of $500 or so, so if you want to pick one up keep your eyes open.

EDIT: Here's the website for it: http://oculusvr.com/
 
D

Dan Yo

Banned
cakefoo said:
Then why does he use phrases like, "I believe" when he isn't sure?
Click to expand...
Because despite the rest of the world basically being incompetent children from his perspective, he still tries to be humble and not make us all feel like complete dolts.
 
C

commissar

Member
ElFly said:
Not really happy about how Brad moves his head a lot and there's barely a response on where the camera is pointing.

Wow the audio is terrible in this video.

e: what does carmack do about his prescription glasses?
Click to expand...
Apparently there's enough room for glasses so it works fine.

In another interview he says having 1:1 head tracking and aiming causes issues with the wires and physically moving about, so the demo was set to aim primarily with the controller and 'tweak' with the head.

Hopefully the warp correction is something possible to do with minimal latency in a driver.
Otherwise it would be id games and nothing else.
 
B

BlueTsunami

there is joy in sucking dick
zomaha said:
I agree with this. A functional VR headset would add a layer of immersion that I don't think amazing graphics could deliver.
Click to expand...

This is also how I feel and I hope Carmacks prototype or even Sony's next version coincide with the transition to next gen.
 
H

Hoo-doo

Banned
SuicideUZI said:
My thoughts exactly, I hate when interviewers rush Carmack. The man is a living legend in the gaming industry. Let him take however long he wants and get other people to take care of the scheduled stuff, and then post the full unedited thing for us later
Click to expand...

Believe me. Any part of the interview that got cut short was by Carmack's people, not Giantbomb.
Knowing how much Brad (the interviewer) reveres Carmack, he would have missed the birth of his firstborn just to have him talk more.
 
F

funkystudent

Member
I think we should all be thankful we still have Carmack working in the games industry.


I swear if one day he decided to leave iD and go to Valve we might finally have a group that can solve most of the worlds problems.
 
W

Wray

Member
Once again, Carmack is the man.

I swear, whenever I'm listening to Carmack preach the awesome, I feel like a hamster listening to Hawking talk about string theory.
 
Sentenza

Sentenza

Member
snoopeasystreet said:
I could listen to carmack talking about anything. Hacking a VR sensor with rocket technology is so bad ass.
Click to expand...
No kidding, the man is a genius in the most authentic sense of the term.

We are talking about someone who started rocketry as a hobby, then taught himself aerospace engineering, became the LEADING engineer of his new company won few competitive tenders in that field.

Wikipedia said:
Around 2000, Carmack became interested in rocketry, a hobby of his youth. Reviewing how much money he was spending on customizing Ferraris,[5] he realized he could do significant work in rocketry and aerospace. He began by giving financial support to a few local amateur groups before starting Armadillo Aerospace.[citation needed] He taught himself aerospace engineering and is the lead engineer of the company. Since then he has made steady progress toward his goals of suborbital space flight and eventual orbital vehicles. In October 2008, Armadillo Aerospace competed in a NASA contest known as the Lunar Lander Challenge, winning first place in the Level 1 competition along with $350,000. In September 2009 they completed Level 2 and were awarded $500,000.[6][7][8]
Click to expand...
 
1

1-D_FTW

Member
Punisher said:
I wonder how much overfunded this wil get on kickstarter
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The rare occassion where it really doesn't matter. He's claiming it's going to sell at cost (and considering the spec sheet... it's easy to believe). So all "overfunding" would really mean is he's willing to supply as many kits as people wanted. Hopefully he will. It's a little too early in the process for my tastes, but the more modders that have it, the better it'll eventually become.

Although, like others have stated, I really hope Carmack can write some low level driver that not only makes 3D compatible with any 3D game, but does so without adding latency.
 
K

krameriffic

Member
So I have a physics degree and considerable background in coding and PC hardware, and I absolutely loved listening to him babble about this kind of shit. I watched it with a friend who has none of that, and it was kind of awkward, but still enjoyable for a nerd like me. I'm glad there was someone at E3 this year who would talk about the truly technical aspects of electronic hardware. Someone who was speaking candidly and truthfully and whose every word wasn't preapproved marketing bullshit. E3 should have at least as much of this kind of stuff as Usher and fucking Flo Rida.
 
J

Juice

Member
LOL, I love Carmack. He's so freaking brilliant.

Him treating himself (a multi-millionaire) == buy a $1500 piece of kit and then hack on it

So awesome.
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Juice said:
LOL, I love Carmack. He's so freaking brilliant.

Him treating himself (a multi-millionaire) == buy a $1500 piece of kit and then hack on it

So awesome.
Click to expand...
I particularly love just how excited he is about this stuff.
 
C

charsace

Member
We're lucky that this dude still works in the game industry. I'm jelly that the software creation is so easy for him. :(
 
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