Oculus Deaf

I don’t really see how a VR set would work (successfully enter mainstream) without sound, you know the thing that really brings immersion.

The developer kit and probably the consumer version too use HDMI, that thing used to transfer AudioVisual signals. But no headphones because it makes sense to ship a product meant to immerse you while you hear a baby crying and your friends laughing at your ass.

Also, wouldn’t motion sickness be better controlled if audio and visual outputs were designed together? And what is this “realistic sound” obsession, I see around? It never will be perfect because ears are far more precise than eyes and no headphones will give you a true sense of “realism”. If we need a 20.2 surround sound system to achieve this, no headphones algorithm will I’m afraid. And that’s OK. We can already make us dodge something with a simple 2D pan. It’s all about being believable, not accurately computerized. Am I the only one here…

Audio is always technically optional and that’s tragic because at the same time, it doesn’t require much. That’s why tablets and phones are awesome, sound is standard. Pretty low fi, but standard and that’s good thing.

It’s important to ship a complete experience and to me, the Oculus Rift should ship with headphones and be a premium product that it already is.