CES 2015: Crescent Bay By Oculus VR Reviewed

Virtual Reality Reporter have been following Oculus since the earliest models, from the model they showcased at the VC in the OC event back in May 2013, to the DK 1 and DK 2 models, and finally the Crescent Bay model at this year’s CES.

Oculus VR showed us a lot could be accomplished with 2 billion USD. The enormous two-story booth had people lining up for over an hour to try the Crescent Bay demo, and a separate but shorter line for the Samsung Gear VR demo.

For the Crescent Bay demonstration, I was brought inside a small room with soundproof walls, and was advised to stand on a mat and to try to stay on it during the demo.

After trying out the Crescent Bay demo, I have to say that the Crescent Bay experience was nothing short of stunning, and immediately booked another appointment to try it again. All previous demonstrations you always feel like you were being stationed to a pole, like in Jaunt’s Black Mass demo you are being tied onto a chair, you can look around but you can’t go anywhere.

But for the Crescent Bay demo, I was able to crouch, tilt, walk around as long as long as I am stay on the mat. I feel this is one of the key components to feel completely immersed, being able to move around freely in the virtual world.

The demo shown several interactive virtual reality experiences, and the quality of resolution and latency really blew my mind. The pixel density was much better than the previous DK1 and DK2, as well as the Gear VR.

One demo scene appeared so real that you really feel like you are inches away from falling down from the top of a skyscraper. Although it would be even more immersive if we were able to see our hands, and without any wires and cables.

My favorite one was the final demonstration. You feel like you are inside a cartoon role playing as a futuristic SWAT team member fighting a robotic monster, all this happening with bombs going off around you, bullets flying around, cars flying over your head, and bombs going off in super slow motion.

But I suppose with the acquisition of Nimble VR, and a wireless consumer version, we can expect to have blazing immersive VR experiences by the end of this year from Oculus.