24 Minutes with Oculus Founder Palmer Luckey on Rift CV1, Touch Controllers, Fresnel Lenses and More

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E3 is over for another year and on this, the final day of the show, we caught up with Oculus founder and inventor of the Rift Palmer Luckey for an interview that covers everything from the Rift CV1’s hybrid Fresnel lenses and ergonomics to Oculus Touch’s capabilities and limitations.

E3 2015 was arguably Oculus‘ most important ever. With the consumer Rift’s design and specs now locked down and ready to show, the company had to demonstrate their readiness to hit their announced launch window early next year. Not to mention the small matter of a brand new VR specific controller announced as Oculus Touch.

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Oculus’ input solution for virtual reality called ‘Touch’

Road to VR’s Ben Lang sat down with Oculus Founder Palmer Luckey for a candid interview which includes some revealing details on the Rift’s Fresnel-style lens design, the company’s relationship with Microsoft, and Oculus Touch gesture and tracking capabilities.

You’ll also find snippets of information regarding Oculus’ global launch strategy and Luckey’s persuasive argument on the topic of so-called ‘input fragmentation’, regarding the negativity surrounding the company’s decision to pack-in an Xbox One wireless controller from launch.

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The Oculus Rift Consumer Edition

Most importantly, we learn the origin of Palmer’s dazzling shirt. Never let it be said we don’t ask the hard questions here at Road to VR.

Finally, we have a bet at Road to VR on how long it’ll take for someone, somewhere to make a new animated Luckey gif from a certain section of this interview. See if you can guess which.

There’s much more to come from our extended visits with Oculus at E3 this year, stay tuned.

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Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.