Second Life developer Linden Lab has been teasing Oculus Rift support for their popular world since way back in April of last year. Today the company has announced that they’re seeking users with Oculus Rift developer kits to participate in a limited beta test.
Second Life is one of the real world’s most popular virtual worlds. Back in June of last year, Linden Lab CEO, Rod Humble, said that the company was working to make Second Life Oculus Rift support a “triple A experience…” Humble as he was, Rod left his position as CEO back in January. The move may have slowed down the game’s transition from virtual world to virtual reality world with Oculus Rift support.
Better late than never! Today Linden Labs announced that “Second Life’s Oculus Rift Integration is Ready for Beta Testers“:
The Oculus Rift offers exciting possibilities for Second Life – the stereoscopic virtual reality headset brings a new level of immersion to our 3D world, making Second Life a more compelling experience than ever before.
Though a consumer version of the headset isn’t available yet, we’ve been working with the development kit to integrate the Oculus Rift with the Second Life Viewer. We now have a Viewer ready for beta testers, and if you have an Oculus Rift headset, we’d love to get your feedback.
If you have the Oculus Rift development hardware and would like to help us with feedback on the Viewer integration, please write to sl_oculus_beta@lindenlab.com to apply for the limited beta.
It’s understandable that Oculus Rift integration would take some time. Second Life’s interface is very complex and based around mouse and menu input.
Though official implementation is likely to be better than third-party support, Second Life users were understandably impatient when it comes to Oculus Rift support for their beloved virtual world. CtrlAltStudio has created a third-party Second Life ‘viewer’ with Oculus Rift support.
Thanks for the tip, Drax!