Crystal Cove
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| Crystal Cove | |
|---|---|
| |
| Basic Info | |
| VR/AR | Virtual reality |
| Type | Head-mounted display |
| Subtype | PC VR |
| Developer | Oculus VR |
| Manufacturer | Oculus VR |
| Announcement Date | 7 January 2014 (shown at CES 2014) |
| Display | |
| Display | OLED with low persistence (Oculus: "modified OLED display") |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 (960 x 1080 per eye), as reported by press |
| Tracking | |
| Tracking | 6DoF; outside-in optical tracking with an external camera and infrared LEDs on the headset |
Crystal Cove is a prototype VR headset made by Oculus and publicized in early 2014.[1] It is the precursor to the Oculus Rift DK2.
Oculus unveiled Crystal Cove on 7 January 2014 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas as a new prototype of the Oculus Rift.[1][2] It was the first Rift with positional tracking of the user's head, done with an external camera and infrared markers on the headset, and it paired this with a low-persistence OLED display that showed each frame only briefly to cut motion blur and judder.[3][2] Both features were later carried into the Oculus Rift Development Kit 2.[4] Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe described it to Wired as "just a feature prototype", not representative of the final consumer design.[2]
Crystal Cove was never sold. Its features reached developers in the Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 (DK2), which Oculus announced on 19 March 2014 for US$350.[4] At CES 2014, the prototype won the official Best of CES award, which Engadget curated as a partner of the Consumer Electronics Association, taking both the Best Emerging Technology category and the overall "Best of the Best" title.[5][6]
Announcement and development
Oculus had released its first developer kit, the Oculus Rift DK1, in 2013. According to The Verge, that kit sold for US$300, used an LCD screen and could track only the orientation of the head, not its position.[7][1][8] In December 2013 Luckey told The Verge that Oculus would show a new prototype at CES with full positional tracking and greatly reduced motion blur, although the company later said it would not confirm which features would be ready for the show. Oculus had already demonstrated new hardware to the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, which had just invested in the company, and had invited selected game developers to try it. Palmer Luckey said at the time that without positional tracking Oculus was "basically faking head translation", which only worked if the user sat still and moved only their neck.[7]
Wired and Polygon both published interviews with Oculus executives about the prototype on 7 January 2014, and The Verge credited them as its sources.[1] Wired wrote that the new prototype brought a new demo from Epic Games, a new AMOLED screen, low persistence and, for the first time on a Rift, positional tracking, and that it reduced latency to around 30 milliseconds, against the sub-20 millisecond figure that Oculus considered its target.[2] Oculus declined to name the display supplier or give the panel's specifications. Wired reported that even the display was still subject to change; Iribe said of the eventual screen, "It's at least going to be 1080p", while Luckey told Polygon that the low-persistence mode was "not something that any OLED panel can do".[2][9] Luckey also told The Verge that display makers had become more willing to work with Oculus on panels that were not repurposed phone and tablet parts.[8]
Iribe said the positional tracking system had "been a year in the works" and that Oculus had tried several approaches before settling on this one.[2] Polygon reported that the tracking system would be included in the cost of the hardware rather than sold separately; Nate Mitchell, Oculus's vice president of product, called it "a low-cost solution without sacrificing any quality".[9] The Verge described the unit it tried as a "delicate, hand-built prototype".[8]
Valve's involvement
Valve contributed to the work behind Crystal Cove. Oculus thanked Valve for "their collaboration and support in developing the tech behind Crystal Cove",[3] and in December 2013 Iribe told The Verge that Valve had contributed some of the key elements that made the new prototype comfortable.[7] Reporting on Michael Abrash's talk at Valve's Steam Dev Days conference in January 2014, Engadget wrote that Valve had provided support for the prototype, which Abrash called a step in the right direction while saying it still fell short of full presence.[10] In a guest account for Road to VR, a developer from Owlchemy Labs who tried Valve's own prototype at the event wrote that, as far as he knew, the display hardware had been co-developed by Oculus and Valve, after Valve's research concluded that low-persistence screens were the better solution for head-mounted displays.[11]
Design and hardware
Display and low persistence
Earlier Rift prototypes used LCD screens.[1] Crystal Cove switched to an OLED panel; Oculus described it as a "modified OLED display" running at a high refresh rate, with each pixel lit for only a fraction of each frame.[3] Mitchell summarised the technique to Polygon as "Basically, they blink", and Oculus said the panel "switches in well under a millisecond".[9] Luckey described the method: "what we're doing is we're taking the image and flashing it on when it's correct, and only keeping that on for a fraction of a millisecond and then turning it off and then going black until the next pulse."[9][1] Oculus wrote that low persistence gave "the most comfortable and natural experience yet by eliminating motion blur and judder, which also increases the visual stability of the scene."[3]
Luckey called low persistence "probably the most important thing we're showing".[9] In a Road to VR interview after the show, Luckey and Mitchell said the effect had turned out to be a bigger improvement than they expected and would be an important part of VR from then on. They told Road to VR that they had "eliminated pixel switching time" with the panel and that the effect could not be achieved with off-the-shelf parts, requiring custom work across the hardware.[12] Iribe described the blur of earlier prototypes as "the wrong image being stuck to your face" and said that with low persistence users could keep reading text while moving their head.[2]
Oculus did not publish the resolution. Press reports described a 1080p display; Microsoft's Windows Experience Blog noted that a 1920 x 1080 panel split between two eyes gives 960 x 1080 pixels per eye, twice the pixel count per eye of the original development kit's 1280 x 800 (640 x 800 per eye) screen.[5][13] The Verge wrote that the screen door effect was reduced from a "coarse screen door" on the original kit to "a fine, mostly transparent mesh".[8]
Positional tracking
Crystal Cove added six-degrees-of-freedom tracking. Oculus called the system "optically-based": an external camera tracked LEDs on the headset to work out its position in physical space.[3] The Verge reported more than two dozen infrared markers spread across the headset, and Wired described it as an "outside-in" system adding forward and backward, left and right, and up and down movement to the Rift's existing orientation tracking.[1][2] Before this, Wired noted, developers and early adopters could only get positional tracking on the Rift by attaching a Razer Hydra motion controller to the headset.[2] On the prototype the markers were visible as white dots on the outside of the headset.[14][4]
Oculus presented positional tracking as a way to reduce motion sickness, because the view now matched the user's leaning and crouching movements.[1][8] EVE: Valkyrie developer Ian Shiels pointed out to The Verge that the effect is properly called simulation sickness.[8]
Reported specifications
The table compares what was reported for Crystal Cove with the development kits before and after it. Crystal Cove values are press reports of a prototype, not official specifications.
| Item | Oculus Rift DK1 | Crystal Cove (prototype) | Oculus Rift DK2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shown or announced | Sold to developers from 2013[7] | Shown at CES, 7 January 2014[1] | Announced 19 March 2014[4] |
| Display | LCD[1] | OLED with low persistence[3] | OLED with low persistence[4] |
| Resolution per eye | 640 x 800[13] | 960 x 1080 (1080p panel)[13] | 960 x 1080[4] |
| Tracking | Orientation only[8] | Orientation plus camera-based positional tracking[3] | Orientation plus camera-based positional tracking[4] |
| Latency | Around 30 ms (Wired)[2] | ||
| Price | US$300[7] | Not sold | US$350[4] |
CES demos
Oculus brought two demos tuned for the prototype: "UE4 Strategy VR", a tower-defense game built on Unreal Engine 4, and EVE: Valkyrie.[3] Wired reported that the tower-defense demo was made by Epic Games and set in the world of Epic's "Elemental" demo, with the player seated in a stone cave facing a horned lava creature while playing a top-down tower-defense game; Polygon described the game board as resting on a table between the player and the character.[2][9] TechCrunch wrote that leaning in let a player "see the details of the individual figures", and leaning back showed the whole battlefield.[15] In EVE: Valkyrie, a space combat game from CCP Games, NBC News reported that players could lean forward to inspect cockpit readouts and follow passing enemy ships.[16]
Reception
Oculus said Crystal Cove won more than ten awards at CES 2014, including best in show from Engadget, The Verge and Wired.[3] Engadget's award write-up said the prototype eliminated "the stomach-churning motion blur that has plagued previous generations of VR headsets" and called the 1080p OLED display "amazingly sharp and bright".[5]
Hands-on reports focused on the reduced blur. The Verge's Adi Robertson wrote that motion blur was "virtually invisible compared to the original" and, after trying the prototype with low persistence on and off, estimated that the feature accounted for "the last 10 to 20 percent of the improvements"; she added that the image still did not match a decent monitor.[8] New Atlas wrote that where fast head movements on the earlier Rift had produced a "feathery, melted butter effect", the view now stayed "sharp and clear".[17] Anthony Ha of TechCrunch said the prototype felt "much, much more immersive and real" than the version he tried at CES 2013, though he noted that better demo graphics also played a part.[15]
Oculus gave no release date or price for a consumer Rift at the show. Mitchell told Engadget only that "2014 is going to be a big year for VR".[5] Oculus told New Atlas that it liked the US$200-400 range for the consumer product, that the Rift would connect to a gaming PC over USB and HDMI, and that a wireless version would not be part of the initial retail version.[17] In their Road to VR interview, Luckey and Mitchell said a second development kit would come and would match the consumer version's features as closely as possible, but gave no timing and did not commit to a 2014 consumer launch.[12]
Legacy
The Oculus Rift Development Kit 2, announced at the Game Developers Conference on 19 March 2014, included Crystal Cove's positional tracking and low-persistence display. Road to VR listed changes from the prototype: the infrared LEDs were hidden behind an IR-transparent housing, a custom camera would ship with the kit, and a single detachable cable replaced the earlier control box. The DK2 offered 960 x 1080 pixels per eye, refresh rates of 75, 72 and 60 Hz and persistence settings of 2 ms, 3 ms or full.[4] TechCrunch reported in July 2014 that Oculus had just over 45,000 DK2 pre-orders and expected the first units to arrive around the week of 14 July.[18]
The next feature prototype, Crescent Bay, appeared at Oculus Connect on 20 September 2014 with 360-degree head tracking, a larger tracking volume and integrated audio.[19] TechCrunch described Crescent Bay as a "feature prototype" in the same sense as the pre-DK2 Crystal Cove, rather than a developer kit.[19]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Sean Hollister (2014-01-07). "Oculus reveals Crystal Cove prototype virtual reality headset with intriguing OLED display". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2014/1/7/5284918/oculus-rift-crystal-cove. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Peter Rubin (2014-01-07). "The First Look at the New Oculus VR Prototype". Wired. https://www.wired.com/2014/01/oculus-rift/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Oculus VR (2014-01-24). "Crystal Cove Debut, CES Recap, and Steam Dev Days". Oculus Blog. Meta. https://www.meta.com/blog/crystal-cove-debut-ces-recap-and-steam-dev-days/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Ben Lang (2014-03-19). "GDC 2014: Oculus Rift Developer Kit 2 (DK2) Pre-orders Start Today for $350, Ships in July". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/oculus-rift-developer-kit-2-dk2-pre-order-release-date-specs-gdc-2014/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Marc Perton (2014-01-09). "The Oculus Rift 'Crystal Cove' prototype is 2014's Best of CES winner". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2014-01-09-the-oculus-rift-crystal-cove-prototype-is-2014s-best-of-c.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Sarah Silbert (2014-01-09). "Presenting our Best of CES 2014 Awards winners". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2014-01-09-best-of-ces-2014-awards-winners.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Sean Hollister (2013-12-13). "Flush with cash, Oculus plans ambitious new VR headset". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2013/12/13/5207906/flush-with-cash-oculus-plans-ambitious-new-vr-headset. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Adi Robertson (2014-01-07). "Plugging into Crystal Cove, the new high-resolution, position-tracking Oculus Rift". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2014/1/7/5285776/hands-on-with-crystal-cove-the-new-oculus-rift-prototype. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Ben Kuchera (2014-01-07). "Oculus unveils new Rift prototype with positional tracking and mysterious OLED display". Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/2014/1/7/5284258/oculus-unveils-rift-prototype-with-positional-tracking-and-mysterious. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Ben Gilbert (2014-01-18). "Valve: The future of Virtual Reality is just one year away". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2014-01-18-valve-vr-steam-dev-days.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Paul James (2014-01-30). "30 Minutes Inside Valve's Prototype Virtual Reality Headset: Owlchemy Labs Share Their Steam Dev Days Experience". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/hands-valves-virtual-reality-hmd-owlchemy-labs-share-steam-dev-days-experiences/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Ben Lang (2014-01-10). "Palmer Luckey and Nate Mitchell Interview: Low Persistence 'Fundamentally Changes the Oculus Rift Experience' [video"]. Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/ces-2014-oculus-rift-crystal-cove-prototype-palmer-luckey-nate-mitchell-low-persistence-positional-tracking-interview-video/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Gavin Gear (2014-01-21). "CES2014: Oculus VR Crystal Cove In-Depth and Hands-On". Windows Experience Blog. Microsoft. https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2014/01/21/ces2014-oculus-vr-crystal-cove-in-depth-and-hands-on/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Stuart Miles (2014-01-08). "Hands-on: Oculus VR Crystal Cove prototype". Pocket-lint. https://www.pocket-lint.com/ar-vr/news/oculus/126412-hands-on-oculus-vr-crystal-cove-prototype/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Anthony Ha (2014-01-09). "Oculus VR's New 'Crystal Cove' Prototype Is Kind Of Amazing". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2014/01/09/oculus-vr-crystal-cove/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Devin Coldewey (2014-01-08). "New Oculus VR 'Crystal Cove' prototype headset blows the original away". NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/new-oculus-vr-crystal-cove-prototype-headset-blows-original-away-flna2d11883524. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Will Shanklin (2014-01-09). "Hands-on: Oculus Rift "Crystal Cove" prototype". New Atlas. https://newatlas.com/oculus-rift-hands-on-2014/30396/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Greg Kumparak (2014-07-01). "With 45,000 Pre-Orders, The New Oculus Rift Will Start Arriving Around July 14th". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2014/07/01/oculus-rift-dk2-shipping-date/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Josh Constine (2014-09-20). "Oculus Reveals Its New 'Crescent Bay' Prototype With 360-Degree Head Tracking And Headphones". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2014/09/20/oculus-connect-announcements/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.