Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Dying grandmother takes one last walk outside with Oculus Rift

David Nield
By
dying grandmother takes one last walk outside oculus rift
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Despite attracting a $2 billion buyout by Facebook, the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset remains very much a niche product that’s some way off mass mainstream adoption. We occasionally get glimpses of the device’s huge potential though, such as this one from video game artist Priscilla Firstenberg — she used an Oculus Rift development kit to enable her sick grandmother to take a final tour of the yard outside her home.

Roberta Firstenberg was losing her battle with cancer and lacking the strength to go outdoors when her granddaughter contacted Oculus VR asking for a development kit. Despite a long order backlog, the company provided her with a returned loan unit almost immediately. “I pretty much cried at my desk reading [the email],” Priscilla told The Rift Arcade.

Recommended Videos

Once the Oculus Rift was connected and ready to go, Roberta was able to take a virtual walk around in the outdoors, something she could no longer do physically. Following feedback from YouTube commenters, Priscilla managed to hook up a Google Street View simulator to enable her grandmother to travel even further afield. Four weeks after she first used the Oculus Rift to step outside, Roberta Firstenberg passed away.

Related

“I can’t believe it, I mean you hear about things like that… it’s just like dropping into a mirage, dropping straight down into a bubble of new life. It’s beautiful,” Roberta said after trying out the Oculus Rift for the first time. While the experience wasn’t enough to stop the illness affecting her body, it’s testament to the power of the alternative reality that the Oculus Rift can create that it was able to make some of her final days more enjoyable.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
David Nield
David Nield
Contributor
Dave is a freelance journalist from Manchester in the north-west of England. He's been writing about technology since the…
This crazy monitor does VR without a headset — for a huge price
Dimenco SR display over a blue background.

If you'd like to indulge in some virtual reality (VR) games, but you don't love the bulky feeling of a VR headset, Dimenco has a solution for you -- a 3D monitor that dials up the immersion to a much higher level.

Equipped with a set of tools that help achieve the 3D effect, Dimenco's new product doesn't even require a pair of 3D glasses, let alone a whole VR headset. However, the price is certainly going to be a huge roadblock -- it costs well over $10,000.

Read more
New mini-LED VR headset to ‘take clarity to another level’
The Pimax Crystal VR headset against a black background.

The virtual reality headset wars seem to be heating up with Pimax announcing the Pimax Crystal. This new VR headset marries QLED with mini-LED technology that Pimax says will "take clarity to another level."

Another reason Pimax has to brag about its visual clarity are the lenses that the Crystal uses. Pimax uses glass aspheric lenses instead of plastic lenses that other headsets use. The company says this allows them to improve clarity by increasing transmittance and reducing stray light and aberration.

Read more
Apple’s AR/VR headset gets one step closer to a reality
Apple VR Headset Concept by Antonio De Rosa

Apple's rumored first step into AR and VR has been hush-hush, but a new report indicates that the mixed-reality headset may be getting closer to its grand unveiling.

As reported by Bloomberg, Apple's board got a sneak peek at the company's upcoming mixed-reality headset at a quarterly meeting. This meeting was attended by "eight independent directors" and CEO Tim Cook.

Read more