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Enthusiast Opts For $2200 Laser Eye Surgery To Enhance Oculus Rift Experience
An anonymous reader writes After 30 years of wearing glasses, one man says that the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset has prompted him to get laser eye surgery. With farsightedness and astigmatism, he says, "Never thought much about the laser surgery until the Rift, that's for sure." He has an appointment to get the $2200 surgery on the 13th of this month. "For me it is clear, my eyeglasses are like an obstacle for optimal VR experience," he said. He hopes the surgery will remove his need for glasses, which can be uncomfortable inside of the Rift, if they fit at all, and cause several issues such as scratched lenses and lower field of view. Oculus plans to make the consumer version of the Oculus Rift (aka CV1) more friendly to glasses wearers, "...we have a lot of great ideas for supporting glasses in the consumer version [of the Rift] (especially since a huge portion of the Oculus team wears glasses everyday!)" they noted in their Kickstarter.
so... dude has lived his life with the inconvenience of glasses, and incomplete vision
for a great amount of time. thought about the cost of surgery and said meh....
then one day, not the forests, or the mountains... not the clouds in the sky.
not beautiful women at the beach and not the smile of a newborn....
but virtual reality.
better fix my eyes to get the most out of vr.
Too invasive.
Too much risk of harming the eye.
Better off to go with surgery.
Yes, they can. I have astigmatisms in both eyes and wear contacts with no problems.
While there are some fancy light field displays that might be able to adjust for vision defects in software, those are still years after. However the Oculus Rift has swappable lenses, so it shouldn't be to hard to design some lenses that correct whatever vision defect you might have. The consumer version will probably have some adjustable optics to correct for vision issues, at least thats how the first wave of consumer VR headsets back in 1995 worked.
It's only a good idea for the under 30 crowd and the farsighted. Otherwise you don't get much bang for the buck once presbyopia sets in down the line (which it will).
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
It might as well have said "People that can afford rift can also afford laser surgery."
As someone who had a $3000 laser surgery done recently. I suggest everyone that qualifies (not all conditions can be fixed) and can afford it to get it. It really is the best money I have ever spent in my life.
I am an amateur astronomer, so one could say about me: "Man buys $3000 laser surgery to enhance $2000 telescope experience." Am I a dope because I spent more on my eyes than my telescope? I get a hell of a lot more use out of my eyes than the scope. Every waking moment vs. that once a month it is actually clear and dark out.
It also enhances my exercising experience, my playing hockey experience, my driving experience, and my swimming experience. I think it helps me not get headaches when staring at a computer screen for hours at a time at work. (though that last one is highly subjective, the rest are true)
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust