Oculus Rift Development Kit 2

I first used the Oculus Development Kit 2 while I was working at Facebook in 2014. Oculus had set up a couple of computers with development kits that any employee could try. My friend Jonathon Toon took me over to check it out, and on the computer was a Post-it note that said, “PIN: 1234.” We entered the password into the computer and put on the headset. The demo game was Time Rifters.

My first impression was how low-quality the graphics were in the demo experience I was trying. The resolution in that headset was quite poor. You controlled the demo through mouse and keyboard input, like a normal PC game. I remember going up over a hill and suddenly seeing a very large spider above me. Even though the spider had low-poly graphics and was basically not scary at all, its size intimidated me massively in virtual reality.

I thought to myself, “this is it.” That single moment of appreciating scale added a believability to the experience that was otherwise totally unbelievable.

After that, I don’t think I used a VR headset again until the Rift came out, which I purchased on day one.

Many years later, when I was working at Apple, my friend and Safari engineering manager Charles Yang told me he had a gift for me. He gave me an original Development Kit 2 that he was not using and had stored in his basement. I’ve never actually used this kit, but I appreciate having it, as it was fundamental to the story of how virtual reality came back into the world.