Demo: Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset

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Virtual Reality technology was all over the CES show floor, and CRN took the opportunity to try out the best-known headset, the Oculus Rift.

The Rift provides a "stereoscopic" 3-D view with 360-degree head tracking. At the Nikon CES booth, software company Nurulize provided attendees with the option to experience what it calls a "Desert Home" atmosphere, complete with sleek, stylish furniture and music.

Rift wearers were directed to focus on a coffee-table book, which opened and exploded into a 3-D replication of the Milky Way galaxy, swirling out toward the seated viewer.

Nurulize's Philip Lunn said the "Desert Home" experience is just one example of the company's developing application, NuReality. Lunn envisions Rift wearers to have the capability to download the NuReality application and transport themselves into virtual realities.

The app, he said, would also provide in-app purchases so that users could customize their surroundings. Those surroundings will not just be limited to home atmospheres.

"We've got a lot of big plans for what you'll be able to do in this environment," he said.

PUBLISHED JAN. 7, 2015