Virtual reality is the newest and most talked about step for the future of gaming. The success of the Oculus Rift’s Kickstarter page is bringing the idea of virtual reality to the community’s attention. The latest prototype of the Rift known as ‘Crystal Cove’ has made some fantastic leaps in the technology and has been rewarded for its successful elimination of some previous problems and making the product more crisp and making motion sickness less of a problem for users.

Earlier models of the Oculus Rift are known to have motion blur and some cases of motion sickness. However, this issue was not uncommon within the VR experience. Motion sickness has been a big problem of virtual reality for decades, but now with the Oculus Rift ‘Crystal Cove’ prototype, new progress made has been more notable than any attempt in the past. Not only has the new prototype taken care of the motion blur, but there are new sensors attached along with a camera for more accurate movement.

Demonstrations of Doom 3 for the system have been shown thanks to the CTO John Carmack. The first hands-on experience of the game was deemed a success now that the company has refined its product and continues to improve the device. CES has awarded the ‘Crystal Cove’ prototype best of CES of 2014.

The new display installed is clear and sharp and is beyond the capabilities of the past models and thanks to the tracking sensors, it is not just your head that is in sync with motions, but your body. Movements like leaning forward and backward are registered and don’t cause motion sickness. Reading text while in-game does not cause blur either with the new display. The environment in-game also moves with your movements as well. This creates a fully immersive experience. This model could be considered a game changer for the gaming industry and more is going to be improved and added before the launch next year.

New onboard applications are taking the Rift beyond gaming. NASA for example has made it possible to take a virtual tour of Mars and the Space station. This could increase the market for the Rift and add training models for the military and NASA alike. There have already been such interest suggested according to Engadget.

The Oculus Rift is looking to be an impressive piece of gaming technology that could change the way the community views games and looks at the virtual reality platform. It’s already been praised in the early stages of its development.