I am experimenting with virtual reality and I’m thinking of getting an Oculus Rift.
I have an laptop with an AMD A10 processor. The graphics are about the same as Intel HD4600. Will I be able to use the Oculus Rift?
Also, is there any move to standardize the interfaces to these VR headsets, or is that something for 2017?
The A10 should be fine for low/medium resolution and graphics. We’ve gotten our school’s Oculus Rift to run on some pretty shitty computers, and an A10 isn’t that bad.
Edit: As said below, this of course would not be fast, but simply functional on very low graphics setting and at a low framerate.
I believe you really want to go for about 75+ FPS for it to be good.
from their website:
Minimum requirements: A computer running a Windows 7 or higher, Mac OS 10.8 or higher, or Ubuntu 12.04 LTS operating system, 2 USB ports (at least one powered), and a DVI-D or HDMI graphics output.
Recommended specifications: A desktop computer running a dedicated graphics card with DVI-D or HDMI graphics output, with capability of running current generation 3D games at 1080p resolution at 75fps or higher.
I believe at lower then 75 FPS its easier for people to get nausea from the use of it.
from a Reddit Thread, they recommend a minimum of a GTX 770.
The integrated graphics, may be ok for short testing.
I believe Mike has a Occulus rift, I think he integrated it with his game if I remember correctly, may be thinking of someone else, but I think it was him.
I did indeed (although it’s a secret switch seeing as I didn’t finish it yet :)) The second generation Rift can make some really nice looking views. Just set the game you want to run to 1080P and see how low you need to set the graphics to run at 75FPS. If you’re happy with the settings then your computer is strong enough 
I’ve tried the rift with an integrated graphics chip and as long as you’re okay with lowering all settings then you’re good to go.
There is no standard interface and whether or not there will be one will probably depend on the success of Oculus.
Mike
There is also a jME project to integrate with the Rift:
https://code.google.com/p/jmonkeyengine-oculus-rift/
That is the route I will go.
To run current games at 1080p at 75FPS would require a laptop with fans blowing like a hairdryer.
Does the rift allow lower resolutions like 720p, or is it fixed at 1080?
As a prelude to getting an oculus rift, I upgraded my laptop to dual channel RAM - it made quite a difference (although I now have an absurd 16GB of RAM). After the upgrade I had a meaningful bump on my texturing tests, but figures were doubled for the geometry test:
I’d like to add that LWJGL 3 will soon have libOVR bindings (currently WiP). Also, here’s an unfinished guide on how to use GLFW with libOVR to detect an Oculus Rift.
It does support lower resolutions but the resolution is now already a bit on the low side considering the eye<->screen distance so I can’t recommend it as a solution.
Seeing as you probably live nearby (as we used to work in the same building) you’re welcome to come by and check it out if you want to. Just PM me.
Kind regards,
Mike