A virtual reality display worn on your head, Rift is one of the front runners in the race for this arresting new mode of gaming. After its preliminary unveiling at the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in June 2012, the company turned to Kickstarter to fund further development. It hit its target of $US250,000 in four hours and passed $US1 million in 36 hours. By the end of the campaign, Rift was sitting pretty with almost $US2.5 million in the coffers. It was clear the public were extremely excited by the prospect of virtual reality.

But why all the fuss? Virtual reality, or VR, has been tried before to a resounding shrug from the public. The thing that is instantly obvious when you take Rift for a spin is just how immersive it is. The term immersive is bandied around a lot in the gaming industry, but this is the first time it's ever been so appropriate. Putting Rift on will take you from wherever you are sitting and put you into a game world.

Though the prototype is somewhat utilitarian, the final product aims to be as unintrusive as possible. "We have some really slick designs for the final version," says Oculus vice-president of product Nate Mitchell, buzzing with the enthusiasm of a man in his dream job. "We're aiming for ski goggles … it's not like you put it on and you don't want to move your head because of this heavy helmet."

The 110-degree field of view – the largest of any VR device – means your brain doesn't register what you're seeing as a screen.

"The Rift is actually the same 3D that you perceive in real life," says Mitchell. "When you're inside the Rift, your eyes are converging on the screen but they're perceiving that they see something really far away." This goes a long way to making the objects you see feel tangible.

Playing Unreal Engine 4, the appeal of the device is immediately obvious. As you tilt your head back, your character looks to the sky and you can see snowflakes falling on your face with glorious fidelity. Looking down, you have no feet, which is strange at first, but you can walk to a ledge and actually peer down a vast chasm. Vertigo sufferers may want to avoid skydiving simulators.

While the device currently works in tandem with a handheld controller, more intuitive options are on the drawing board. "We don't think a keyboard or a controller is the best input for virtual gaming," says Mitchell. "What you want is to reach down and see your batman gloves or lightsaber, so we're constantly investigating human-computer interaction."

One of Oculus' smartest business decisions was their desire for community input. A Rift development kit is fairly easy to acquire and surprising applications are already popping up. One example sees users sitting alone in a cinema. As the light from the screen dynamically bounces on the empty seats around you, your brain really thinks you are alone in a cinema. This surprising side application was created by a fan in the community but represents a huge swathe of fascinating options for non-traditional VR experiences.

But one of the most obvious problems with these devices is some users find it hard to reconcile what their brain is telling them they're seeing, and feel ill or uncomfortable as a result.

Most noticeable in fast-paced gaming, this "simulated sickness" is the opposite of motion sickness. With motion sickness, there is motion but you don't perceive it; with simulated sickness, there's no motion but you are perceiving it. "If you're sprinting 40 miles an hour as the scout in Team Fortress 2 doing backwards double jumps, you're like 'whoa, what the hell is happening to my body?'" says Mitchell. "It's something that we're going to be working with developers on for a long time. Some people will always find VR too intense but you do acclimate over time, like a sailor getting their sea legs."

Despite how far the technology has come, it is still relatively early days for Rift and the virtual reality industry.

"This is day zero for us. This is VR games' infancy," says Mitchell, adding that quality and content will continue to improve over the next 10 to 15 years, just as regular games have done before it.

An official release date has yet to be confirmed, but the first commercial version of Rift is expected to go on sale as early as the middle of this year.

"It's an incredibly exciting time to be a gamer," says Mitchell. "Imagine you're playing Fallout 3 and you look down at your Pipboy (an arm mounted menu system) and can actually interact with it. That's the dream. That's the holy grail. That's the Matrix."