10 amusing Oculus Rift freakouts (pictures)

Editor's note: We had originally planned to run this gallery on Saturday, June 1, but found out the day before that Andrew Scott Reisse, a co-founder of Oculus VR, had just been killed in an accident. We are running it now as a tribute to the product Reisse helped create, and we offer our condolences to the family, friends, and co-workers mourning his loss.

The Oculus Rift stands as one of the hottest products to hit the gaming scene in recent memory, as the head-mounted display offers a truly immersive 3D experience due to the added benefit of head-tracking.

The device made a killing on Kickstarter and quickly went into limited production for interested gamers and developers, which led to an outpouring of viral videos that show regular people having some very amusing reactions to the Oculus experience. We've rounded up 10 amusing clips of people having their first Oculus experience, and as you'll see, nothing can prepare the wearer what's about to happen.

YouTube user Ibarakiprefecture provided this funny video of his co-worker nearly wiping out a roller coaster demo for the Oculus Rift. Ibarakiprefecture notes in the video description, "He probably should've sat down." We agree.

In this 6-second clip, Vine user Eddie Lee shows his associate Miho getting a squeak-worthy surprise with the Oculus Rift.

YouTuber Ibarakiprefecture again subjects one of his co-workers to the Oculus Rift, and the results are downright hilarious as the wearer nearly stumbles backward. Thank goodness someone was there to catch him.

Spanish Web site Realovirtual shocked a few friends into an enhanced Oculus Rift experience with the addition of a ButtKicker 2 device, which sends vibrations to the chair as the action occurs. Hold on to your butts!

John Rollingson gave his mom a thrilling surprise with the roller coaster demo for the Oculus Rift and one of her sons had to hold on to her for dear life. "I get a kick out of her reaction every time I watch. I love how at the beginning the person is usually calm and straight-faced and then hysterical by the end," Rollingson said.

YouTube user Zacman85 gave his buddy Sal a chance to play an Oculus Rift-optimized version of Half Life 2. This video isn’t as quite as chaotic as the others in this gallery, but there are certainly a few chuckle-worthy moments as the realness of the experience sets in for Sal.

Paul Rivot's 90-year-old grandmother checked out the Tuscany demo for Oculus Rift, and the video ended up going viral and netting more than 1.7 million views on YouTube. In a Reddit Ask Me Anything session, Rivot's grandma answered dozens of questions about the experience, proclaiming, "Now that I've seen this and done this I wish I could live to be 110 at least!"

Once again, YouTuber Ibarakiprefecture sends one of his co-workers into virtual reality, and the experience seems way too real for the wearer. As he walks down the stairs in virtual Tuscany, he nearly topples backward.

Hugh, a game developer for Natural Selection 2, checks out the Oculus Rift for the first time. There's something funny and charming as this longtime gamer is born again into the unique 3D experience offered by the Rift.

Created over the course of two days at Denmark's Exile Game Jam, the Disunion app takes an Oculus Rift wearer to the setting of an 18th century execution, complete with masked executioner and curious crowd. While the player awaits his beheading, he can look around at the stage and blade above him. After the blade drops, the person wearing the Oculus Rift sees the last few seconds of life as his dismembered head rolls into the basket below. Disunion creators Erkki Trummal, Andre Berlemont, and Morten Brunbjerg provided a full download of Disunion for Rift owners interested in virtually chopping off friends' heads.