Topic: The VR Experience

[Xessive]

I thought I'd start a thread where we can discuss everything VR. Whether it's simple VR experience like Cardboard and Gear VR or more advanced devices like the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift.

I personally went for the HTC Vive. It should be arriving any day now.

Man was it costly. I know they say "$799" but that doesn't account for tax and shipping, which adds up to $905. Of course that only accounts for land shipping across the US. International Shipping plus customs fees summed up to an additional $260 roughly. So the Vive effectively cost me around $1,165.

At this rate, VR is an expensive hobby and difficult to recommend to anyone other than enthusiasts and early adopters.

I'll give my impressions when I go through the setup and try it out.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[idolminds]

I'll be interested in your impressions. VR is going to be completely out of my reach for a while.

[gpw11]

I thought I'd start a thread where we can discuss everything VR. Whether it's simple VR experience like Cardboard and Gear VR or more advanced devices like the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift.

I personally went for the HTC Vive. It should be arriving any day now.

Man was it costly. I know they say "$799" but that doesn't account for tax and shipping, which adds up to $905. Of course that only accounts for land shipping across the US. International Shipping plus customs fees summed up to an additional $260 roughly. So the Vive effectively cost me around $1,165.

At this rate, VR is an expensive hobby and difficult to recommend to anyone other than enthusiasts and early adopters.

I'll give my impressions when I go through the setup and try it out.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

I was thinking about buying a vibe as well but did the same math you did and decided against it.  I'll be waiting for a while and have a feeling that Sony's version will be my jumping in point but I'd love to hear your Vive impressions

[Xessive]

So far it's VR is wild. It's definitely something you have to experience to be able to judge.

I'll keep my first impressions in a brief "Yay" and Nay" list:

Yay:

• Extremely accurate tracking
• Innovative implementation possibilities
• Shooting like a frickin' pro! Aiming a gun or bow feels unbelievably natural. I was almost surprised that I could close one eye and aim down a gun sight too!
• A lot of fun with the right games
• You can switch between Room-scale VR and seated VR (a la Oculus Rift)

Nay:

• Resolution is less than stellar plus there's a screen-door effect (I was expecting it but I didn't think it would be this visible)
• Set up is kind of a chore, especially with the base stations (lighthouses)
• Headset camera is hit or miss; even the manual states that activating the camera can cause issues with tracking and recommends disabling it
• The game selection is still sparse

I've tried both seated and room-scale VR and I firmly believe that the VR experience is best when you can immerse yourself in it physically. Seated VR is alright for select experiences like a flight-sim or a space-sim but even then the visual fidelity (lower resolution, screen-door effect, etc.) doesn't feel worth it to me.

I've tried Elite: Dangerous(E:D), which I was super psyched to try in VR, and frankly it is better on the screen. Since the control scheme is the same (gamepad or KB+mouse), the VR experience doesn't add much more than being able to control the camera with you head. Text is practically unreadable in E:D using a VR headset unless it's large enough. These could all be flaws on this particular game. I've been reading rumours that EVE: Valkyrie is coming to the Vive so I'll be able to compare when/if that comes around.

Valve's The Lab is an excellent demo of VR goodness. It really showcases how VR can be a lot of fun.

Anyway, I'll dive back into VR and let you know how my opinion develops.