If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you might remember that back in 2014, I wrote about my husband and I buying the Oculus Rift DevKit 2. Back then, it was the major virtual reality (VR) system that people knew about, and now there are two: the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive.
For those who aren’t familiar with these, they run off of your computer, but the screen is on a headset that you wear. The goal is to make you feel like you’re in the game since the headset is tracked, and as you move, your view moves too. Thus… it’s a virtual reality!
It was a tough decision between the Rift and the Vive, and as the blog title suggests, we went with the HTC Vive. It came in earlier this week!
You’ll notice a few things in the photo: two weird looking controllers, two boxes (base stations), and the Vive headset. The controllers and the base stations are the main reason we went with the Vive over the Rift. The base stations are mounted on a wall or ceiling, and they help the controllers and headset track where they are. This means… you can actually walk around and use your arms! This is something the Rift cannot do at the moment (but plans to later this year). Right now, the Rift only tracks your head movement, and any traveling is done with the joystick on a controller.
With the Vive, you can swing your arms as if you had a weapon or a paint brush, or perhaps the controllers are guns that you shoot and aim with. Well, here, it’s best to see an example. Here is an artist using the Vive and Google Tiltbrush to make 3D artwork.
Here is another video of a game called Space Pirate Trainer, where you get guns to shoot targets and have to dodge their fire too.
It feels so cool to be able to move around and actually use your arms in the games! I know we already have movement tracking in video games, like Wiimotes, Kinect, and Move, but when combined with VR, it really makes a difference. It makes it way more immersive than before. And yes, you look kind of stupid playing it, but… whatever! It’s fun!
(If you’re wondering how people avoid running into things with the Vive on, it’s because you define boundaries during set-up. This boundary will show up in the games that you play, so you know how far you can walk.)
Plus, the Vive has a camera in front of the headset, which the Rift is lacking. This solves the problem of VR games being a bit too immersive. It can be hard to tell what’s going on around you in the real world, so now we can switch to the camera view to take a look.
Though I think the Vive is really cool, it still has a few annoyances. We have to mount the base stations near power outlets and have long wires to plug them in, so this can be troublesome depending on your room. You also have to worry about the wire connected to the headset. While walking around, it’s pretty easy to get tangled in it.
Our VR set-up. We have a game room upstairs.
Other side of the VR set-up.
The Vive headset is really front heavy as well, and after a while, you start to feel it dig into your face. This is actually where the Rift is stronger, as it has a better head band that is more comfortable.
I feel kind of bad switching to the Vive after owning a Rift devkit, but I am glad that there is competition now. It only helps push things further along, and I’m really excited to see where VR will end up later on!
I’m glad that there is competition because honestly, it helps no one to have a monopoly on the market and the consumers can choose which one they like. I still don’t like VR at all, but I’m glad that you and your husband enjoy it <3
Don't feel bad, it is good to have choices.
It’s really interesting to see where VR is going. I watched a video the other day with an Ikea simulator using the Vive and it looked like so much fun.
Tyrone recently bought the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the VR headset to go with it. I think it’s really amazing how you can put on the headset and be transported to another world, but unfortunately for me my motion sickness gets the better of me and I can’t wear the headset for too long.
I’ve seen advertisements for HTC Vive and it looks legit! I thought about getting one until I saw the price tag XD. Maybe next time!
It’s pretty cool how you can create 3D artwork around you. It makes sense to need plenty of space for the Vive. Don’t want to be bumping into things XD.
I’m looking forward to the future when VR in video games exist! Someone from my class created a simple VR with Tamagotchi. Pretty neat stuff!
I’ve not tried any VR yet, but it’s absolutely amazing to me how much they’ve done with it and it will be exciting to see what they do in the future as well!
I never thought about how much space you would need, but that makes sense, haha! It makes me think of the Sims with the little game sets that they play with – I think they were VR? It’s probably entertaining to watch someone else with it on!
I’m really excited about VR in general. I think it will be the next big thing – not just in gaming but in other areas as well – and it will be very interesting to follow the development. I agree it’s only good that there is competition in the field. 🙂
A while ago I tried one of those almost-but-not-quite VR headgears that you use with your phone, I think it was a Samsung Galaxy Gear. That was fun enough, so I can only imagine what real VR where you can walk around and use your arms must be like!
It’s cool that you bought the HTC Vive, I’ve heard it’s pretty amazing. 🙂
I’m super excited for VR! I’m waiting for more games to come out before trying it, but also we live in a small apartment right now so there’s no room for a designated VR area. :’) I’m hoping we can set one up in our house in Vegas! I think it’s great that we can finally get more physical with games. Better than sitting all day!
I tried using a VR in Miraikan in Tokyo and omg it was amazing!! Are you going to develop games for the HTC Vive? Didn’t even know there was competition!
My biggest concern is will it have any problems with our eyesight? My eyes get tired after staring at the screen for a long time. Otherwise, gosh I wanna play a game in VR!
I’ve never heard of this contraption before, so this post educated me! While I was attracted to the idea of VR as a kid, I am not sure if I’d like it now LOL. It’s still a neat concept, and it is something I’d like to try at least once to see how it works :3 I think it’s good that there are competitions now. That way companies and developer can continually make better changes!
I would love to own a VR headset, but I’m very worried about my motion sickness! The base stations sound very interesting, and I feel that would make the gameplay much more immersive that how the Rift currently works. It will be interesting to see how this tech is developed in the future.
Like you said, the more competition there is, the more development will happen as people and companies begin to contest each other. Hopefully, lighter headsets will be a top priority!
This is AMAZING!! WOW! I guess a big improvement they need to make is wireless so that you don’t get tangled up. Although, still the benefits seem so so so fantastic. I hope you are having fun!!
Wow, that sounds so amazing. It would be so much fun to feel more involved in the game. It’s great that you can set boundaries or it would be easy to bump into everything haha.
Congratulations on your new purchase. It sounds like you’re going to have lots of fun.
I’ve heard a lot about Oculus Rift, but haven’t looked into it too much. I find the concept, so cool, also they have the same thing in Sims 3 so I can basically be like my Sims now if I get one. Haha.
That 3D artwork is a pretty cool thing to be able to do!
Ah another cool addition to your game room! 😛 One of my classmates created his thesis project using VR and you can reach out your arms to virtually select a song to play on a real piano. I’d love to see what these can do with games though!