With the HTC Vive’s recent $200 price cut, VR is taking another significant step forward. Whether this is a display of strength or a sign of weakness remains to be seen, but in addition to the already low-priced PlayStation VR and Oculus Rift we do see one thing happening. The attempt of moving virtual reality from an enthusiast market to a majority market. I’ve recently acquired an HTC Vive and would like to tell you what I think, so here’s my hardware inspection…
First Steps
It might be surprising to some but it has actually been more than 4 years now since Oculus released their first Rift Development Kit, the DK1. After an overwhelmingly successful Kickstarter campaign in 2012, Oculus opened up pre-orders the same year, followed by the release of the DK1 one year later. Coming with a somewhat pleasant $300 price tag, its purpose was to give developers a head start, and VR hardcore enthusiasts just a taste of what might come further down the road. The expectations in online communities were sky high, as most of the video gaming press gladly jumped aboard the VR hype train. Unsurprisingly, the overall public reception ended up being mixed. Disillusion settled in.
Looking at the device itself the technical specs of the DK1 were, even by past standards, a bit underwhelming. For the most, part critique focused on the low pixel density and the very apparent screen door effect. A year later, in 2014, the DK2 improved on that, increasing the resolution from 1280×800 to 1920×1080 while also using a OLED display instead of LCD, resulting in a massive increase in visual quality. Furthermore, it also allowed positional tracking for the first time, as the DK1 before was only equipped with a gyroscope and an accelerometer. Following up on that, just a year ago the final consumer version of the Oculus Rift increased the PPI (pixels per inch) once again, resulting in a total resolution of 2160 x 1200, which is more than double the amount of pixels compared to the DK1.
Coincidentally, back in 2016 Oculus wasn’t the only one to release their consumer market VR headset. HTC developed the HTC Vive in co-operation with Valve, with HTC being responsible for the hardware side of things, while Valve developed the OpenVR SDK (software development kit) and the SteamVR environment. A feature which has been very well received by the VR community, is that in contrast to the software developed using the Oculus SDK, Valve’s OpenVR allows its software to be run by both VR headsets. Software developed using Oculus SDK instead only works on an Oculus Rift and not on the HTC Vive, at least officially. Unlike the Rift there was no Development Kit for the Vive. Valve also decided to sell the HTC Vive through Steam, though at this point you are also able to purchase both headsets at your local electronic retail store.
This brings us to today. Currently, both products offer a room-scale experience best described as a kind of holodeck. Both also offer touch controllers, though the Oculus Rift is additionally available as a version which comes with just a regular Xbox controller instead, which results in a lower price. Other than that there’s little to no difference between the Vive and Rift. Even in regards to the visual quality, both headsets deliver the same experience. After all, the HTC Vive adapted Rift’s 2160×1200 OLED display. There is a common consensus at this point that while the Vive is more expensive, it does deliver a better room-scale experience thanks to its tracking hardware. Ultimately though, you can’t go wrong with either of them. Last but not least there’s also the PlayStation VR, formerly known as Project Morpheus. There’s a reason I didn’t mention it before and the reason is that, in my opinion, it exists in kind of a vacuum. Last time I checked there was no word of third-party headsets being able to be used with a PlayStation 4. There’s also currently no room-tracking with the PSVR (though apparently Sony is working on that), and most importantly I found the experience overall lacking compared to PC VR headsets. Then again Sony has nothing to gain or lose with VR, unlike Valve or Oculus who are heavily focusing on VR, with the latter even being bought by facebook a few years ago.
Here are the current prices:
- Playstation VR Launch Bundle $450
- Oculus Rift $420
- Oculus Rift (+Oculus Touch) $500
- HTC Vive $600
The Set-Up
(From this point on onward I’ll talk exclusively talk about the HTC Vive and my personal experience.)
This requires barely any knowledge of computers. The only thing you do really need to know is whether your computer is good enough to run games or software well enough. Bad framerates easily create virtual reality sickness or headaches, and to counter that there’s a list of recommended hardware which you can check. Generally speaking, you don’t need a computer which costs thousands of dollars but you do need one which probably costs around 700 or 800 dollars. Other than that, you also need either a free display port or HDMI port on your graphics card, and a free USB 2.0 port.
Connecting and installing shouldn’t take more than 15 or 20 minutes. The “hardest” part is deciding where, and especially how, to set up your lighthouses. They need to be put in opposite corners of the vr room and in terms of height, a bit above the head. Even though the Vive comes with wall plugs and screws, some people are using tripods instead. What’s best for you comes down to whether you want to go through the hassle of drilling holes. It is also important to keep in mind that those two black boxes need power. Most people don’t have head-level power outlets, so you either have to cope with a black cable running along your wall, or get some white cable ducts. Without these lighthouses room-scale VR won’t work, and even though HTC already announced that they’ll try to reduce the size of future lighthouses, they most likely won’t go anywhere anytime soon.
The last thing to do is to set up the software which doesn’t take more than a few minutes. Once you set the limits of your VR room-scale (which is also relatively easy, you just take one of the controllers and run around your room in a circle), you’re good to go.
The Games
The first game I tried on the Vive was Valve’s The Lab. It includes several minigames and experiences, which very effectively use the room-scale feature and give the user a nice vertical slice of what’s currently possible. Admittedly some of these minigames are a bit of hit and miss, but considering it comes at no cost whatsoever, you can’t go wrong by giving it a try. My personal highlights are Slingshot, Longbow and the Secret Shop. The first two are kind of self-explanatory so I’d much rather talk about the Secret Shop. For Dota 2 fans the name already gives away what this is about. In the original game, the Secret Shop is a store which offers several weapons and items for your hero. Now what happens in that minigame is that you get put into the store, which kind of reminded me of a witch hut, with many things to tinker with. The experience overall was a bit intimidating, but pleasantly so. To me, it’s currently the best example of how VR applications are easily able to create a tense atmosphere. I’d definitely recommend it, even if you’re not much into Dota 2.
Now the next one is a game I could hardly wait to get my hands on. SuperHot VR was one of those titles I already wanted when I played the original game since I could see how thrilling it would be to play it in VR. The game’s tagline “Time only moves when you move” transitions beautifully and I genuinely got goosebumps the first time I truly got the hang of it. I was dual-wielding Uzis, mowing down enemies left and right without even looking, picking up a billiard ball, throwing it against someone who just appeared in front of me; grabbing the double-barrel shotgun he tossed into the air turning around and taking out another guy who tried to sneak up on me; and it just goes on and on and I’ve never had so much playing a first-person shooter. You literally cut bullets in half as they fly towards you, but you can also dodge them by ducking or simply taking a step anywhere else, or you can even use your god damn hands to literally stop bullets like in Matrix. It’s pure fun. Finally, as with SuperHot NotVR, it features tons of replayability, so while the main story is relatively short you should be able to get your money’s worth. So far my most favourite VR game.
The next game I gave a chance was Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, since I absolutely love the show. A lot of people compare this game to Job Simulator and rightfully so. The difference, in this case, is that your boss is practically insane, and the tasks he tells you to do are no less so. Honestly, it’s good fun if you’re a fan of the show. Sadly it’s somewhat short and offers very little replayability. For what it’s worth though, it’s a ton of fun. After all, it really just comes down to whether you like the show and own a VR headset. If you have both, go for it. Before I go on I would also like to mention that game length seems to be a universal problem which you’ll find in many VR games. Of course, this isn’t supposed to be an absolution, but it is something you do should keep in mind when judging VR games.
The last VR game I bought and played is Sairento VR. You’re a ninja. You jump around. You slice up things. You shoot things. It’s not only fun but it’s one hell of an exercise to play. In addition, the devs also seem to be constantly working on it, so that’s a plus. Whereas SuperHot VR is mostly stationary, this game offers very high mobility (since you’re a ninja) which might cause some people to get motion sick. VR sickness is an issue I haven’t mentioned yet cause it is very hard to address. For Sairento it’s comparably easy, if it’s not working out for you, simply refund the game on Steam. For VR I would generally recommend giving it a try either at your friend’s or in a local retail store. I would usually recommend taking statistics about VR sickness with a truckload of salt. What you should know is that it exists and it can turn VR into a no-go for you.
The Future
Further down the road, there are things you might expect and things you might not. As for the things you probably expect, we have higher visual quality, which in return, of course, demands a higher grade (and thus more expensive) hardware. Another thing currently in the works is making the headset wireless, as you currently have a cable running from the headset to your computer. Right now the only way to make the HTC Vive wireless would be pre-ordering the PCAST Wireless Adapter. Considering the hefty price tag I would recommend waiting a bit though, as competitors will definitely follow shortly with their own products. As for the VR headset itself, the prices of the first consumer versions are most likely going to drop over time, as HTC and Oculus release their follow up versions. While it is uncertain how much that is going to affect prices, it may lead to a price drop significant enough that it could make VR attractive for people who normally wouldn’t even consider getting it in the first place.
Things you may not expect might be virtual events. Fox already offers a virtual reality product for sports events, and there’s also a service called Live Nation offering VR concerts. While VR probably won’t replace our traditional monitors in the near future, it can be used for more than just entertainment purposes. Science, healthcare, design, education, and many other aspects of our life can profit from this technology. At this point, the sky’s the limit.
Final Thoughts
I firmly believe that VR is something that won’t go away anytime soon. It won’t be the big revolution that maybe some of us expected, but I do see how it’s theoretically able to change the way we interact with digital media. Permanently. Then there’s also augmented reality (i.e. the Google Glass) and it all leads to this question of how quickly our technology will advance. That’s what’s truely pushing VR, and not only that but that’s also what is ultimately going to decide whether VR will succeed over a long time, or not. Nintendo’s Virtual Boy failed horribly, not only because we didn’t have the technology at the time but also due to many other reasons; such as the bad release timing, the still very-present prejudice of gaming in general, and the very limited area of use. However, all of that is gone now; it’s in the past. In just 20 years we moved from “This isn’t really that fun, can I quit now?” to “Holy shit, I just spent 15 minutes pulling tissues out of a tissue box, then sitting inside of that pile and throwing it around!”. Imagine what could be achieved in the next 20 years.