Virtual reality is here. Well, it's here in the sense that all of the big names in VR have launched or are very close to launching their VR platforms. Whether it's here for good as an established and widely accepted product category remains to be seen. VR is a fascinating way to put you somewhere else through the power of technology, using a headset and motion tracking to let you look around a virtual space as if you are actually there. It's also been a promising technology for decades that's never truly caught on.
That could change with the current wave of VR. Oculus has released the consumer-ready Rift, HTC and Valve have put out the Steam-friendly Vive, Sony has finally launched the PlayStation VR, Samsung continues to incrementally improve its Gear VR, and Google's getting ready to let its Daydream platform emerge like a butterfly from its Cardboard coccoon. There are a lot of promising headsets across a lot of different price and power spectrums. Let's look at what they cover.
The Big Question: Tethered or Mobile
Modern VR headsets fit under one of two categories: Mobile or tethered. Mobile headsets are shells with lenses into which you place your smartphone. The lenses separate the screen into two images for your eyes, turning your smartphone into a VR device. Mobile headsets like the Samsung Gear VR and the upcoming Google Daydream View are inexpensive at $100 or less, and because all of the processing is done on your phone, you don't need to connect any wires to the headset. However, because phones aren't designed specifically for VR, they can't offer the best picture even with special lenses, and they're notably underpowered compared with PC- or game console-based VR.
Tethered headsets like the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR are physically connected to PCs (or in the case of the PS VR, a PlayStation 4$312.00 at Amazon). The cable makes them a bit unwieldy, but putting all of the actual video processing in a box you don't need to directly strap to your face means your VR experience can be a lot more complex. The use of a dedicated display in the headset instead of your smartphone, as well as the use of built-in motion sensors and an external camera tracker, drastically improves both image fidelity and head tracking.
The trade-off, besides the clunky cables, is the price. The least expensive option is the PS VR at $400, and it requires $60 to $160 in additional accessories on top of that to really work. The Oculus Rift is $600, but it only comes with a simple remote and an Xbox One gamepad; the Oculus Touch controllers are another $200 on top of that. And while the HTC Vive is the most comprehensive package, it's also the most expensive at $800. And that's before you address the processing issue; the Rift and the Vive both need pretty powerful PCs to run, while the PS VR requires a PlayStation 4.
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