Discussion: VR Headsets

[TechyInAZ]

Hello Community!

This thread is dedicated solely to the discussion of Virtual Reality Headsets. Feel free to talk about VR headsets or VR in general as much as you wish.

Quick Reminder: Do NOT get involved in a flame war, and remember to keep everything civil.

Thank you!

 

[Titillating]

Well, we just had a bit of a VR Demonstration day here in the office, hosted by our resident VR experts at Tom's Guide. We've got a couple videos of it up, so for those of us who aren't fortunate enough to have a VR kit, it's a nice way to see to see it in action! Check em out!

Gear VR
Google Cardboard
Oculus Rift
HTC Vive

 

[brennon7]

I have the HTC vive. I have to say I can see PIXELS like CRAZY. It's hardly immersive with pixels every fn where. Anyone else noticing this? Oh and the lines on the lenses is that normal?

I have adjusted it less lines...still pixels almost like looking through a screen door. But pretty cool none the less.

 

[Jsimenhoff]

I have the HTC vive. I have to say I can see PIXELS like CRAZY. It's hardly immersive with pixels every fn where. Anyone else noticing this? Oh and the lines on the lenses is that normal?

That's usually the case if the headset is not fitted properly. Luckily we have the perfect tutorial for that very issue. Check it out! Hope it helps.

 

[computers_are_freaky]

Is this thread still alive?
If so, I reckon the best way I can contribute is by telling a story about me trying to bring VR and all it's awesomeness to my classroom (as a student, not a teacher). Anyway, about halfway through January, everyone in my class was tasked to research and present a local landmark that strongly featured romanic architecture. After a quick trip to the wiki to find out what that actually meant, a quick google search gave me a list and I chose a small rural church near me. I paid it a visit and presto, my guide lent me the book that held all the historical information about the church.

Ka-ching!!

No research required, they had done my job for me . That left me with 5 1/2 months to come up with an awesome way to present it. My dad works with AR and VR, and one evening he suggested VR as a cool way to add to my presentation on the church. At first I was skeptical, but when he offered to buy me a google cardboard, well, that sealed the deal. We therefore went back to the church and my dad took a 360° picture, and it came out well imo. I then used my phone in the cardboard with the app and our picture loaded and voila! It was as if I was standing in the middle of the church. Sure, there were a few discrepancies in the picture and my phone's screen is only 1080p, but it still felt immersive. When I took the cardboard and my phone into class on the big day, my teacher's reaction was hillarious. I first I had to explain what VR actually was, and then I had to show her how to hold and look into the headset. In the meantime my whole class was bombarding me with questions and requests to have a go. I then started my presentation and my teacher was letting out sounds of amazement while looking about with the headset on. I then told her that the picture was a full 360°, so it extended behind her as well, and more amazement followed. After the presentation, I passed it around the class, and everyone was saying things like:"Wow", "Cool", "Awesome", etc...
Anyway, no one had ever used VR before, at it was a huge hit to say the least.

Sadly, mine wasn't the highest marked presentation, but it got the most wows (I got outdone by a team that used their dads CNC machine to make a scale model and a quad-copter to record video of a flight around their building, so credit where credit is due, they did a good job).

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my little story, and I apologise for the wall of text.

If you're interested, here's the link to my dads pic, it's on streetview and works just fine on monitors as well as headsets.
photo

 

[aquielisunari]

This thread shows the age of VR, or does it show its popularity?

I've been gaming since pong and the Atari 2600. That isn't exactly when video gaming was in its infancy but it's pretty close. For the youngsters in the room the Atari debuted in the 1970's. I've seen it evolve to what it is today. Unless some unforeseen circumstance disallows it I will be buying a Vive and creating an outdoor VR play area.

It begins with a 10' x 20' screened in canopy. To be standing on Rickie's Plank with the sun and wind adding some additional tactile sensations will imo up the immersion. Some of the games will be played indoors of course but for the roomscalle games and just when I feel like it I'll use my "VR room". With $1999.99(16 items from Amazon came to that price. Odd...) I will be creating that play area and upgrading my current rig. It's fairly complicated but I think it will work.

I think VR will grow exponentially in the next few years. The educational possibilities are endless. Ever see a legally blind person reading a book? What about playing VR? [video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBMVZJLwgQo"][/video] Back in the day we had maps on a wall, a projector, reel to reel film and books. 20 years from now? Want to feel the texture and temperature of VR objects? That's in development. Eye tracking? That two. Wireless? Of course.

Personally I am excited about VR and the possibilities it offers.

@ brennon7 What's in your PC? Really only need the CPU, GPU and RAM. Have you heard of supersampling? You can change some Steam config code and reduce the pixelation. 2.5x SS is close to 8K so a serious rig is needed. Just hold on a second. Lean towards or go up to your monitor or TV. Now get closer.

See those pixels(Assuming you have a 1080p monitor)? When you are an inch or less from the screen it is currently very hard to eliminate pixelation but with SS it can be reduced. https://www.roadtovr.com/how-to-improve-your-htc-vive-image-quality-with-supersampling-pixel-density-tweak/

Next up is the screen door effect. Really, that's its name. Nothing much can be done about that at this resolution. Play Virtual Boy for a few hours and then come back to the Vive.

 

[Tom and Jerry Jerry]

I had decided to get a VR headset for a family member, who later told me it wouldn't work. I then asked my friends about and we of theirs didn't work either. I did some research on this that your phone needs a gyroscope(which is one of the main things to make VR work), turns out that's what their phones was lacking(the newer phones now come with gyroscope, but the older phones didn't have one), I found out that u can trick your phone into thinking it has gyroscope by rooting it. I hope this helps anyone who is having trouble with their VR headset.

 

[jpe1701]

I just got to try vr for the first time with an hp mixed reality headset. I loved it. So I bought one on sale. I'm addicted to star trek bridge crew. I hope that wmr does good. I like the idea that learning and entertainment and productivity apps that don't require a lot of muscle can be used with wmr on systems that aren't meant for high end vr gaming, but you can use wmr for gaming if you have the specs.

 

[deadsmiley]

I have played Bridge Crew with my friends. Our first outing was hilarious!

Overall though, my favorite game for VR is Elite Dangerous.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I've got the Lenovo Explorer and I've yet to play any games (though I do have Doom VFR). Mostly loving the experience, so far.

-Wolf sends