Roomscale Oculus Rift? 'Guardian' Boundary System, Touch Controllers Indicate New Capabilities

[kcarbotte]

With the upcoming "Guardian" boundary system and Touch controllers, the Oculus Rift looks to be getting roomscale capabilties, which will bring it closer to parity with the HTC Vive.

Roomscale Oculus Rift? 'Guardian' Boundary System, Touch Controllers Indicate New Capabilities : Read more

 

[Sakkura]

The "Guardian" system is not a complete copy of the Vive's Chaperone system, at least from what info is available now. Chaperone always looks the same, regardless of game, whereas Guardian can be themed to fit with each individual game.

Apparently Chaperone was set up that way during development, but they changed to a universal look to make it more recognizable or something. I guess there's a tradeoff, and I'll be interested to hear reviews on which works better.

 

[Jeff Fx]

Oculus has to add room-scale if they want to be competitive. I expect TCO will be higher than the Vive, but if the Rift can run with 4 cameras to offer room-scale, they can become equal to the Vive, and Vive and Rift owners will be able to play Steam games together.

 

[SockPuppet]

Oculus has really dropped the ball at every turn. Only a few more months and the Rift will finally achieve parity with the Vive. How much do you want to bet the "Touch" controllers will be $200 - thereby bringing the price for the entire system on the same level as the Vive?

You're still stuck using their Facebook spyware if you want to use the Rift. You're still stuck with USB connected external cameras you're going to have to string wires across your entire playspace to use. It's just lucky for them that Valve actually has some scruples and doesn't care that the Rift can function perfectly inside of SteamVR when Oculus has put a lot of money and effort into trying to ensure the opposite isn't possible.

 

[anbello262]

I have read in several places that the rift HMD itself is a bit better. Can anyone comment?

REPEAT: The HMD ONLY. Screens, comfort, weight. NOT the controls nor the games/software.

If this is really the case, having the rift come to parity in terms of roomscale VR and controllers would actually make it quite attractive (since you would also be able to play both platform's games)

 

[Zapin]

I have read in several places that the rift HMD itself is a bit better. Can anyone comment?

REPEAT: The HMD ONLY. Screens, comfort, weight. NOT the controls nor the games/software.

If this is really the case, having the rift come to parity in terms of roomscale VR and controllers would actually make it quite attractive (since you would also be able to play both platform's games)

Better is in the eye of the beholder. It is natural to defend whatever hardware you purchase with arguments that are valid and ones that are not so valid.

The Rift is a bit lighter and most say a bit more comfortable. I personally have no issues wearing the Vive for long periods.

The displays are basically the same and the differing lens systems have their own pros and cons. They use different reprojection methods to deal with sub 90 frame rates with the Rift probably having the better one but with a decent PC framerates should always stay high enough anyway.

We have yet to see how the Oculus room scale works and so far it looks like the Touch controllers will be as good or better than the Vive ones. The thing is the Vive has these features now and the Rift will not be caught up for awhile yet. The Vive plays most of the Oculus titles just fine and some of them already work well as a standing experience so moving to room scale should not be much of an issue when the hardware arrives.

The good news is that when the Rift people get their hardware, developers can make titles with proper controls and room scale features that both the Vive and Rift users can enjoy. There will still be some sit down traditional controller titles that people will want to play like Elite Dangerous and Chronos but at least developers will not feel forced to limit themselves anymore. Good news for all VR imo no matter what hardware you use.

 

[Kimonajane]

Oculus - Facebook and that loony socialist big brother loving leftist who owns it Zuckerberg. No thanks to either one.

 

[kcarbotte]

The "Guardian" system is not a complete copy of the Vive's Chaperone system, at least from what info is available now. Chaperone always looks the same, regardless of game, whereas Guardian can be themed to fit with each individual game.

Apparently Chaperone was set up that way during development, but they changed to a universal look to make it more recognizable or something. I guess there's a tradeoff, and I'll be interested to hear reviews on which works better.

I know dead and buried has a boundary system built into it, but I don't think it's part of Guardian. I could be wrong.

 

[John_479]

Nice Dell using 16.04 LTS and not 14.04 LTS

 

[dark_lord69]

Oculus has to add room-scale if they want to be competitive. I expect TCO will be higher than the Vive, but if the Rift can run with 4 cameras to offer room-scale, they can become equal to the Vive, and Vive and Rift owners will be able to play Steam games together.

Sorry to burst your bubble but Oculus is already capable of room scale, just on a smaller level.
I own an Oculus and I can sit, stand, walk around ect.
Adding an extra sensor will allow larger room scale similar to Vive.
...and why do you think it needs 4 sensors?
I think people underestimate how good the oculus sensor is... I speak from experience

 

[Sakkura]

I know dead and buried has a boundary system built into it, but I don't think it's part of Guardian. I could be wrong.

This article suggests the boundary system in Dead & Buried is a themed version of Oculus' boundary system. But it could be wrong too. We'll know for sure after Oculus Connect. Just a couple weeks now.