vr, which system and are they stable enough?

[achrist0418]

I'm buying a new laptop and id like VR but i have seen lots of posts about games not working with one system or another, tracking issues, conductivity issues, and so on. id be looking to play in a 9X15' area and i really dont want to run into an issue where i cant play a certain game because i bought the wrong system.

i have also seen talk of this ar/mr, my undertanding is you need to add a 500.00 camera to either system to enable that?

finially i have seen people talking about number of sensors. can you scale up with sensors and do these systems come with a hub that everything plugs into or does each sensor take a usb? is it a case where 2 sensors will give you a 80% gaming experience where 3 will give 95% and 4 will ive 99%?

 

[t1022k]

I have spent some time with the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and a WMR headset, so hopefully the following summaries will help you make a good decision.

Windows Mixed Reality headset kits (the ones with controllers, not sure if there exist ones without them though I haven't seen any) run the cheapest at around $200-$400 and don't require anything extra. I'm not sure where you heard of a $500 camera being required, but that isn't the case. This headset only has one split-end cable coming out of it that is plugged your graphics card and one usb port. It is tracked "inside-out" and uses the least cable hookups of any headset, which is very convenient. I don't find as comfortable as either the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift though. It's not terrible, just not great. Perhaps with some customizations one could make it better.

The Oculus Rift headset kit comes with two sensors which give you 180 degree, "forward-facing" tracking. If you want to be able to turn 360 degrees any way you want and walk around your room space, you will need to purchase a third sensor. Some people claim adding a fourth one (one for each corner of the room) will improve tracking. The Oculus Rift system requires you to plug in the most cables of any headset, as each sensor is plugged in via usb, along with the headset itself, which I found inconvenient. It arguably has the best controllers of any headset right now, though I personally find them to be a bit on the heavy side, especially in comparison to the controllers for WMR headsets (which are the lightest I've used). I find the comfort of the Rift to be slightly better than the WMR headsets, but lacking a nose rest (which I think you may be able to add on yourself, though I am not sure on this).

The HTC Vive uses two sensors in the opposite corners of the room which do not need to be plugged into your computer-just an ac outlet for power. The tracking technology in these is better and more accurate than the previous two systems, though the difference isn't too glaringly different. This headset runs a split-end line to a link box which requires ac power. Another split-end cable runs from the opposite end of this link box into your computer (video card/usb). Setup times for both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are pretty similar. The controllers for this system and the WMR headsets are very similar, though I honestly liked the WMR controllers the most simply because of how light they were (far lighter than the Rift or Vive's). I found the Vive to easily be the most comfortable headset, at least when looking at the stock configurations of each headset.

90% of games made for the HTC Vive will work fairly well with WMR headsets also, though many do not take advantage of the added joysticks on WMR headset controllers (not really a big deal). The Rift seems to generally have more issues running Steam games made for the HTC Vive, though most new Steam VR apps are releasing with good support for all three headsets at this point. The only games the HTC Vive and WMR headsets may have a little trouble running are Oculus exclusive titles on the Oculus store, though I cannot comment too much on that since I haven't tried that before.

Hopefully this information helps you make a better decision. I like the HTC Vive the best, though if I had a tighter budget or didn't want to hassle much with the setup process I would just get a WMR headset and customize/mod it however I could to make its comfort better. The WMR would also be very mobile and great paired with a laptop. For your reference, I used Dell's WMR headset.

 

[Sakkura]

I'm buying a new laptop and id like VR but i have seen lots of posts about games not working with one system or another, tracking issues, conductivity issues, and so on. id be looking to play in a 9X15' area and i really dont want to run into an issue where i cant play a certain game because i bought the wrong system.

i have also seen talk of this ar/mr, my undertanding is you need to add a 500.00 camera to either system to enable that?

finially i have seen people talking about number of sensors. can you scale up with sensors and do these systems come with a hub that everything plugs into or does each sensor take a usb? is it a case where 2 sensors will give you a 80% gaming experience where 3 will give 95% and 4 will ive 99%?

Pretty much all games are usable on all the main VR headsets. There can be some where the button mapping on the controllers is annoying on some headsets, or you need to run a workaround like Revive for it to work, but that's all - inconvenience but it works.

AR/MR stuff, where you see your physical space with virtual stuff put on top, is generally not possible with any of the current VR headsets. There is a camera on the front of the Vive (and 2 on the Vive Pro), but it isn't really usable for anything more than checking where you put your can of soda. And while the Windows Mixed Reality headset have a name advertising, you know, mixed reality, they are actually incapable of that. They're pure VR headsets.

With the Windows MR headsets, all the sensors are on the headset and you can't change or add anything. With the HTC Vive you have 2 base stations you set up at the corners of your space, and you can't add more. It's only with the Oculus Rift that you can have anywhere from 1 to 4 cameras set up to track you. They all plug into separate USB ports. In terms of simplicity, that means Windows MR is best, and the Rift is worst. In terms of tracking quality, Vive and Rift are equally good, while Windows MR is a bit worse, especially when it comes to tracking the controllers.

Note that t1022k is wrong about needing 3 sensors with the Oculus Rift to have 360 degree tracking - you can do that with 2. It's just that 3 sensors gives better tracking of a larger area. 4 would allow an even larger area, but it's not relevant to most people.

 

[t1022k]

Note that t1022k is wrong about needing 3 sensors with the Oculus Rift to have 360 degree tracking - you can do that with 2. It's just that 3 sensors gives better tracking of a larger area. 4 would allow an even larger area, but it's not relevant to most people.

Thanks for the correction. I was not aware that two sensors could work okay with the rift in a small space. I ran into tracking issues with just two sensors, but that is probably because I never tried putting the two sensors in opposite corners as you would with a vive setup.

 

[achrist0418]

https://newatlas.com/zed-mini-ar-camera/52464/ is the camera i was looking at for the ar experience.

the oculus is 175.00 cheaper than the vive so i was leaning in that direction.

if I'm on a laptop can i use a usb 3.1 hub to plug these sensors in?

if the oculus needs usb does it not need power then?

does the vive use wireless connections to send its sensor data? if so does that add to latency or have connection issues?

if i need more than a single usb 3.1 for the oculus would i need to get a TB usb addon to have the bandwith for 3 sensors?
also if i am mounting these sensors for oculus on the celing i would need a good 25-35 feet of usb cable to make it back to the computer, how much would that cost in extension cables?

i tried the oculus at the bestbuy a year or so ago, it used a xbox one controller, had a single sensor on the monitor for tracking and i thought it was pretty crap in tracking and video quality, i think bestbuy was using a a 1050 on that computer tho (non ti). the vive i have used at the M$ store and have generally liked it but i was told oculus is pretty equal to its tracking (which i thought the vive was WORLDS better in tracking) and the controllers are where its at

 

[Sakkura]

USB hubs can be troublesome with Oculus, but some seem to work for people. I haven't tested any myself as I haven't needed extra ports on my desktop. Your chances may be best with a hub that has a separate power adapter.

The Oculus Rift gets all its power via USB, so no need to plug into power outlets. The Vive base stations are not connected via USB, so they plug into a power outlet instead.

The Vive base stations actually don't sense anything the way the Oculus cameras do. They just shoot out laser beams that are then picked up by sensors on the headset and controllers. The headset sends that back to the PC via its USB cable, while the controllers send it wirelessly to the headset and then back to the PC.

I don't have my Oculus sensors mounted on the ceiling, just on a shelf and the walls. If you buy a 3rd sensor it comes with a USB extension included. I didn't have to spend that much on extensions but it depends on your room.

The Oculus launched without motion controllers 2 years ago, but they released those controllers at the end of 2016. I guess the Best Buy just hadn't updated their demo station yet. The Oculus controllers are better, as you'd expect since they took another half a year to work on them. The tracking is mostly the same, but it is easier to get the wiring set up for roomscale with a Vive.

 

[achrist0418]

ok, well i think I'm going to pick up the oculus then and take it from there. I'm buying that 7577 for under 900 so the budget is open a bit more to get a 3rd sensor