VR Headsets (Gear VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Playstation VR etc etc...)

Tech, TV, Mobile, Internet and Geek Corner
1
So, BR headsets are set to take us all by storm in 2016 as they finally become technologically and commercially viable. The front runners are:

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Samsung Gear VR (100chf) http://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/wearables/gear-vr/

Cheap and cheerful VR headset that only works with Samsung phones from model S6 (and Note 4) and upwards. Development for this is going to explode in 2016 and Facebook have ordered 8000 development headsets, with many other companies doing the same. Many S7 orders will come free with one, further increasing their market.

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Oculus Rift ($600) https://www.oculus.com/en-us/rift/

A new high-end PC gaming VR headset competing with the HTC. Technically very good but slightly less featured with regards to tracking movement.

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HTC Vive (£800) http://www.htcvive.com/us/

A new high-end PC gaming VR headset competing with the Oculus. Has additional cameras that track where you walk, but requires wires to be attached so may be a bit cumbersome.

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Playstation VR (TBA) https://www.playstation.com/en-au/ex...laystation-vr/

One for the consoles, and will be released for the PS4 in 2016. Price point will likely be between the Gear VR and the Oculus in order to shift the necessary amount of units.

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...there will also be more released too from the likes of LG et al.

I had a play on a Samsung Gear VR in Media Markt and even as the "low rent" version of VR it was pretty damn coolwatching the dinosaur demo. As developers get used to what they can do with VR, we are going to see a huge increase in immersive content... and I don't just mean gaming. Imagine the learning applications for science, nature, history, geography, you name it. Regular movies will appear like a large screen, and you can even watch them with others who have a Gear VR. Also, yup, the pron industry is already unleashing content for it, with VR set to be the new naughty frontier.

In short, VR is a new dimension on many of the things we know for all kinds of people of all ages and tastes.

I am getting a free Gear VR with my Samsung S7 order and I'm looking forward to the cool stuff that will be released this year.

So... anyone else tried it, got one, or planning on getting one this year?

2
I'd consider it, but I'm concerned it'll just end up being a gimmick and no-one will bother with it in a few years.

3
Little chance of that I reckon Paddy, VR is now here to stay as finally the technology is here to make it happen, and in a few years it will be significantly more advanced.

4
The Oculus has a better screen IMHO. The Vive would be the one offering least amount of disembodiment. It would be interesting to see which one takes off more

5
I have to admit I am very tempted to get one of the PC headsets. My only concerns are that there's not that much content yet and that I also need to upgrade my PC, as it's quite old. So, the overall operation will require quite a bit of money. I'd be very glad to hear experiences from other people though

6
These will not take off until the porn industry start using them..

I say that seriously, we have the porn industry to thank for many of the things we take for granted online now, from compressed video for streaming to online payments to website security .. They pioneered many of these things.

Hands free

7
The requirements for the oculus rift are quite high - https://www.oculus.com/en-us/blog/th...vr-jam-voting/

Quote -

For the full Rift experience, we recommend the following system:

NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater 8GB+ RAM Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output 2x USB 3.0 ports Windows 7 SP1 or newer

8
Ahem - http://mashable.com/2016/01/08/naugh.../#Hzn1qK5BCmqt

Also, there are a lot of VR porn sites out already.

9
You will need to spend at least 2000chf I would imagine, including VR headset. Article about it here http://www.vrcircle.com/post/is-your-pc-ready-for-vr

10
Yep, that's about right. I can re-use some of the existing components of my PC, so I could reduce the price to maybe 1700-1800 CHF, which is still significant. I may have to wait a bit until there's more content out there so I can decide more easily if it's worth the investment

11
so what is apple waiting for if its going to be such a big deal?

12
so what is apple waiting for if its going to be such a big deal? Its anyhow pretty egocentric the whole thing. I mean you can't share it with anyone.

13
Rather like Google Glass, smart watches and 3D telly

14
well the entertainment industry has to get their money machine reoiled!

15
I've spent a lot of time on all of the headsets (well not the Gear VR). Vive is amazing, best display as well.

Price is high, but gen2 devices will be cheaper probably (that's how these things historically go). The development community is ecstatic about it, and I think VR is here to stay.

I would not spend money on anything but Vive (and likely will).

16
Yep, VR is here to stay, it's finally at the point where the technology is there to support it and the impact on gaming will be amazing.

GearVR is a genuinely cool thing but it is too low res to be a serious device for extended periods of gaming or movie watching. Future iterations will no doubt improve this.

When Vive or whatever is the best at the time provides a wireless experience and full room motion tracking then I am in.

17
This might be worth a read for those who want to get into VR early:-

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/...-4k-craziness/

That said it makes very little sense to be going for VR right now. Early adopters are always screwed as the initial hardware will have bugs, there's minimal content, the cost is very high, compatability will be a serious issue as there will be so many competing standards, and finally the initial hardware will become outdated in a relatively short period of time - dont't expect to be able to use it 2 years from now. Basically you'll be buying lacklustre expensive beta product.

Best wait a couple of years for everything to settle and a standard to be developed before making the plunge. By that time the product will have matured and much improved, it'll cost half as much, and there'll be way more content available - some of which won't work with the early models.

18
I have a headset like the samsung one from a trade show where they had tons of VR apps you end up running out of neck to turn and most of them make you feel ill

might be good for completely immersive games but thats a tiny market and I think like any consumer tec that requires you to wear it on your face it won't go big

19
But the type of people who adopt things like VR early are the people with money to burn on extreme luxuries, they do it willingly to be there at the forefront of new tech.

20
Well, after a few days with the GearVR and it's a pretty cool demonstration of the way consumer VR is heading. The main issue is that the resolution isn't good enough and needs to be higher, with a 4k screen as a minimum but ideally 8k would make for unpixellated viewing. I guess that's still a couple/few years away from that though.

Either way it gives a cool effect in the demos and apps that are there and it will only get better as the production/filming techniques improve. I spent Sunday afternoon watching the "Shorts" (short movies, basically) in the Oculus store and they were great (even though they are mostly 2D), I highly recommend going through each and every one in sequence, there are some amazing concepts in them. Very cool.

I also love the effect of using the "Cinema" setting, it really does feel like you are watching a big screen, albeit heavily pixellated. When the resolution increases it's going to be simply amazing. Same with Netflix, it's just too pixellated to be viable at the moment.

Consumer VR in general is going to be amazing in a few generations, the possibilities for content are almost endless.