Originally published on outpostskaro.com on September 2 2016
Virtual Reality: The Present
So last week I talked about past attempts to bring VR gaming
to the masses. Fair to say, they were more misses than masses. But that was
over 20 years ago. VR is here and a lot has changed in that time. Your mobile
phone is more powerful than the typical games console was then. With those
changes in technology Virtual Reality is now a possibility.
There are three main contenders for your Virtual Reality
enjoyment in today’s market, all at various prices over £300. Yeah, I said it
was here, didn’t say it was going to be cheap! However, you don’t need to
cripple your credit card to take part. It’s possible to experience VR for under
£20, but more about that later. Let’s look at the top contenders, how much they
cost and what you’ll need to use them.
The first two VR units I’m going to talk about will require
a powerful gaming PC to run on. Luckily, before you give your credit card a
heart attack, both suppliers provide a handy utility to tell if they will run
on your current PC. If the answer is no, then worry not as many online PC
suppliers such as www.pcspecialist.com
or www.overclockers.co.uk do
pre-built VR Ready PC from around £750 upwards.
Vive is a joint venture by HTC and Valve so it has the
marriage of two of the big technology companies behind it. Vive is the only VR
unit that boasts a front facing camera which allows the system to mix elements
of the real world with the virtual. Coupling that with their “Chaperone” system
Vive allows the user more freedom to walk around without fear of injury. Just
how successful this feature will be in the mass market is something we’ll have
to wait and see but if it helps prevent that trip to the A&E where you try
to explain to the doctors that the reason you tripped over the dog was due to
the six tentacled overlord of Verivon 4 sneaking up behind you then it’s got to
be a good thing.
Vive comes with two haptic feedback controllers with a range
of inputs to help improve the immersion when playing and when it comes to great
VR, immersion is key. It uses two small base units which are set up around your
room to track your movements and feed that back to the PC. With 32 sensors on
the HMD and a further 24 sensors on each of the controllers to track, those wee
boxes are going to be busy!
Now here comes the painful bit. Are you ready? You might
want to sit down for this bit. When Vive was announced the cost of the unit was
£689 plus £57.60 post and packaging coming to a total of £746.60. You think
that’s pricey? Your wrong. In fact, HTC and Valve decided on the 1 August this
year it was cheap so increased the UK price to £759 plus post and packaging
taking the new price to a whopping £816.60! Remember you’ll also need to spend
around double that if you need a PC for it to run on. Told you you’d need to
sit down. At that price Vive is the most expensive option when it comes to VR.
However, it’s also the preferred system for game developers due to the range of
controller input and the freedom of movement it allows. It’s fair to say though, if it wants to be
THE VR system of choice then they are going to have to look at ways to bring
the cost down….way down…
On 1st of August 2012 Oculus launched their
Kickstarter campaign for the Oculus Rift. By August 31st they had
raised the $2.5 million they were asking for. By December 2013, they had raised
an additional $75 million. On March 25th 2014 Oculus was bought by
Facebook for $2 Billion. Not bad for a company that hasn’t released a product
yet. Ok, so that’s not strictly true, the Oculus Rift developers kit has been
around since 2012 but the actual production model doesn’t launch in the UK
until September 20th this year.
It’s fair to say Oculus are the company responsible for bringing VR back
into the game, so to speak. It’s by far the most talked about system and
certainly one of the most eagerly anticipated. Like the HTC Vive you will need
a high spec gaming PC to be able to run it and while the PC will cost the same
the headset is slightly cheaper at £549. For that price you get the headset, a
small discrete sensor, a remote control and a Microsoft Xbox controller.
Technically the Rift isn’t as powerful as the Vive. For instance, as it only
has one sensor the Rift isn’t currently capable of room sized VR and only
supports the user either sitting or standing. The Xbox controller isn’t as
flexible as the Vive touch controllers. However, an update due out later in the
year will see support for up to 3 additional sensors to allow room size play
and the launch of the Oculus touch controllers. Will this be enough to compete
against the Vive? We’ll need to wait and see. By not including the touch
controllers at launch Oculus run the risk of splitting their user base into two
camps. A dangerous risk which could come back to haunt them. Having said that
though, Oculus have the full might and support of Facebook behind them so with
the clout that brings they can afford to take some risks.
Playstation
VR (PSVR)
The third big player in VR is a company who have been making
consoles for over 20 years, Sony. Unlike
Rift and Vive though PlayStation VR doesn’t need a top end gaming PC to run, instead
PlayStation VR is designed to be used with Sony’s PlayStation 4 games console.
With over 40 million PlayStation 4’s being sold worldwide that gives Sony a
huge market for potential users. It’s obvious Sony have put a lot of time and
thought into the design of their headset. I mean look at it, it’s a thing of
beauty. It looks like it should be displayed in a modern art gallery and one
day, probably will be. It has been said by those lucky enough to try all three
headsets that while the PSVR isn’t as technically advanced as the other two
headsets it is by far the most comfortable to wear and there are a number of
reasons for that. While the majority of the weight on Vive and Oculus is at the
front where the visor is, Sony have distributed the weight evenly putting more
towards the back of the head making it feel more like wearing a hat than
clamping a visor to your head. It helps to give a more even weight distribution
to the point where it can be balanced on one finger.
The visor itself has
also been designed so it doesn’t actually touch your face but instead almost
floats in front of it. This allows a gap at the bottom of the visor so if you
need to interact with something in the real world you don’t have to remove the
headset to do so. It also makes the headset more comfortable for anyone who
wears glasses.
PSVR uses the PlayStation Eye, a ps4 camera, to track the 9
LED’s positioned all around the headset allowing for 360-degree tracking. Like Oculus it is designed for mainly for
sitting or standing experiences but it does offer some movement around the room
though not to the same extent as the Vive does. It has two different controller
options, you can use the normal Dualshock 4 controller or for a more
interactive experience, you can use two of the Sony Move controllers. While
they do give more flexibility with input than the standard Dualshock their not
as flexible as the Vive’s controllers. So, it’s comfortable, but not as
technically advanced as its counterparts. But then again, it’s a fraction of
the cost. PlayStation VR will be released on October 13th at a cost
of £349. However, that is just for the headset. That’s fine if you already have
the PS4 and accessories. If not then you’re looking at least £249.50 for the
PlayStation 4, £39 for the PlayStation eye and £27 each for the move
controllers giving a total cost of £691.50. While that is certainly cheaper
than the other two it’s still a lot of money. Having said that though, there
are 40 million PlayStation 4 users worldwide which gives Sony a larger
potential market than Vive and Oculus who are competing over the same PC user
base, a user base estimated to be around 3 million. Will that be enough to give
Sony the edge in dominating the VR market? We’ll have to wait and see.
VR on a shoestring…literally
I know what you’re thinking, yes Virtual Reality sounds
great and it all sounds fantastic but you simply don’t have a spare couple of
grand to buy the kit needed. Have no fear my friend, there is another option.
When it comes to VR there are three components needed for it to work. First you
need processing power to generate the images, then you need a screen to show
the images on, finally you need a way to track the motion of the user while
they are watching the images. Luckily all three of these can be found in your
pocket. Or to be more precise, in your smart phone. It is possible to
experience VR using your mobile phone and it doesn’t matter if its running
Android, iOS, or even Windows. All you need is the right equipment and some
really good mobile phone insurance. And the cost? Less than a fiver! The format
is called Google Cardboard.
Ok, yes, it’s a VR headset made out of cardboard, Velcro and
held together with string but, with the right apps it does work and there are
apps available across all three mobile operating systems. It’s very much you
get what you pay for and it’s fair to say it’s not the best VR experience. It
also involves strapping your expensive smart phone into a cardboard box before
strapping it to your face so, yeah, make sure that mobile phone insurance is up
to date. Having said that though there are other options which work on the same
principle but are less risky to your phone.
Products like the VR Box will keep your phone secure and give
you the same VR experience. With a bit of shopping around you can pick one up
for around £12. For the full gaming experience though you will also need a
Bluetooth gaming controller that’s compatible with your particular phone. Will
it be as immersive as the Vive or PSVR? No. It’s not the best gaming experience
you can get but games like InMind VR and End Space VR are enjoyable and are
free to download for your app store of choice. Where it does work well is with
the rise in 360-degree videos available through apps like Jaunt, Within and
even YouTube. There are music videos from U2, documentaries on the barrier reef,
animations and Hollywood style art films starring big name stars such as
Michael Fassbender. Like any films the quality ranges from downright awful to
astounding but considering it costs less than buying a cinema ticket its
certainly worth having a look.
So there we are, some
of the main options available for experiencing Virtual Reality today. But will
it work? Will VR be the next big thing in entertainment? We’ve all heard that
promise before and it didn’t quite live up to expectations so what makes it
different this time? Join me next week when I’ll take a look at whether there
is a future for VR, what software is available, and what other formats might
give it a run for your money.
No comments:
Post a Comment