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VR is it any good?

G

geowhitt

pfm Member
I am thinking about getting a vr setup, My pc will need a new vid card around £350 and then the head set so its not cheap.
If I go for samsung headset then I need a new phone.
If I go for playstation I need the playstation 4 the head set and the camera as well.
Any help please.
Hope all on the site have a great new year.
George
 
If you're to go down the PC route I'd probably wait until at least after CES to see if any next-gen versions appear. It's also worth checking eBay and avforums for used current-gen ones.

The HTC Vive supposedly has the edge over the Occulus Rift.
 
i'd ask the OP -"is it any good for what?" what do you want it for? gaming? or something else?
 
It's s gimmick. It was a gimmick in the 90s but the tech wasn't there and it still is just a better gimmick. It's the "future" as other technology is so good there's nothing left to sell us......
 
geowhitt said:
I am thinking about getting a vr setup, My pc will need a new vid card around £350 and then the head set so its not cheap.
If I go for samsung headset then I need a new phone.
If I go for playstation I need the playstation 4 the head set and the camera as well.
Any help please.
Hope all on the site have a great new year.
George
Click to expand...

If it's for gaming is the rest of your PC up to it? Don't just assume throwing in a better GPU will work, seriously quick GPUs will get bottlenecked by a CPU if it's not up to it. It may end up costing you more than a new GPU.
 
Bangaio said:
It's s gimmick. It was a gimmick in the 90s but the tech wasn't there and it still is just a better gimmick. It's the "future" as other technology is so good there's nothing left to sell us......
Click to expand...

Looking at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjAHwLaLjUw (and ignoring the messenger) I'd say 5-10 years for this to become mainstream.

It promises some imaginable benefits, probably many more unimagined, and the risk of a gradual retreat from life as we knew it.
 
But that is more AR with glasses surely. I can see people using and wearing the hololens - VR in the big headset sense is still going to be niche. Can I see my retired parents using an oculus? No. A hololens - possibly... I am a massive geek, love my tech, teach computer science but just can't see VR becoming mainstream. Microsoft have designed something different and it is one of the few pieces of technology I have ever seen and said "got to have one of those" to myself.
 
Bangaio said:
But that is more AR with glasses surely. I can see people using and wearing the hololens - VR in the big headset sense is still going to be niche. Can I see my retired parents using an oculus? No. A hololens - possibly... I am a massive geek, love my tech, teach computer science but just can't see VR becoming mainstream. Microsoft have designed something different and it is one of the few pieces of technology I have ever seen and said "got to have one of those" to myself.
Click to expand...

Reality - Augmented Reality - Virtual Reality - isn't it a matter of where you set the 'Blend' control?

And - these won't require headsets as large as these - if at all.
 
The cheapo headsets using phones are not really VR. Apparently they have big issues with tracking.

Of the 3 worth buying:
- PSVR is the cheapest, though clearly you need a PS4. Supposedly not quite as good as the other competitors. Choosing it really should be driven by the software available. Personally I'm not impressed by the available games on the PS4.

On the PC, you can go with either:
- HTC Vive. The CV1 is supposedly slightly better on graphics (depending upon software), but the Vive has "roomscale", allowing you to walk around in say your lounge, which will be ace for some games
- The Oculus Rift CV1 (which I own), has supposedly the sharpest graphics (but not by much over the vive). Frankly, it's better suited to simulations.
For example, I use it with:
- Elite Dangerous. Seriously cool to be in your ship zooming around
- DCS. This is a flight sim. I fly a Huey. IMO the best example of how VR really comes across.
- Assetto Corsa. Brilliant racing game, very immersive in VR

Having owned the CV1, my opinion is that's it's ace, with the right software. If the sims available didn't work, I wouldn't use it for anything else. It's not good enough to say surf the net on and clearly loads of software don't support it.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
The cheapo headsets using phones are not really VR. Apparently they have big issues with tracking.

Of the 3 worth buying:
- PSVR is the cheapest, though clearly you need a PS4. Supposedly not quite as good as the other competitors. Choosing it really should be driven by the software available. Personally I'm not impressed by the available games on the PS4.

On the PC, you can go with either:
- HTC Vive. The CV1 is supposedly slightly better on graphics (depending upon software), but the Vive has "roomscale", allowing you to walk around in say your lounge, which will be ace for some games
- The Oculus Rift CV1 (which I own), has supposedly the sharpest graphics (but not by much over the vive). Frankly, it's better suited to simulations.
For example, I use it with:
- Elite Dangerous. Seriously cool to be in your ship zooming around
- DCS. This is a flight sim. I fly a Huey. IMO the best example of how VR really comes across.
- Assetto Corsa. Brilliant racing game, very immersive in VR

Having owned the CV1, my opinion is that's it's ace, with the right software. If the sims available didn't work, I wouldn't use it for anything else. It's not good enough to say surf the net on and clearly loads of software don't support it.
Click to expand...

They are VR, and you are right there are tracking issues, but I wouldn't call them big. I have just set up a usability lab for immersive VR and augmented reality for my students. We mainly use phones, but we have half a dozen Rifts and one HTC Vive, a few Oculus sensors and I have just ordered some Oculus touch sensors.

We use the lab for analysis of VR sw interfaces, navigation analysis and human behaviour analysis.
 
Thanks for all the replies, I have spent the last few hrs on youtube and still dont know which way to go.
I fly model helicopters not that well but enjoy it I also play on my pc using a sim, so when I crash it costs nothing.
A bit more reading and watching vids so I can make my mind up.
Microsoft hololens I have never seen and that looks good.
Thanks
 
My sons friend has this for his ps4 but soon got board with it , not that amazing and low number of games . I think we are still way off a really realistic vr experience
 
I use DCS, Prepar3d and Project Cars and VR is of interest for those alone. I've used a TrackIR before and the difference it makes is amazing and so proper VR must be fab.

I'll wait until next gen now though and would possibly go for a Rift based on space requirements.

Good luck with whatever you get. The Microsoft thing is very expensive (about £3k?) and I've not seen any games support it.
 
The Microsoft hololens is utterly amazing.
The Rome app is fantastic.
Expect loads of stuff coming this year as it's being sent out to software developers.
 
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