The subject of virtual reality has been popping up in the media, more and more over the past coupe of years. First, we heard about the Oculus Rift, which was popularized by Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus. While the Rift seemed promising at first, it’s delayed release date and lack of freedom has made it less popular, compared to other virtual reality headsets.
This is where the HTC Vive comes in. The Vive is a collaboration between HTC and Steam. While it is younger than the Rift,the Vive is still a very good competitor. Just like the Oculus Rift, the Vive has motion tracking, but not as limited as the Rift’s. With the Oculus, there is a tracking sensor that had to be positioned on a desk or table in front of you. However, with the HTC Vive, there are two sensors that you mount onto the walls of your room, which allows you to walk around in your room, which gives you a much better, more realistic experience, even though you are bound in to a certain area by a box of red lines.
In addition to the motion tracking sensors, the Vive comes with two amazing controllers that add even more to the immersive experience of it. Many reviewers have said that the tracking on the controllers is so amazing, that you could throw it up in the air with the headset on, and just based off of the visuals, you could catch it perfectly.
“The best way to think of the Vive might be as an early access season pass for VR” (Adi Robertson @ The Verge)
While the HTC Vive does have many amazing features, there are still some negatives. For example, while Steam VR, the interface that you use to operate the Vive, is designed by Steam, it is still not as user-friendly as some might hope. This means that not everyone can pick up the headset and start using it, without any prior knowledge of Steam VR. Another shortfall of the Vive is the fact that it is extremely heavy. Some users have complained that it is too heavy and makes it tiring to move your head around. However, this problem is not specific to the HTC Vive. It is a problem with most powerful virtual reality headsets, since they need to have lenses, high resolution screens, and many other very heavy pieces of technology.
zokro 