Who owns a VR or AR HMD?

[WhiteNoise]

Oculus Rift CV1
Oculus Rift S

 

[Keullo-e]

Rift CV1 here, bought from friend about two months ago since he upgraded to S. I had tried VR before, actually when he bought this in 2018, so I kinda knew what to except, but for me it's like the more I play with VR, the more I like it.


....and I was few years ago like "nah, it's like 3D movies, it's here for a while and then it's just meh", how wrong I was..

 

[Octavean]

1) PSVR
2) Oculus Riff
3) Oculus Quest 64G

 

[JoeD]

In no specific order:

1.) HP Reverb Pro V2
2.) HTC Vive Pro
3.) VRgineers (XTAL 5K)
4.) VRgineers (XTAL 8K)

 

[purecain]

i played half way through the half life vr game. Its worth buying if you played the other instalments.

 

[CraptacularOne]

Currently I have:

Oculus Rift S
PiMax 5K Plus 120Hz
Valve Index
PlayStation VR

I really like the wide field of view on the PiMax but the headset is noticeably heavier than both the Index and Rift S and the weight really gets to you after extended play. Starts to press down on your nose and cheeks under your eyes. So even though it offers the most immersive experience it's the headset I use the least unfortunately. The headset I use the most is maybe surprisingly my Oculus Rift S. It, like the PSVR has a very comfortable head mounting system where the weight of the system is placed more on top of your head rather than hanging off the front of your face. I can easily have the Rift S on for hours and not have gouges in my nose and face from playing it.

Now the Index is great and the "knuckles" controllers are fantastic, they are however little more than a gimmick at this point as there aren't many games (in fact none really) that you actually "need" fine finger control and tracking to grab things. Granted it does feel more natural but at the same time they haven't really done anything to show me why I needed them. Don't get me wrong, they work great and all but there are no games that actually really use them to their potential. The setup and roomscale tracking aren't the most intuitive and really that's the reason my Rift S gets used more than anything else here. There are no sensors to fiddle with and the setup and user experiences is just more polished. It's a headset I can also just let the kids pop on and have fun in without worrying about showing them how to do every little nuance.

The PSVR is well, the only console VR headset currently available. Before you scoff at "console VR" know that it actually is pretty good given the limitations and I would call this a full and proper VR experience. The obvious concessions being lower visual fidelity and sometimes wonky hand tracking, but it is actually very good overall. Games like Farpoint, Firewall: Zero Hour and Resident Evil 7 in full VR are worth the price of admission alone.

EDIT: I'd probably use the Vale Index more if I didn't have to keep setting up the lighthouse tracking stations every time, but I can't do that where my VR rig is currently so in order to use it, I have to drag the stands out and plug them in, reclibrate them.....etc

 

[JoeD]

Currently I have:

Oculus Rift S
PiMax 5K Plus 120Hz
Valve Index
PlayStation VR

I really like the wide field of view on the PiMax but the headset is noticeably heavier than both the Index and Rift S and the weight really gets to you after extended play. Starts to press down on your nose and cheeks under your eyes. So even though it offers the most immersive experience it's the headset I use the least unfortunately. The headset I use the most is maybe surprisingly my Oculus Rift S. It, like the PSVR has a very comfortable head mounting system where the weight of the system is placed more on top of your head rather than hanging off the front of your face. I can easily have the Rift S on for hours and not have gouges in my nose and face from playing it.

Now the Index is great and the "knuckles" controllers are fantastic, they are however little more than a gimmick at this point as there aren't many games (in fact none really) that you actually "need" fine finger control and tracking to grab things. Granted it does feel more natural but at the same time they haven't really done anything to show me why I needed them. Don't get me wrong, they work great and all but there are no games that actually really use them to their potential. The setup and roomscale tracking aren't the most intuitive and really that's the reason my Rift S gets used more than anything else here. There are no sensors to fiddle with and the setup and user experiences is just more polished. It's a headset I can also just let the kids pop on and have fun in without worrying about showing them how to do every little nuance.

The PSVR is well, the only console VR headset currently available. Before you scoff at "console VR" know that it actually is pretty good given the limitations and I would call this a full and proper VR experience. The obvious concessions being lower visual fidelity and sometimes wonky hand tracking, but it is actually very good overall. Games like Farpoint, Firewall: Zero Hour and Resident Evil 7 in full VR are worth the price of admission alone.

EDIT: I'd probably use the Vale Index more if I didn't have to keep setting up the lighthouse tracking stations every time, but I can't do that where my VR rig is currently so in order to use it, I have to drag the stands out and plug them in, reclibrate them.....etc

To date (and I've used every single VR HMD both professional and consumer version) and the XTAL is by far the best in terms of clear "clarity" + 170 to 180 degrees field of view.

I'm not sure where you are getting the "impression" that the knuckles controllers are not utilized completely in any VR title... I mean.. this can't be a serious post, right?

You've heard of Half Life Alyx right??

 

[CraptacularOne]

To date (and I've used every single VR HMD both professional and consumer version) and the XTAL is by far the best in terms of clear "clarity" + 170 to 180 degrees field of view.

I'm not sure where you are getting the "impression" that the knuckles controllers are not utilized completely in any VR title... I mean.. this can't be a serious post, right?

You've heard of Half Life Alyx right??

I own Half Life Alyx and is exactly my point. The knuckles controllers aren't at all required to properly play the game and add little more than "ooh look at my fingers move" they don't actually really do anything. That's not exactly what I would call ground breaking. I said it does "feel" more natural but not at all required and not really actually anything meaningful done with it. There are titles that "technically" use the knuckles controllers like Boneworks as well but to date they are little more than "ooh look at my fingers wiggle in VR".

Maybe you fail at reading comprehension?

 

[JoeD]

I own Half Life Alyx and is exactly my point. The knuckles controllers aren't at all required to properly play the game and add little more than "ooh look at my fingers move" they don't actually really do anything. That's not exactly what I would call ground breaking. I said it does "feel" more natural but not at all required and not really actually anything meaningful done with it. There are titles that "technically" use the knuckles controllers like Boneworks as well but to date they are little more than "ooh look at my fingers wiggle in VR".

Maybe you fail at reading comprehension?

Having only read your post in Post# 33 and nothing previous, I was not aware of you ever playing Half Life Alyx.

The reason why I mentioned to you about Half Life Alyx is because of the statement you made below:

"Now the Index is great and the "knuckles" controllers are fantastic, they are however little more than a gimmick at this point as there aren't many games (in fact none really) that you actually "need" fine finger control and tracking to grab things."

Which is factually incorrect, because the utilization of the pressure sensors on the knuckles controllers are used for (are needed for) fine control to crush things in Half Life Alyx itself.

The hand tracking features of the knuckles controllers also do allow for fine interaction with items in Half Life Alyx, such as playing the piano and other interactive parts of the game.

This goes against the "(in fact none really)" claim, which, once again, was the reason why I stated "You've heard of Half Life Alyx right?? "

The only other way to accomplish what the Knuckles controllers provide is to use Leap Motion (which is not truly suitable due to sensor field of view limitations)

 

[CraptacularOne]

Having only read your post in Post# 33 and nothing previous, I was not aware of you ever playing Half Life Alyx.

The reason why I mentioned to you about Half Life Alyx is because of the statement you made below:

"Now the Index is great and the "knuckles" controllers are fantastic, they are however little more than a gimmick at this point as there aren't many games (in fact none really) that you actually "need" fine finger control and tracking to grab things."

Which is factually incorrect, because the utilization of the pressure sensors on the knuckles controllers are used for (are needed for) fine control to crush things in Half Life Alyx itself.

The hand tracking features of the knuckles controllers also do allow for fine interaction with items in Half Life Alyx, such as playing the piano and other interactive parts of the game.

This goes against the "(in fact none really)" claim, which, once again, was the reason why I stated "You've heard of Half Life Alyx right?? "

The only other way to accomplish what the Knuckles controllers provide is to use Leap Motion (which is not truly suitable due to sensor field of view limitations)

So crushing cans is your idea of revolutionary game play? That is the very definition of a gimmick. It doesn't impact game play in any real way and it's overall pointless. The piano is the same thing (which you can also play almost as good with Oculus Touch controllers) the both are tiny side distractions and only put there as a "look at me" in the game.

Maybe they could have used the piano to unlock a secret room with more upgrade resin if you played a certain key combination only possible with the Knuckles controllers or made a puzzle that's easier to complete with the Knuckles controller since it offers fine finger control that would otherwise requires a more arduous path without them. Like maybe being able to squeeze something to open a door that would otherwise require you to find a key card or something, anything. But they didn't do any of this. They left them being "technically" supported and used, but no no real meaning or effect.

 

[JoeD]

So crushing cans is your idea of revolutionary game play? That is the very definition of a gimmick. It doesn't impact game play in any real way and it's overall pointless. The piano is the same thing (which you can also play almost as good with Oculus Touch controllers) the both are tiny side distractions and only put there as a "look at me" in the game.

Maybe they could have used the piano to unlock a secret room with more upgrade resin if you played a certain key combination only possible with the Knuckles controllers or made a puzzle that's easier to complete with the Knuckles controller since it offers fine finger control that would otherwise requires a more arduous path without them. Like maybe being able to squeeze something to open a door that would otherwise require you to find a key card or something, anything. But they didn't do any of this. They left them being "technically" supported and used, but no no real meaning or effect.

@CraptacularOne

I definitely see your point about the implementation possibilities and think that you've put some great ideas forward to boot.

I think we can agree that everything has beginnings and that the Knuckles controllers have been more or less an amazing addition to VR for the simple truth that they have raised the bar for what typically was just an iteration of the original Vive wands compared with other platforms.

Things are only going to get better and better utilized going forward with the awesome tech that we have today and what's coming down the line based off of today's hardware.

Ps: Are you sure the piano "is only a filler?" , I think valve may have left something for you to discover there..

 

[Octavean]

So crushing cans is your idea of revolutionary game play? That is the very definition of a gimmick. It doesn't impact game play in any real way and it's overall pointless. The piano is the same thing (which you can also play almost as good with Oculus Touch controllers) the both are tiny side distractions and only put there as a "look at me" in the game.

Maybe they could have used the piano to unlock a secret room with more upgrade resin if you played a certain key combination only possible with the Knuckles controllers or made a puzzle that's easier to complete with the Knuckles controller since it offers fine finger control that would otherwise requires a more arduous path without them. Like maybe being able to squeeze something to open a door that would otherwise require you to find a key card or something, anything. But they didn't do any of this. They left them being "technically" supported and used, but no no real meaning or effect.

Excellent point,....

Valve took pains to assure that Half-Life Alyx would be more then just functional on competing VR hardware rather then going the hardware exclusive route. Its a feature not a bug that there is such a high level of playablity on all VR HMD units. If there is an issue or flaw then it is likely a hardware limitation of the proprietary VR hardware itself (like the poor tracking of the Vive Cosmos not the Vive Cosmos Elite).

Valve could have had a Half-Life: Alyx game mechanic that made use of the Knuckles controllers such as a grab and squeeze action to dispatch some enemies, break through + crush obstacles or to use the gravity gloves but that would have made for a more hardware specific title that left all other VR HMD's unusable without some kind of ugly hack.

I think we all can agree that Valve did the right thing here and no one on this side of the gaming industry likes hardware specific game exclusives.

There is enough complaining from the flat gaming community that Half-Life: Alyx isn't playable without a VR HMD (although there is an ugly hack for that if you want to take all the fun out of Half-Life: Alyx).

 

[CraptacularOne]

@CraptacularOne

I definitely see your point about the implementation possibilities and think that you've put some great ideas forward to boot.

I think we can agree that everything has beginnings and that the Knuckles controllers have been more or less an amazing addition to VR for the simple truth that they have raised the bar for what typically was just an iteration of the original Vive wands compared with other platforms.

Things are only going to get better and better utilized going forward with the awesome tech that we have today and what's coming down the line based off of today's hardware.

Ps: Are you sure the piano "is only a filler?" , I think valve may have left something for you to discover there..

Beginnings or not, if the creators of the hardware's own game they developed doesn't include anything really of substance what chance do other developers stand to actually use the hardware? The answer is they won't and if they do include support for it, it will be more pointless distractions like in HLA

Excellent point,....

Valve took pains to assure that Half-Life Alyx would be more then just functional on competing VR hardware rather then going the hardware exclusive route. Its a feature not a bug that there is such a high level of playablity on all VR HMD units. If there is an issue or flaw then it is likely a hardware limitation of the proprietary VR hardware itself (like the poor tracking of the Vive Cosmos not the Vive Cosmos Elite).

Valve could have had a Half-Life: Alyx game mechanic that made use of the Knuckles controllers such as a grab and squeeze action to dispatch some enemies, break through + crush obstacles or to use the gravity gloves but that would have made for a more hardware specific title that left all other VR HMD's unusable without some kind of ugly hack.

I think we all can agree that Valve did the right thing here and no one on this side of the gaming industry likes hardware specific game exclusives.

There is enough complaining from the flat gaming community that Half-Life: Alyx isn't playable without a VR HMD (although there is an ugly hack for that if you want to take all the fun out of Half-Life: Alyx).

Oh don't get me wrong, I think Half Life Alyx is an overall fantastic game and it being broadly compatible with other headsets was the right call as it ensures as many people as possible could enjoy it. However it was more than just a little disappointing that Valve didn't really do anything of substance with their own hardware in their own game. They could have added some things that were only possible with Knuckles controllers that if you had them you got maybe slightly more upgrade resin, or maybe as I suggested a more direct path or something. That wouldn't have impacted other HMDs or really taken away from their experience as much as it would have enhanced Index owners experience. Instead they opted for small little distractions and pointless details.

How cool would it have been for instance a bypass for some of the power puzzles? Instead of being forced to use Alyx's power rerouter tool and having to manually reroute the current, maybe if you could locate the a control terminal that's controlling the gate you could press "CRTL+ALT+DELETE" and reboot the terminal to skip some of them? Or as you suggested for combat like maybe for the flying "man-hacks" that you could use the gravity gloves to catch them and if you had the knuckles controllers you could just crush them? They opted for none of this however and it's troubling to me at least that the creator of the hardware themselves in their own game opted to not really employ their own highly touted controllers to any meaningful effect. If they won't do it for their own hardware, what chance to outside developers stand for doing it for hardware they have no vested interest in supporting?

 

[Octavean]

Your right that Valve has little excuse in not implementing the feature set of the Knuckles controller in their own title or at least not to any great effect.

However, the problem is systemic. We all know that developers typically work on projects that are accessible to the masses not the few. Since the Valve Index is a subset of a subset of gaming VR HMDs, third party developers would be hard pressed to address the Knuckles feature set. Why code for something most of the target demographic can't take advantage of?

Also, we should keep in mind that of the subgroup everyone with a Valve Index HMD doesn't necessarily have the Knuckles controllers. The components of the Valve Index are sold separately so its conceivable that those upgrading from a Vive might still be using the old Vive wands. So now we are talking about a subgroup of a subgroup of subgroup.

The way to address this issue, at this point for Valve, would likely be to do so with a later DLC for HL:A. Ideally it should be free and if they toss in enough of a bone for everyone then there shouldn't be an issue with a disparity of features depending on HMD. Or if it is done cleverly then a long press / squeeze of something like the Oculus controllers could proximate the same effect as pressure with the Knuckles,....albeit without the same level of granularity.

 

[Mindweaver]

Let's not get off-topic. This is just if you own any VR or AR HMD's. Let's open another thread for anything else. Thanks!

 

[RedelZaVedno]

I owned:
1. Samsung Odyssey+
2. HP Reverb
3. HP Reverb G2 is on preorder

 

[dw1975]

I currently have the 1st gen Samsung Odyssey and plan on preordering the Reverb G2 when it becomes available here in Canada.

 

[Mindweaver]

Hey sorry to ping everyone, but just wanted to let you all know that you can add your VR HMD to your System Specs now! Let's spread the word!

Spoiler: Everyone

Oculus Rift CV1.

oculus rift CV1

PS4 VR

HTC Vive

Oculus Rift CV1

Lenovo Explorer

oculus rift!

Vive

Oculus Rift CV1

1. Google Daydream
2. HP 14402 Windows Mixed Reality Headset

Oculus

I've got the same one. Love it.

Oculus rift CV1

Deeepon E2+Occulus DK2

Oculus Go

Rift CV1

1.) HP Reverb Pro V2
2.) HTC Vive Pro
3.) VRgineers (XTAL 5K)
4.) VRgineers (XTAL 8K)

Oculus Rift S
PiMax 5K Plus 120Hz
Valve Index
PlayStation VR

1. Samsung Odyssey+
2. HP Reverb
3. HP Reverb G2 is on preorder

1st gen Samsung Odyssey+Reverb G2

 

[Mussels]

Hey sorry to ping everyone, but just wanted to let you all know that you can add your VR HMD to your System Specs now! Let's spread the word!

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[PaulieG]

I'm on the verge of buying a Oculus Quest 2. I'm just hoping for a memorial day sale to try to save a bit. Anyone ever see any discount codes for the Quest 2?

 

[Mindweaver]

I'm on the verge of buying a Oculus Quest 2. I'm just hoping for a memorial day sale to try to save a bit. Anyone ever see any discount codes for the Quest 2?

I doubt we'll ever see a sale on the Quest 2. It's already being sold at a loss. I have received discount codes for the app store and they do have software sales.

 

[Octavean]

I doubt we'll ever see a sale on the Quest 2. It's already being sold at a loss. I have received discount codes for the app store and they do have software sales.

There is little reason to expect a sale price, we agree there. However, in some parts of the world during a holiday season you might see some discounts. So maybe Black Friday Stateside you’ll see a discount, maybe,.....

 

[toilet pepper]

I doubt we'll ever see a sale on the Quest 2. It's already being sold at a loss. I have received discount codes for the app store and they do have software sales.

Their prices are really attrocious here. They aren't like Steam where they adjust the prices of games depending where you are. THe only thing I bought from the Oculus store are the 3 Vader Immortals. I would really like to play Asgard's Wrath but the price is too much even on sale.

 

[Mindweaver]

There is little reason to expect a sale price, we agree there. However, in some parts of the world during a holiday season you might see some discounts. So maybe Black Friday Stateside you’ll see a discount, maybe,.....

Yeah, I was going to come back and say try using a store/credit card discount where they give you a percentage off to spend on anything.

Their prices are really attrocious here. They aren't like Steam where they adjust the prices of games depending where you are. THe only thing I bought from the Oculus store are the 3 Vader Immortals. I would really like to play Asgard's Wrath but the price is too much even on sale.

Yeah, most of the Oculus store sales aren't good. They want you to buy a bundle sale and most of the time they put a game that most people have already. The only good thing that I've got were discount codes. Like OCULUS30. I bought Saints and Sinners with that discount. I couldn't see paying 39 for it when I already have the Steam VR version. Their PCVR store sales were bad before the Quest, but now I've picked up some great games for 19.99 like Asgards Wrath.

 

[Octavean]

Their prices are really attrocious here. They aren't like Steam where they adjust the prices of games depending where you are. THe only thing I bought from the Oculus store are the 3 Vader Immortals. I would really like to play Asgard's Wrath but the price is too much even on sale.

I received the three Star Wars: Vader Immortal games as a freebie with the Oculus Quest v1. I still don’t think I even started the last one. They are decent experiences from what I’ve played.

Personally, I have a bit of an aversion to buying Oculus exclusive titles so I haven’t actually purchased any. Not one.

I wanted to play Lone Echo and Stormland VR but again I prefer to just buy Steam Games.

Part of the reasoning here is that I didn’t want to amass a VR game library that was VR HMD specific. Also note that if you buy the Oculus Quest 2 and never buy Oculus titles you’re kind of sticking it to FaceBook if they really are selling at a loss. If true, that is something I can live with