Hey guys, so I've been lucky enough to spend quite a bit of time with both HMD's and I wanted to make this thread to give my experiences. Maybe it will help someone out there in the wild make a decision. It's pretty insane, I was 24 when I got my DK1 and now I'm 27. Crazy how time has flown by. I spent so much money preparing for this moment but my body is ready:
http://imgur.com/A3aFKs8
TRIGGER WARNING: If you're a fanboy of either HMD's this thread isn't for you. I'm creating this to help users who love VR. Not users who become obsessed with brands and blindly bash what they perceive to be competition.
Me & HMD's Oculus CV1:
http://imgur.com/Nh2hC8U Vive Pre:
https://imgur.com/WrUBpCw
What Have I Played? Rift: EVE Valkyrie(twice), Edge of Nowhere, Bullet Train(twice), The Climb, Surgeon Simulator and 2 more that I cant recall the names. Vive: Tilt Brush, Arizona Sunshine, Paranormal Activity, Budget Cuts, Fantastic Contraption and Survios.
The OLED Displays Something you'll immediately notice coming from a DK2, is the new gorgeous OLED displays. On paper, it might seem that the the Vive & Rift have the same panel but in reality, they are optimized in different ways. The Rift CV1 is notably clearer in every experience I have had thus far. If someone was to make you close your eyes, then proceeded to place a Rift or Vive randomly over your head, you would know which unit you were wearing every time just based on the display. This isn't to say the Vive doesn't look gorgeous, it does, but "the screen door effect" is more present. This could be very important to you and i'll give you one example as to why. Let's say you're a movie buff and plan to spend a lot of time watching movies with your HMD. For a stationary theater experience, you're going to find the Rift will(most likely) offer the best experience. Regardless, both panels are fantastic for where we are now in the VR space.
Motion Sickness Both HMD's have seem to overcome motion sickness for the average consumer. It's worth noting, I got motion sick and almost fell over while using the Vive. But this was because of the game " Paranormal Activity " and not the Vive hardware. I'll get more into that in a moment.
Motion Controls From my experience, Rift's Touch controllers are simply amazing. They fit in your hands remarkably. Moments after being immersed into your VR experience, they start to feel like an extension of your body. For example, juggling grenades feels second nature in the Rift(....and safer). Here is a gif:
http://imgur.com/J9XyHCX Vive controllers are remarkable as well. They feel apart of you too in their own way and gain a large benefit due to the "Light House".
They're both 1:1. For me they are currently a tie. Mainly because they both shine and it seems to ultimately come down to personal preference. The Touch feels a little more like an extension of yourself (to me) but man the Light house... you gotta have it, haha. What really matters, I can't imagine anyone buying either and being disappointed with their experience. It's also good to note some of my friends think the Vive controllers feel more like an extension of your body and the Touch feels more like a gun.
FOV From my experience, Vive has a noticeably bigger FOV. Looks like a square I suppose, while the Rift seems to have a smaller FOV. Looks like an oval. Both are great but I prefer the FOV on the VIVE. EDIT: I might be wrong here. After reading over some comments, the Vive might have more of an oval FOV, while the Rift might be more of a square/rectangle. Regardless, you'll notice a larger FOV on the Vive.
Room Scale This seems to be all anyone is talking about these days, so lets talk about it. Every demo with the Rift, that wasn't seated, were very compelling but never as compelling as the Vive. With the Rift, I'm always scared to move around. This is largely due to the speech given to you before your experience. When using the Vive, you're motivated by the developer to explore and move freely within their world. With the Rift developers, they kind of want you to stand still and warn you to be careful(from my experience). This isn't to say Rift can't do room scale(it can) but I've yet to experience it, thus, can't comment on it in any meaningful way. The Vive however is LOONY! I can't express how nuts it is to walk freely in a virtual space without ever having to worry about running into a wall. The Vive's chaperone system is incredible. It truly is. It gives you this confidence to do whatever you want. Here is a GIF of me bending over to get inside a tent to pick up a virtual flashlight:
http://imgur.com/WVKRRMB
But there is a problem that I want everyone to consider(if you haven't already). How viable is room scale VR for the times we exist in today? What I mean by this, I can't describe any Vive experience as a "real game". I truly don't mean to sound disingenuous but they all kinda remind me of Wii games on steroids(With the exception of Budget Cuts and Hover Junkers). I never really feel like I'm playing a game. I just kinda feel like I'm at a futuristic Arcade. This is important because with all the talk about Room Scale, I feel some people don't know what they might be buying. From everything I've experience, room scale VR still has a lot of problems. I mentioned earlier I almost fell while playing the game " Paranormal Activity ". This happened because you're exploring a haunted house but with out the ability to teleport forward. For those unfamiliar, a lot of games are utilizing teleportation to get from one place to another. This works great but isn't practical for a lot of scenarios, like Paranormal Activity. In PA, you walk around freely to explore your space but you still move utilizing the pad on the Vive controller to get from one place to another. This to say, at the least, is nauseating and made me almost fall over. After this experience I started to become very paranoid of tripping over the wire and kinda tried to hold it when I could. Here is a gif:
http://imgur.com/R7chrtK With that said, I'm hungry for room scale VR still, I think about it A LOT but I do truly believe we are going to have a lot more compelling, fully fleshed out games, for a seated experience. Its difficult for developers to figure out how to create a game in VR, let alone how to do that utilizing your body and room scale.
Why do Youtubers all of a sudden seem to love the Vive & not Oculus? I'm a Youtuber, with about 630,000 subscribers with both of my channels. I also do video marketing consulting and SEO work for new media talent. I bring this up because I want you to know this is an opinion from someone in the industry. Now with that said, you might see a lot of big Youtubers praising the Vive lately and saying it's way better then the Rift. Let me explain why this is happening. Simply put, Vive has been very kind to us and are easier to communicate with about receiving & broadcasting their product to our viewers. Most Youtubers I'm friends with or work with haven't tried an Oculus product past the DK1, DK2. Recently I called a friend of mine angrily(but jokingly) saying how I wished he gave his massive amount of viewers a better understanding when he kept talking about how much better the Vive is then the Rift. It drove me crazy that he kept saying "Way better then Oculus" rather then "Way better then the Oculus DK1/DK2". He said he thought the DK2 and the Vive Pre were the same thing.
Now, this isn't to say the folks over at Oculus aren't lovely people, I'm sure they are. They have Palmer Luckey and John Carmack after all, two people I have the utmost respect for. It's just difficult to get in contact with them and create a dialog about this. That mixed in with the NDA's, I believe, is creating a misconception about the products. Youtubers have a lot of power when marketing products in the digital space, a lot more then you may think, and a large percent of the consumer market seems to love taking sides(even on products they have yet to try). Only time well tell if there will be a shift but please keep in mind while watching big Youtubers... most of them aren't very experienced with Virtual Reality and most likely haven't tried anything past DK2. I sent a few emails to Oculus about this and I'll update you if they respond and I'm able.
Size/Weight/Balance Both are fantastic, with that said, I have a huge head and putting on the Rift was slightly easier. The Rift feels kinda like putting on a hat. Both are very, very light. If you're use to using the DK1/DK2, you're going to be very pleased. It's worth noting, the Vive felt (slightly) more top heavy then the rift. But both are well balanced for long use.
Oculus CV1 Audio You might think with all the experiences I've done, I'd have a good handling on this, I don't. Every time I used the integrated audio solution I wasn't happy. This isn't because it's bad, I hear it's really good but the volume was always to low. Even when I asked the presenter to turn it up, it was apparent there was no way I was going to feel fully immersed with audio within these "Demo Experience". It was just to loud around me. Even in private rooms. Some Vive developers were really smart and used the Noise Cancelling BOSE Headsets. Which was fantastic for that environment. With that said, it wouldn't make Oculus look good if they demoed with a 3rd party audio solution.
Vive: Built in camera and Bluetooth I wasn't able to use or demo either of these features, so sadly, I don't have anything meaningful to say. I do have a Youtube friend who loves the front facing camera. Makes him feel more safe while filming with it on. Tho, I'm sure that's not a concern for most of you, it does seem to be beneficial in a lot of different scenarios.
VIVE VS RIFT: Who Wins? We win. Both products are amazing for the first consumer release and I truly believe, whatever you choose, you'll be very happy. When it comes down to which device you should buy, its a hard call. I myself am getting both and If I was forced to pick one, I would do so at random. Honestly, it might come down to this. At launch, how important is room scale to you? How important is access to Oculus exclusive titles? How important is motion control games to you? Again whatever you decide... you're in for a life changing moment that will age you when you have kids! "Daddy! Why are they bigger then sunglasses?!" Exciting times indeed!
http://imgur.com/YBl0kpa
PS: VR Developers If any of you lovely folks would like me to play your VR Games for my community, and provide links to your game for purchases, I'd be more then happy to do so. I can also link you to other new media talent who would also love to help spread the love. Please feel free to reach me at
[email protected]
Take Care - Kareem
Note: I've never utilized the Vive CV1, just the Vive Pre but I'm told much difference isn't to be expected.
(think it was May? and they take payment on immediate preorder, not cool!)
Did you get an eta on it? How much was the shipping?
