Associate
- Joined
- 11 Mar 2011
- Posts
- 1
Greetings one and all, today I had the pleasure of trying out the HTC Vive in the Overclockers store in Newcastle-Under-Lyme and thought I'd give everyone a bit of feedback on the experience.
First up my credentials. I was an early backer of the Oculus Rift, and have both at DK1 and DK2 Rift. I've started creating some experiences for them in both Unity and UE4, but both are a long way off completion. I've used the DK2 with Elite: Dangerous, Keep Talking and No-one Explodes, Bioshock Infinite via VorpX, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, and many others both designed for, and retrofitted too, VR. I haven't tried out the CV1 Rift, so any comparisons below will be to my most used point of reference, the DK2.
I was greeted by Simon, a thoroughly nice bloke, who walked me though the demos. There were 4 in total. The Blue (an underwater experience), Job Simulator, Space Pirate Trainer, and Tilt Brush. I've linked to videos of each demo, but they are not me, just vids I've found on YouTube of the demo's.
The room was suitably sparse with nothing to trip over other than the cable from the head set itself. The PC and the monitor for Simon to monitor my progress on were in one corner, which had been virtually cordoned off via the Vive's Chaperone system (more on that later).
I put on the headset and had a look around the placeholder grid. Before demo's were loaded there was a grey "space" with two boxes visible, one in front and one behind. Took me a second to figure out what they were, but then clicked that these were the virtual representations of the lighthouses, the sensors that do the tracking. The headset felt about the same weight as the DK2, maybe marginally heavier, but not by much, but was a far more comfortable fit. Simon wandered over and gave me some headphones, and plugged them into the audio jack that's part of the headsets design, meaning that there's no need to go out and spend money on a new wireless headset if you don't already have one, you have one less wire to worry about strangling yourself with. Simon handed me the two controllers which appeared in the VR view, reaching out and grabbing them was a bit of a weird experience, since I was grabbing a real life controller, unable to actually see the real one, just its VR representation, and they were exactly where they were supposed to be. Its a very small thing, but it made a big impression. I was the instructed to walk forwards a couple of paces, a blue wireframe grid faded into view (think a light blue holodeck), the Vive's Chaperone system doing its job nicely. Now safe in the knowledge that I wasn't going to be walking into anything, I returned to my original position, and Simon started the first Demo.
The Blu - WEVR Labs
In this demo you find yourself on the deck of a sunken ship, surrounded by ocean, fish, a stingray, and a rather curious whale. I was immediately struck by the lack of the "screen door" effect which I've accepted as part of my VR experiences for the past year or so. The images were clear, crisp. If you looked really closely you could still see the inter pixel space, but if you focused on the big picture, it was a sight to behold, the level of detail that you could see was fantastic, not the "squint to read the menus" of playing Elite on the DK2. The demo was short, you could walk around the within the defined play space of the room, and it all felt very natural. It would be an excellent intro to VR for someone that has yet to experience it.
Job Simulator - Owlchemy Labs
The next demo was Job Simulator. In this demo I got my first use of the Vive controllers. I was required to take a coffee mug, fill it, drink the coffee, and eat a donut. It took me about a minute to work out the controls, and then the virtual morning ritual was completed. Then I needed to plug in my PC, power it on, and log in and delete all my emails, all completed rather easily. The controllers were incredibly intuitive to use, they are also nice and light, and so prolonged use wont become an issue. The use of my hands to carry out actions in the virtual space was a great feeling, it made the game world that bit more tactile, so just imagine what it could be like if Leap Motion's Orion project gets decent takeup, or was intergrated into VR headsets in future. After eating a donut I found in the bin, throwing up all over my monitor, throwing a ball around the office, photocopying the ball and then throwing two balls around the office, it was the end of the first work day, and just enough time to throw a paper plane at the boss bot.
Space Pirate Trainer - i-illusions
We then moved onto something with a touch of combat. Full disclosure, I absolutely sucked at Space Pirate Trainer, but had great fun with it. You find yourself on a platform, gun in each hand. You are then attacked by ever increasing waves of what I shall refer to as Jedi Training Balls, Shooting lasers are you which you can dodge, physically dodge, now there's a mechanic that I can see taking off in future, physically ducking out of the way as a laser sizzles past your head. Seeing my stuggle, Simon advised that I put my left hand to the shoulder, like I was reaching into an backpack. No longer was I dual weilding pistols, I now had a shield, I still sucked, but at least lasted maginally longer. Again the controllers felt very natural as the grip and trigger of a pistol, and proved that while as a teenager I have earned a marksman badge in the ATC (Air Cadets), my aim had degraded quite considerably in the interveening 18 years. The nature of the 360 degree combat was what also stuck me with this demo, and a good example of why the chaperone system will be needed to stop people getting a bit too immersed and ending up smashing into the fishtank and flooding the living/dining/gaming room.
Tilt Brush - Google
Once upon a time I was an animator, so this was the demo I had most been looking forward too. Tilt Brush is a fully 3d painting program, and what can be achieved and its potential is incredible. Drawing in truely 3d space, being able to walk around your creation, see it from every angle. This for creatives is going to blow their minds, and kids too, the fun they could have drawing in the air, who hasnt tried drawing something in the air with a sprinkler at some point? To truly do this justice though, check out the legendary Glen Keane creating Beast, and Ariel.
Final Thoughts
Well, Im sold. The CV1 Rift and Vive have the same OLED screens in them, and same resolution, so on the back of that, VR is most definately here. The removal/massive reduction of the screen door effect really helps evelate the experience. The additional clarity, helps massively, and is a husge leap forward from the DK2. I did experience some jitter when turning in two of the demo's, if my sense of direction hasnt failed me, I suspect that it was when I was at about 45 degrees to the lighthouses, but its was only slight and didnt really impact the experience, it might however be a bit disconcerting for someone new to VR, or someone that it prone to VR sickness.
The controls are fantastic, responsive, accurate (even if Im not that accurate with them), easy to use, everything you want from a controller really. I do have some concerns as to how many games will actually make use of them properly though, other than being used as a gimmick, and make the contorols a core part of the game mechanics. I can see some devs still going with a keyboard/mouse/gamepad setup for some time yet, but hopefully they will experiment, find out what works, what doesnt, and then move forwards with that.
The tracking was great, and the ability to move around in a standing experience, will for the most part, make VR sickness a thing of the past, that combined with the higher frame/refresh rates. It removes the cognitive dissonance of seeing yourself move "in game" but your body knowing you're sat on your arse in your chair. The Chaperone system works like a charm, and gives you the "safety net" you need to stop you hurting yourself when you're flailing around like a nutter with OLED displays strapped to your head, because lets be honest, if ILM let us loose with Lightsabers in VR, its going to happen.
I hope you find this informative/useful. If you have any specific questions I'll be happy to answer any that I can. Any I cant who knows someone else on the boards might be able to chime in.
-Kev
First up my credentials. I was an early backer of the Oculus Rift, and have both at DK1 and DK2 Rift. I've started creating some experiences for them in both Unity and UE4, but both are a long way off completion. I've used the DK2 with Elite: Dangerous, Keep Talking and No-one Explodes, Bioshock Infinite via VorpX, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, and many others both designed for, and retrofitted too, VR. I haven't tried out the CV1 Rift, so any comparisons below will be to my most used point of reference, the DK2.
I was greeted by Simon, a thoroughly nice bloke, who walked me though the demos. There were 4 in total. The Blue (an underwater experience), Job Simulator, Space Pirate Trainer, and Tilt Brush. I've linked to videos of each demo, but they are not me, just vids I've found on YouTube of the demo's.
The room was suitably sparse with nothing to trip over other than the cable from the head set itself. The PC and the monitor for Simon to monitor my progress on were in one corner, which had been virtually cordoned off via the Vive's Chaperone system (more on that later).
I put on the headset and had a look around the placeholder grid. Before demo's were loaded there was a grey "space" with two boxes visible, one in front and one behind. Took me a second to figure out what they were, but then clicked that these were the virtual representations of the lighthouses, the sensors that do the tracking. The headset felt about the same weight as the DK2, maybe marginally heavier, but not by much, but was a far more comfortable fit. Simon wandered over and gave me some headphones, and plugged them into the audio jack that's part of the headsets design, meaning that there's no need to go out and spend money on a new wireless headset if you don't already have one, you have one less wire to worry about strangling yourself with. Simon handed me the two controllers which appeared in the VR view, reaching out and grabbing them was a bit of a weird experience, since I was grabbing a real life controller, unable to actually see the real one, just its VR representation, and they were exactly where they were supposed to be. Its a very small thing, but it made a big impression. I was the instructed to walk forwards a couple of paces, a blue wireframe grid faded into view (think a light blue holodeck), the Vive's Chaperone system doing its job nicely. Now safe in the knowledge that I wasn't going to be walking into anything, I returned to my original position, and Simon started the first Demo.
The Blu - WEVR Labs
In this demo you find yourself on the deck of a sunken ship, surrounded by ocean, fish, a stingray, and a rather curious whale. I was immediately struck by the lack of the "screen door" effect which I've accepted as part of my VR experiences for the past year or so. The images were clear, crisp. If you looked really closely you could still see the inter pixel space, but if you focused on the big picture, it was a sight to behold, the level of detail that you could see was fantastic, not the "squint to read the menus" of playing Elite on the DK2. The demo was short, you could walk around the within the defined play space of the room, and it all felt very natural. It would be an excellent intro to VR for someone that has yet to experience it.
Job Simulator - Owlchemy Labs
The next demo was Job Simulator. In this demo I got my first use of the Vive controllers. I was required to take a coffee mug, fill it, drink the coffee, and eat a donut. It took me about a minute to work out the controls, and then the virtual morning ritual was completed. Then I needed to plug in my PC, power it on, and log in and delete all my emails, all completed rather easily. The controllers were incredibly intuitive to use, they are also nice and light, and so prolonged use wont become an issue. The use of my hands to carry out actions in the virtual space was a great feeling, it made the game world that bit more tactile, so just imagine what it could be like if Leap Motion's Orion project gets decent takeup, or was intergrated into VR headsets in future. After eating a donut I found in the bin, throwing up all over my monitor, throwing a ball around the office, photocopying the ball and then throwing two balls around the office, it was the end of the first work day, and just enough time to throw a paper plane at the boss bot.
Space Pirate Trainer - i-illusions
We then moved onto something with a touch of combat. Full disclosure, I absolutely sucked at Space Pirate Trainer, but had great fun with it. You find yourself on a platform, gun in each hand. You are then attacked by ever increasing waves of what I shall refer to as Jedi Training Balls, Shooting lasers are you which you can dodge, physically dodge, now there's a mechanic that I can see taking off in future, physically ducking out of the way as a laser sizzles past your head. Seeing my stuggle, Simon advised that I put my left hand to the shoulder, like I was reaching into an backpack. No longer was I dual weilding pistols, I now had a shield, I still sucked, but at least lasted maginally longer. Again the controllers felt very natural as the grip and trigger of a pistol, and proved that while as a teenager I have earned a marksman badge in the ATC (Air Cadets), my aim had degraded quite considerably in the interveening 18 years. The nature of the 360 degree combat was what also stuck me with this demo, and a good example of why the chaperone system will be needed to stop people getting a bit too immersed and ending up smashing into the fishtank and flooding the living/dining/gaming room.
Tilt Brush - Google
Once upon a time I was an animator, so this was the demo I had most been looking forward too. Tilt Brush is a fully 3d painting program, and what can be achieved and its potential is incredible. Drawing in truely 3d space, being able to walk around your creation, see it from every angle. This for creatives is going to blow their minds, and kids too, the fun they could have drawing in the air, who hasnt tried drawing something in the air with a sprinkler at some point? To truly do this justice though, check out the legendary Glen Keane creating Beast, and Ariel.
Final Thoughts
Well, Im sold. The CV1 Rift and Vive have the same OLED screens in them, and same resolution, so on the back of that, VR is most definately here. The removal/massive reduction of the screen door effect really helps evelate the experience. The additional clarity, helps massively, and is a husge leap forward from the DK2. I did experience some jitter when turning in two of the demo's, if my sense of direction hasnt failed me, I suspect that it was when I was at about 45 degrees to the lighthouses, but its was only slight and didnt really impact the experience, it might however be a bit disconcerting for someone new to VR, or someone that it prone to VR sickness.
The controls are fantastic, responsive, accurate (even if Im not that accurate with them), easy to use, everything you want from a controller really. I do have some concerns as to how many games will actually make use of them properly though, other than being used as a gimmick, and make the contorols a core part of the game mechanics. I can see some devs still going with a keyboard/mouse/gamepad setup for some time yet, but hopefully they will experiment, find out what works, what doesnt, and then move forwards with that.
The tracking was great, and the ability to move around in a standing experience, will for the most part, make VR sickness a thing of the past, that combined with the higher frame/refresh rates. It removes the cognitive dissonance of seeing yourself move "in game" but your body knowing you're sat on your arse in your chair. The Chaperone system works like a charm, and gives you the "safety net" you need to stop you hurting yourself when you're flailing around like a nutter with OLED displays strapped to your head, because lets be honest, if ILM let us loose with Lightsabers in VR, its going to happen.
I hope you find this informative/useful. If you have any specific questions I'll be happy to answer any that I can. Any I cant who knows someone else on the boards might be able to chime in.
-Kev
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