VR Tech Comparision

[steven-king]

Write a 1 to 2-page critique of the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. Explore the different aspects of interaction, graphics, design, software, experience and your own personal opinions. Compare and contrast the two. You can also reference other sources regarding specs, features, speeds, etc.

Post a comment to this issue with your opinion.

[WeijianL1]

Comparison Between HTC VIVE & Oculus Rift

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Honestly speaking, when I heard that HTC was going to collaborate with Valve, one of the most successful video game producers, to create a VR headset in 2014, I didn't expect them to do a better job than Oculus, because the team behind Oculus had started its development since 2011. However, I underestimated the VR technology Valve and HTC processed, and overestimated the Facebook's help after its buying on Oculus. After trying the both headsets, I found that I like HTC VIVE much more than Oculus Rift. My experience on VIVE is more natural, intuitive and comfortable than on Rift. This difference on experience mainly comes from the difference between their function and ways of interaction.

Interaction

• The most special thing about VIVE is that it comes with two lighthouse posts, which enable VIVE to locate and track the movement of the headset and two controllers. This setup enables the player to walk around within an area of 15 feet by 15 feet. Together with the lighthouse system, the two controllers also considerably lift player's experience, because they are player's only connections with the reality while he or she immerse into the virtual world— it is the only thing that a player can see in the virtual world, while touching it in reality. The lighthouse system and controllers all together allow player's movement in virtual world consistent with his or her behavior in reality, which is extremely important for VR experience, because the consistancy of movement can effectively avoid the sickness and dizziness caused by the headset. I guess another reason why Vive support movement tracking is that Valve is a game company, so that Vive is designed to focus on game experience, for which movement is the most significant part.
• Compared with VIVE, even though Rift has exactly tech specs as Vive (such as 90 Hz refresh rate and 1080x1200 resolution per eye ), it doesn't allow users to move around. I tried the Rift after the VIVE, and when I put on the Rift headset, the first thing I did was trying to find my own hands, or the avatars or my hands. Of course I found nothing. That moment made me understand how important VIVE's controllers were. I felt like a disabled person who just got hands chopped off after switching from Vive to Rift. However, this problem might be solved in the future, because before Rift's debut, the team behind Oculus promised the consumers that there would be two controllers coming soon. But another problem might not be that easy to solve. Since Rift doesn't have a powerful tracking system like the lighthouse (even though it comes with a small infrared sensor that can only capture headset's movement within a small range), user can only sit on a chair while wearing a Rift. The problem is that this way of interaction easily makes user sick, at least makes me sick. I played for 15 minutes on VIVE and felt alright, but after playing minecraft and watching a few videos on Rift, I started to feel lightheaded. It was a wierd experience sitting still in reality while running in virtual world.
• Conclusion: I guess the main reason for difference between their ways of interaction is that Valve was very sure that it was going to make a VR headset specifically for video game, while the market positioning of Oculus Rift wasn't that clear. However, HTC VIVE recently opened the lighthouse's API, meaning that anyone can create tracked devices like Vive. I don't know if Oculus will apply this technique.

Graphics & Apps

• The graphics on both devices don't have much difference, because to a large extent, the graphics depend on third-parties who create those apps and games. However, I noticed that most Apps on Vive platform are games like "LAB", "War Thunder" and "Elite", while Apps on HTC are mostly 360 videos.

Design

• The design of Vive is very similar to Rift. One trivial difference is that Vive uses two screens for two eyes, each having a resolution of 1080 x 1200, while Rift has only one screen for two eyes, but also having a resolution of 1080 x 1200 per eye. Another difference is that Rift has a headphone set on the headset, while Vive requires a stand along headphone connecting to it. Rift's headphone somehow improves the situation made by already jumbled cables and cords around your head.

[kchen421]

HTV Vive vs Oculus Rift

Interaction, Experience, and Software

The apps on the Vive were a bit more interactive than those on the Rift, though both the Vive and the Rift seemed like they were more experiential than interactive.

I enjoyed the circus games on the Vive because I had the opportunity to interact with the app and play the circus games (even though I felt awkward because I was acutely aware that there were other people in the room without the headset on and I probably looked really stupid). Still, the circus games were exciting to me specifically because they were so interactive--not because I really enjoy circus games. On the Rift, I really liked the Showdown(?) app because it was more intense than circus games, but I was disappointed to find that it was not like a first person shooter game and I couldn't interact with the app or do anything in it.

The Vive also had virtual grid walls, which the Rift did not, that appeared when I got too close to the walls. I'm not sure if I like them or not, because while I did not bump into tables or walls as I consistently did with the Vive, it took away from the immersion. Each time the virtual wall popped up, I could see the entire rectangle of physical space that I was in, reminding me that I was not actually in the virtual world.

Equipment

The audio and visual quality seemed the same to me on the Vive and the Rift. The graphics on both were high resolution enough for the images to appear real to me, and the audio was generally supplementary to the images.

One of the first things I noticed about the equipment for the Vive and the Rift was how heavy the headsets were, but the weight and size of the headsets are something I expect to change in the future. Additionally, the Vive seemed to have more pieces to it than the Rift, which made getting ready to use the Vive a bit more of a process. The Vive had the headset, the headphones, and two fairly large controllers. It wasn't the most comfortable setup and took some fidgeting to feel almost not uncomfortable. The Rift had only a headset with headphones build in and a smaller clicker/controller. Overall, the Rift had less wires to get tangled in.

Even though there were a lot of pieces with the Vive, I liked having two controllers. It seems more normal and natural to me to have two virtual hands that can control things in the apps, as opposed to the one clicker on the Rift that didn't do much in the apps. Furthermore, I kept trying to point the Rift's clicker at various virtual things in front of me with mixed results until I noticed that there was a small mark in the center of the headset screen. I then realized that I had to aim with the headset and then just click with the controller--my hands didn't need to move. The method of using the hand controllers to control on screen activity, like in the Vive, seems more intuitive to me, since I am used to game consoles such as the Wii, Playstation, and Xbox employing the same type of technology. I suppose the method the Rift used required less physical exertion, but it seemed strange to try and angle my head into the exact position that allowed me to select something on screen.

General Concluding Thoughts

Using the Vive and the Rift in the VR lab was my first experience with virtual reality, and after the initial wonder of it faded, I felt almost disappointed. From everything I had heard about VR, somehow I expected more, though I understand there are other very expensive VR games/equipment/set ups that would provide different experiences than the Vive and the Rift.

Still, I wish there was more interactivity on both the Vive and the Rift. While the experiential apps were interesting to look at, they were interesting for about 10 seconds before I started trying to do something and getting bored when I realized there was nothing to do. I don't think I spent more than 30 seconds in 'The Rose & I' on the Rift before I started trying to close out of it. Like the 360 videos, I think these apps require more storytelling at the very least.

[jvossy]

HTC Vive Versus Oculus Rift

Interaction-

Hands down, I felt the Vive was a more interactive experience. Both headsets are able to provide complete head tracking to allow the viewer to lean into their surroundings and (obviously) observe things around them in full 360, but it takes more than that to feel like you can truly interact with a virtual world. The Vive finds a way to make this work, utilizing full room tracking and haptic feedback in its controllers to make the viewer less of a watcher than a participant. The controllers are amazingly versatile, turning into bows, hands, guns, swords, and apparently anything else. With them in hand, I could feel the resistance from touching things, feel a bowstring being drawn, and the pressure of a balloon. While the sensations were likely nothing like the real ones, they were enough of an approximation to extend the virtual world from my eyes to my hands. On the Rift, I confess that I struggled a bit with the Xbox controller as a means of interacting. In Minecraft, walking with the press of a controller was far more disorienting than the long-range teleport and real-world walking used by most of the games in the Vive. While it did allow for more continuous gameplay (definitely more suited for Minecraft), it was not conducive to the VR experience. While the ability to look around with your own head was neat, it did not feel like I was in the world of blocks, merely that the world looked a bit closer.

Graphics-

Really I'm not sure there was enough of a difference to notice between the Vive and the Rift. Both were sufficiently immersive to draw me in, both put a slight limit on my field of view, and neither disappointed. I could still make out individual pixels wearing both sets, but they were no more noticeable than watching a movie on a generic laptop screen. I'm sure future generations of VR technology will offer better resolution on the hardware end, which only leaves the software the obligation to keep up. Both the Vive and Rift had excellent showcases for their graphics capabilities. On the Rift, the battle scene video (with the car flipping robot) was very impressive in its ability to bring the viewer closer to the action than the traditional screen ever could. On the Vive, the mountaintop landscape was an almost perfect replica of the real world, letting me stand on a mountain hundreds of miles away from a basement in North Carolina. I'm fairly confident they could both offer the experience of the other- perhaps in the future I should try watching the same 360 video or playing the same VR game to have a better model of comparison, but for now they stand on very equal graphical footing.

Design-

The Rift was definitely a "clearer" device, with its smooth surfaces, single wire, and built-in headphones. Getting into it is as easy as slipping it on and sitting down. The Vive requires external headphones and more wires- cluttering and tangling the user despite its encouragement of more user motion. It's a bit more of a hassle to put on, as you have to get on the headset, then the headphones, then grab the controllers- but a small price for the greater depth they give the experience.

Software-

I was pleasantly surprised by the user interfaces utilized by the Vive. In a new environment without the traditional keyboard/mouse inputs to rely on, the use of what appear to be physical buttons in many of the games for the user to reach out and touch worked surprisingly well. What caused me some regret was that some of them reacted to your hand simply being near them, while others required a button press too in order to activate their function. This led to some confusion when I tried to just tap virtual buttons in games that required a trigger pull too. But my guess is a standard will gradually emerge, and future applications will offer more conforming performance. The Rift uses much closer to a traditional interface, with its home screen appearing to be a floating screen in a virtual room in which the useer sits. This requires the user to utilize the Xbox controller to make selections. While this is likely intuitive to many users, it's nothing revolutionary. In terms of applications/games available on either, my understanding is that everything that runs on the Vive is available on the Rift, but not vice versa due to some exclusive contracts drawn up by the executives of Rift. It's also a bit counterintuitive, as the Rift definitely lacks many of the hardware interactiveity that Vive games rely on. But a little poking around on the web suggests that people have gotten Rift exclusives to run on the Vive, although Rift has put significant effort into making that as difficult as possible. Ironically, this makes me less of a fan of the Rift, as seeking exclusives is a cheap way to get more sales without actually creating a better product yourself, and their descision to line up exclusives suggests they do not believe they have a better product.

Experience and Overall impression-

On the whole, the Vive offered a much more immersive and complete experience. The usage of hand controllers adds significantly to a sense of presence in the virtual world. Reaching out yourself to touch the virtual world adds something an Xbox controller can't compare to. I do like the Rifts usage of a living room environment as its home page. It helps it keep up on immersion when the Vive creates a blatantly digital space with blocky windows straight from the desktop superimposed. Admittedly, the Vive also makes up for it by allowing the user to just point at their selection instead of maneuvering with buttons. While neither offered a perfect experience, the Vive outstripped the Rift in a few important ways, relying on clever uses of well-designed controllers and a full-room environment to create a more convincingly real world in an empty room.

[Elaine0226]

Interaction&Software: HTC Vive did a better job in interaction. It seems to be an independent system while you are in a big lab and you can walk around and explore what to play with. Using Oculus Rift, every time I want to change the game, I have to put down the equipment and choose which game I wanna play from the computer. Basing on my own experience, people need time to get used to a new environment and be fully engaged. Thus, putting device up and down will not be a good choice. On the other hand, since it has a big lab, HTV Vive encourage you to spend more time on it. For the equipment, I like the handles in HTC as well. Although it took me a while to get used to my handle, it is pretty natural for me to use it afterwards. Pulling the trigger is quite similar to grab something in our daily life. The sensor of handle in HTC is nice, reaction is smooth and barely make mistake in locating the handles. I also like the wall that HTC Vive set according to the actual environment. It largely protect the users from hurting himself. One thing I would recommend HTV to improve is that if someone else who is not wearing headset runs into the VR, the sensor could tell that and protect the users from hurting other people as well.

Design&Graphic : I like the design in both devices. However, one thing that worth mentioning is that I feel dizzy jumping up and down when playing Minecraft in Oculus Rift. The interaction is good though.I had a really good experience watching a cartoon video in Oculus Rift. The image quality is high and although it was talking about a story happened in space, it did a pretty good job in storytelling and angle choose. A boy was sitting on a star and walked towards me. When I turned around to see the back of the star, the image smoothly changed to a boy walking away from me. This experience also reminds me of the importance of high quality video if we are going to produce one. Staring at the screens on laptop or television, it is acceptable for us to see the image not clearly as we see using bare eye. Our brain knows that the image we see is on a screen which is not real at all. However, as long as I put on my VR device, my brain is assuming that I am in a new world and everything I see should be as clear as I see in the real world. Thus, I got immersed when watching the whale video in HTC since it was so clear. On the contrary, when I put on the google cardboard and put my phone on the back of board, I don’t feel very comfortable with it. When I watch any 360 video I try to convince myself that I am in a new world , but every time I see the pixels on my screen(which is good enough for a 10 bucks VR device), I feel detached and am not able to believe that I am in a “real” VR.

Experience & Opinion: One thing I don’t like about HTC Vive is its headphone. In the demo video shown in HTC Vive website, the user just need to put on one device, which is wireless and includes earphones. However, when I was using it, I had to put on the headset first and then comes the headphone. Not only it is heavy and troublesome, the wires of both headphone and Vive tangled together as I moved or turned around. The experience in VR lab reminds me of how important shooting angle, smoothness and camera steadiness are for 360 video we are going to produce. Jumping from an establishing shot to a close-up may be a nice montage film language, but is definitely not a good VR language. Viewers will be confused about how they move from one place to another and we as producers should think carefully before shooting and make the movement logical when editing.

[leslieunc]

HTC Vive Vs Oculus Rift

Interaction & Software Obviously the HTC Vive was much better in this category since we could actually interact with the games and walk around, providing a more immersive environment. I liked having two controllers are my main methods of interaction and control in this world because I’m used to using remotes and hands in the real world as well. These controllers also mimicked whatever we were supposed to be holding so I felt vibrations from pulling an arrow on a bowstring, the pressure from whacking heads in the carnival game, etc. I enjoyed the physical buttons that were intertwined with the VR options. While I see mixed opinions on the grids that appeared when you got too close to other objects in the room, I liked this aspect of the Vive because it allowed me to relax and feel safe in the experience.

As for the Oculus Rift we had to use our head to point at things and I had to have Steven tell me this as I trouble navigating as first. This was a slightly more odd sensation I just pointed my head at instructions and held still while it registered the command. Standing still while “moving” around in the environments made me dizzy and in fact, I still have a headache from the VR experience in the shooter game. I sat down for a less dramatic video about Henry the Hedgehog and this was significantly more enjoyable. The Oculus Rift is an add-on for the X-box and I see this as a smart business decision as gamers would look into it for their console.

Graphics Both graphics looked similar in terms of quality. I found it impressive that the ocean environment with the whale on the Vive legitimately terrified me. I’ve seen videos of people interacting with VR sets and it’s funny when people are scared of whatever it is they’re seeing because all we see is people with a headset on freaking out. Being on the other end of it though was not as funny and I now have a better understanding of why people react with such real emotion to the projected images. I was impressed because I’ve never had an experience with VR before but I expect we’ll come to have higher and higher expectations for higher resolution graphics.

Design The most bulky aspect of the Vive were the many wires coming from the headset. I could feel them on my torso as I moved around, detracting from the immersive environment. Bulgarian company Quark VR is working a Vive prototype with wireless connectivity. This is a wi-fi add-on which connects to the existing wires. The main drawback to this is that VR is a data heavy application so the wi-fi may break up as it struggles to connect. If this creates a time delay, it’ll lag the VR immersion and may induce nausea. The Rift was easier to put on with less wires and it’s built-in moveable earpieces. I noticed that this headset didn’t fit as nicely on my head though I could still see a small opening between my eyes no matter how I adjusted it.

Experience and Overall Impression I definitely enjoyed the HTC Vibe much more as I prefer the interaction it provides. Being able to read out and grab things, throw them, and see it’s effects in the game provided a much more immersive experience. Initially, I was astounded to look down at my hands and see the game-like clown hands moving around instead. I’m not currently a fan of the Oculus Rift since I’m still suffering a headache from it’s videos. They were both impressive though, with different options to explore. The one game I wasn’t impressed with was the Meditation environment for the Vibe. I found it to be overwhelming for a s supposed mediation experience with the music and futuristic empty environment design. I felt like I was standing in a void. Overall though, VR is definitely heading in the right direction and I expect their games to become even more nuanced and tailored to user experience as time goes on.

[emhoo]

Before this class, I had already had a good bit of interaction with VR on the Samsung Gear. Because of this, I already had a good baseline for what VR worked like. However, I was really excited to experience some of the higher level VR devices like the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. That being said, I found that I was far more impressed with the Vive. The Oculus wasn’t bad at all, but because I had used the Gear already it didn’t feel as new to me.

Interaction and Software

As far as interaction goes the Vive definitely won by a landslide. The most notable aspects were the rumbling of the handheld controllers and the ability to establish a “walk room”. Being able to walk around in the virtual space you created is so unique and adds to the entire experience greatly. It made me feel more immersed in the game as opposed to the Oculus, which used a stable viewpoint and no walking. Additionally, the Vive controllers provided yet another unique way to interact with the virtual environment. I loved how there was rumble feedback when your “hands”, “swords”, or anything else the controllers represented came in contact with each other or other objects in the game. The Oculus did have its own set of controls, but it was more like you were just playing normal video games while seeing things in a different view. However, I did find the “robot battle” game/experience to be super cool.

The software for both was very impressive, although the games I interacted with on the Vive were a little more impressive to me. In particular, I found the underwater observation game to be the most amazing software-wise. The entire environment seemed to be animated, but the quality and realism of the image made it feel as if I was in the center of a nature documentary.

Graphics and Design

The graphics of both sets were fairly advanced compared to what you would expect. I think that it’s hard enough to make a good VR app or game, so the fact that they were both able to integrate very acceptable graphics was really awesome to me.

The physical design of the two was slightly different, but still very reminiscent of the standard VR headset to me. The Vive did have a fair amount of external wires due to the intense processing methods, but I’m interested to see if they will be able to make it more compact like the Oculus one day.

Overall Experience and Opinions

Overall, I honestly thought they were both great. I did enjoy the Vive more, but I think that was just because it felt the newest to me due to my VR experience. I thought the Oculus was a good step up from the Gear VR than I’m used to, and the possibility to integrate it with Xbox games presents so many great opportunities for both developers and players. I can’t wait to see the apps and games that are continually developed for both. Personally, I would love to see a strong divide between the two in the future so that each can focus on their strengths. I realize this may not be a popular opinion, but I would like to see the Vive keep its unique handsets and I would like to see the Oculus develop their own strengths in the world of VR gaming.

[igjosey]

HTC Vive vs. Oculus Rift

Interaction From what I experienced in the VR lab the HTC Vive is a much more interactive platform. With the rendered representations of the two controllers, I felt like I could directly interact with the environment that was generated around me. The Xbox controller that I used to interact with the world in the Oculus felt clunky, especially because I did not know the exact placement of the buttons that I was supposed to press to play. I had to go by feel with the Oculus where I could just look down at the controllers with the Vive. The biggest interactive issue with the HTC Vive was the cords hanging out of the back of the device. I felt like I had to constantly worry about stepping on or getting tangled in the cord.

Graphics From what I researched the Oculus and the Vive have that same overall resolution per eye. They each show 1080x1200 pixels per eye. I enjoyed how the graphics in the Vive changed in respect to where I was in 3d space where the oculus only tracked my motion rotationally, like a 360 video. I believe the oculus has the ability to track where I am in 3d space but I did not get to experience that in the lab.

Design The Oculus has the advantage over the Vive in this category. The cord that hangs out of the back of the Vive really kills it in terms of design for me. I also enjoyed the integrated headphones in the Oculus. They really made it feel like an all-in-one package. I felt that the Vive was a much more powerful device, with a more crude form factor. Both devices were similarly comfortable on my face, but again I have to give the comfort edge to the Oculus because it weighs less.

Personal Opinions If I had to pick one of the virtual reality devices I would go with the Oculus Rift even though I think the Vive is, overall, a better device. The comfort factor of the Oculus Rift give it a huge advantage because I feel like I could use it for more time. I disliked being tethered in the Vive too. Practically the price point of the Vive is much higher than the Oculus. An Oculus costs $599 while the Vive costs $799. Additionally I believe the Oculus would have more potential if it could integrate some of the best aspects of the Vive like the rendered controller or the digital fence that keeps you from bumping into walls.

[madisonwalls]

HTC Vive vs. Oculus Rift

Interaction and Experience

This was my very first experience with a virtual reality headset apart from Google Cardboard, so regardless of the device; it was an out of this world experience (punny right?). However, even as someone brand new to the headset, I could still tell a clear difference between the two. As many other people have already mentioned, I liked the HTC Vive over the Oculus Rift. Generally, I thought it excelled in all areas and included more features that made me stay engaged and interested a little longer.

With the Vive, you got to be in a different world, move around freely and engage with elements around you all thanks to the two controllers. I actually felt like it was necessary to walk around and move while wearing the Vive, whereas the Oculus did not entice me to move. Instead, I felt myself staying stationary and occasionally turning my body around.

The controllers also made the user more sensitive to the actions they were doing. The vibrations from whacking a carnival game hammer or hitting another object added another layer on top of the visual experience. I can only imagine this technology getting better as we move to “gloves” which allow our hands to have full range of motion in virtual reality.

Graphics/Software

The graphics on both devices went far beyond my expectations. However, I felt motion sickness while using both headsets and found the Oculus Rift programs using slow motion for high action moments to combat this effect. This motion sickness could just be from my unfamiliarity of the technology.

Besides this, the graphics did exactly what they were supposed to do. While standing on the mountain in the Vive, Joe told me to step off the edge of the cliff, and I couldn’t do it. The graphics made me feel like I was standing on a real cliff, and I wasn’t going to find out what happened if I stepped off. Similarly, I found myself backing up as the whale moved closer and closer to me, as if stepping back in the physical world could prevent me from hitting the whale in the virtual world.

In my opinion, there were not a lot of differences between the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive graphically. The user interface and software is where I found most of my differences. I think they both did a good job of incorporating “buttons” into the virtual world, but it still felt a little unnatural for the Vive. I think pushing my hand through a button will take some getting use to, but on top of that, I felt like the software became a challenge when I was using the controller to both point to where I wanted to go and trying to push buttons simultaneously. I actually liked how the Oculus Rift used your eyes as where the “cursor” was and a simple push of a button on a controller stick confirmed the decision.

Design

This category is definitely where both products could use some improvements. The Vive did not feel incredibly heavy on my head, but I got tangled in the cords multiple times. Part of the reason I was afraid to move around so much was because I didn’t want to trip over a cord that I couldn’t see. Since I didn’t move as much with the Oculus, I didn’t notice it as much. I actually found an article about a “backpack” they are trying to make, which would allow you to walk around more freely with the Vive. Check it out here: https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/12/msi/

The design of the controllers works really well for all those gamers out there. Me, however, not so much. As someone who would use this technology for more than just video, I sometimes felt uncomfortable with the controllers, and didn’t understand why I had them during the whale experience.

Overall, the two headsets offer a unique experience, but the Vive proved to immerse the user just a little further into the virtual world.

[alexisbarnes]

Overall, I liked the experience with the Vive more. I liked the interaction. The circus game was fun. The graphics enhanced the game because they looked so real. I appreciated how the instructions were set up on the board to show you how to play. “The Whale Encounter” was also pretty neat in terms of graphics. The graphics looked really good. I actually got a little nervous when the whale got up close. The only thing I didn’t like the Vive was that I felt limited to where I could go because I knew I was in a room, but I also knew the headset was attached to a cord to the computer. I was nervous I was going to go too far. But none of the games we played required too much movement, so that was good. One small detail that I also really liked about the Vive was that when you looked down you could see the remotes you held in your hand. I thought that was really smart because you obviously can’t see the buttons on the controllers with the headset on.

The Oculus was fun to experience also. The “Fear” experience wasn’t all of that, but I came across this music video that was pretty cool to watch in the headset. The video where the people were fighting that alien, robot thing was pretty cool. When the video was moving closer to the alien, I wanted to run the opposite direction. All of the graphics looked realistic. You were really immersed into the experience and felt like you were there. Even though I liked the interaction of the Vive, the videos I watched in the Oculus didn’t make me feel like I needed or wanted to interact with what was going on. I liked standing there and looking around and taking in the experience.

The audio for both of these were great also. That also helped immerse you into the experience. There are a couple of negatives for both of these when trying to think of ways of incorporating them into the future. They are both big, heavy, clunky headsets. I don’t know how long I would actually want to wear the headset before I get tired and want to take it off. These are ran on like gaming computers, so I wouldn’t buy a whole computer just to use these. They are cool, but are too expensive for a common person to want get one. So I guess the idea is to find a way to implement the experience of these systems and apply them to systems that are more accessible by the public.

[kwboyd]

(The Vive wasn't working during my session, so this is just my thoughts on the Rift.)

Interaction: The apps I tried on the Rift did not feature much interaction besides clicking or looking at things. I personally did not love the look-to-click feature of the interaction. It’s nice that it allows a hands-free experience, but I found myself accidentally looking at things and having to look away in time to avoid selecting them. The remote with a button was preferable to me.

Graphics: I’m not sure if it took a while for my eyes to adjust or if it was part of the video, but the first part of the Surge music video was blurry for me and I was a bit disappointed, thinking that the rest of the experience would be like that. It got better within a minute though, and I ended up really surprised by how impressive the graphics were. The illusion of depth was very high quality and believable. I thought the Showdown video was a great display of the capabilities of the ability to create an immersive environment. I am not sure how a live-action 360 video would look in the Rift, but I’m curious to find out. Even with the Cardboard, I found myself preferring the animated and computer-generated graphic videos, as the slight blurriness of the experience was frustrating and hurt the immersion greatly when it was live-action but did not affect my experience as much with the animated ones.

Design: The design of the Rift was pretty comfortable and easy to use. I liked that it was easily adjustable, had built-in headphones, and did not have a lot of wires connected. It did not feel too bulky, but I still couldn’t imagine using it comfortably for a long period of time. A few times I got a little motion sickness when using it, especially if I happened to catch a glimpse of the room from under the headset.

Experience: This was my first time using VR (excluding cardboard) and I really enjoyed the overall experience using the Rift. I did wish for more interaction, which it seems like the Vive offers. I thought that the Rift was going to be either too bulky to be comfortable, too blurry, or difficult to set up, so I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth the experience was. This smoothness may have been a result of the less interactive quality of the Rift, though. If I had been walking around, I’m sure the headset would have felt heavier. Overall though, I think the Rift shows great potential, but I do think it needs more interactivity.

[pseelinger]

After using both the Vive and the Rift, I think i was a bigger fan of the Vive. However, there is definitely some room for improvement and things it can take away from what the Rift got right.

First off, the Vive was more comfortable to wear, despite the wire coming out of the back of it. The Rift wasn't necessarily uncomfortable, but I felt like I was paying less attention to how the Vive felt on my face while i was using it. This led to a more immersive experience. However, the wire on the Vive did break immersion when I turned around and got a bit tangled in it. The Rift didn't have this problem as I was stationary throughout the entire experience with it. This was actually one of the biggest differences, though. The Vive allowed me to move around and really experience the environment, where the Rift had me stay in place. I really enjoyed being able to explore the world around me through movement and I did my own Pit test in a way by trying to step over the mountain in the Vive. Much like the first Pit testers, i couldn't actually bring myself to do it.

I didn't notice any major difference in graphics between the two, but I did feel like the Vive's environment were much "bigger." Maybe this is because I could move around in them, but I think this might also have to do with how perspective was rendered by the machines. There were few times in the Rift that I was smaller than most of my world, and those few times were quite striking. On the other hand, the Vive seemed to present things in a more life-sized way, such as the whale or the mountain scene. The two scenes I can think of in the Rift were the "people" walking in the music video and the robot at the end of the battle video. One thing I'll note is that the robot's face in that one got too close to where I was so that I saw the inside of its head at the end of the video. It was till frightening at first to have it jump out like that, but that went away very quickly when the graphics started glitching out.

Sound was done much better on the Rift, though. Having the headphones attached to the device made me less aware that the sound was coming from an external source. The Vive's headphones pressed on my ears, meaning I could feel them. This is the one way in which I think the actual design of the Rift was more immersive. The headphones on the Vive also had more wires, meaning more things I could get tangled in and more opportunities to break the immersion.

Like I said, I think the Vive had a more immersive experience and one I enjoyed more than the Rift. However, the design of the Vive allowed for more opportunities to break the immersion. Thankfully this didn;t happen a ton while I was using it, but I could see a user getting frustrated with all the wires. The Rift handled sound better, and both did great on graphics. I think the Vive rendered perspective more dramatically, while the Rift seemed to limit itself to small rooms or streets. Both had great aspects, and I think if we combined the design of the Rift with the immerison and interactivity of the Vive, we would get the ideal (for now at least) VR headset.

[nicholaseb]

HTC Vive v. Oculus Rift

I loved the interaction with the HTC Vive. After experiencing the immersion that the Vive offers, the Rift felt very limiting. I would look down at my hands and feel very disappointed that I couldn’t see them; it broke the magic of the virtual reality. In comparison the motion controllers on the Vive were exciting and I really enjoyed learning how to use them within the Carnival game. It felt actually like learning a new skill rather than just existing or interacting passively.

The Vive simply is a more advanced and more immersive virtual reality platform. The ability to use your hands is a layer on agency that the Rift can’t compete with. Additionally, the ability to walk around in such a large space was quite cool.

I had used the Vive once before my visit to the VR Lab, and this time I decided to push the boundaries of the space. I experimented with walking over the edge of a cliff to see if I would experience fear; I can’t say that I was actually scared, but I did have to build up some confidence to walk over the edge of the virtual abyss.

I was impressed with the graphics on both of the platforms. My favorite activity on the Rift was the robot invasion simulation; I was very impressed with how I could pivot myself within the slow motion action scene to see different sides of the elements within the program. I also really liked being immersed in a music video experience, however that experience wasn’t exclusive to the Rift (I think music videos are my favorite kind of VR media).

On both platforms I was distracted by the pixelation with in the headset (I could see the pixels on the display). The headset displays are an obvious bottleneck in the effectiveness of the system, and I think will improve exponentially. The actual content on both platforms was excellent and I was pleasantly surprised how smooth it was, but the displays didn’t do it justice.

I did notice that the Vive was a bit heavier than the Rift, and it was definitely pressing harder on my face than the Rift. Additionally, I really preferred the audio experience on the Vive. I thought that the built in headphones on the Rift were clunky and I had a hard time getting them comfortably on my ears; it was distracting to have to adjust the headset during use. For both headsets I didn’t like how I could see down my nose out of the view of the screens. It is possible that I didn’t take the time to fit either of them properly, but it was another element that distracted from my experience.

Overall it seems to me that I could have the same viewing experience on the Vive as could have on the Rift, however the Vive just has more features. At this point both systems are basically out of the price range of the average consumer; I don't think either of these platforms will be widely adopted yet. A large issue is the massive processing power required on a PC to use either system. I think it's a great idea for Sony to use the Playstation platform to make this more accessible to the average person (or average gamer).

If I had to recommend or buy a VR headset I would definitely choose the Vive.

[dottieblyth]

Interaction/Experience Like most have already pointed out, I think one of the best features about the HTC Vive is its interactivity, which gives an automatic edge over the Oculus Rift. Not only that, but the interactivity in the system is well-integrated and feels very intuitive. When I put on the headset for the first time and held the clickers in my hand, the way they moved along with my hands felt so life-like and real that I forgot I was in VR and I ended up clunking them together trying to clap (oops). The haptic feedback also added another dimension to the interaction; I could feel myself immersed in the virtual world. I especially loved shooting arrows in the Carnival game on the Vive because it felt like I was actually pulling the arrows back. It was also cool seeing how all the elements in the game would interact with each other (ex: I could use one arrow to pick up another). Being able to wander in my “virtual space” was a fun experience and the grids that popped up when you got too close to a wall/table were helpful, but I still found myself scared to wander off too far even if there were no grids. The hardware is a drawback for me because I was afraid I would walk too far from the computer and yank out the wires, or that I would trip on them.

While the Oculus didn’t provide the interactive experience the Vive did, I still had a good overall experience with it. The most noticeable (positive) difference I had with the Oculus was its hardware. I liked the headset a lot better as it felt more snug (I have a small head) and the headphones did not feel as heavy as with the Vive. It was easier to put on and adjust. I did get dizzy at times when I tried the Oculus on though, for example during a trip music video. I watched another movie, a short animated film called “Henry,” on the Oculus while sitting on a chair which helped with the dizziness and instead put your focus on the story. I did not like the spider video on the Oculus because I got easily bored. I found myself skipping though parts when the narrator was talking and instead would look around the room. I’m not afraid of spiders like some people are but it felt like the VR was almost unnecessary because nothing really happened. I almost feel like that video would have been better for the Vive because you could get haptic feedback or you could place it “virtually” on your hand.

Software Comparing the two, I definitely felt how the Oculus and Rift were different and how they can be used for different purposes. From what I saw, the Vive felt more like a serious gaming/teaching experience while the Oculus was focused more on storytelling. I enjoyed playing with the Vive’s software more just because I was actually doing something. I did feel at times (on some apps) that it was not too intuitive and I had to wander/toggle with the clicker for a bit to find out how to use the controls. In both devices, the calibration in the software worked great and was very accurate. Just looking at a spot in the virtual world and clicking a physical button was all it took to exit or change an app. The startup menus were both pretty similar in the fact that they had a virtual library you could browse through, but I thought the Oculus’ living room was better simply because it mimics the “real” world more. Another minor thing about the Vive (that could probably be easily changed) is that it thought I was taller than I actually am, which made me feel like I had to exaggerate some of my motions.

Graphics/Design I actually liked the graphics better on the Oculus Rift, because I felt like they were clearer and were designed for consumption rather than interactivity. While not immersive like the Vive, I still felt part of that world (like with the monster/action scene) which made me feel both a) dizzy and b) like I was really there moving in slow motion. The graphics in the music video were also really detailed which I enjoyed, and the short “Henry” in the Oculus looked like a well-designed 3D movie in 360.

With the Vive, because I was constantly moving/interacting with the world, I felt like I could never just enjoy the graphics and design. Sometimes they got a little fuzzy on the carnival scene but not to the point that they were glitching. The graphics for the whale video was one that stands out though and the surround-sound audio also adds to both of the VR headset’s design.

Overall Impressions My favorite VR experiences I was able to experience would have to be playing the carnival games (popping the balloons was fun!), the Oculus music video, the whale (Vive) and Henry (for the cute story). Besides the carnival games, the other three I liked were the experiential movies, which I thought was interesting because I was more excited to test out the Vive’s interactivity.

If I had to chose one to own I would chose the Oculus because I think I would use it more. While the HTC is really cool, setting it up is a longer process and I don't feel like I would use it as much in my life. Overall it depends on what I want to get out of VR.

[bpho]

Oculus Rift Review

Unfortunately the HTC Vive wasn't working properly during my lab session so this review will be solely focused on the Oculus Rift.

Software The 15 minutes I had with the Oculus Rift wasn't really enough for me to form a judgment on its software. None of the demos provided a gaming experience, but the device seemed to function pretty well with high resolution displays such as the last demo. There was no lag or any malfunction to the application running.

While switching between demos, it seemed like you can only accomplish it using the PC the Oculus Rift was hooked up to. The experience could be improved if you were able to access the menu containing all the games using the headset itself. I did however enjoy the fact that the Rift provided a dot to indicate where your line of sight currently is, making it extremely easy to make a selection without using a controller.

Interaction There wasn’t much interaction within the demos on the Oculus Rift except for using the controller to proceed in the “Fearless" demo. It was very much just a spectator’s experience as movement was restricted and you could really only use your head to view your surroundings. I enjoyed the music video and gaming battle scene demos, which made me nauseas at first because of the sudden change in perspective. It didn’t take long until my eyes and my mind adjusted to the virtual reality to a point where I actually felt somewhat immersed in the environment. As mentioned before, the whole experience would’ve felt more realistic if movement was involved as well as vibration feedback which I’m guessing the Vive was able to provide. For now, the Rift’s experience wasn’t any different from what I could get using my Google Cardboard.

Graphics and Design The graphics of the Rift varied depending on the demo. The quality seemed very low resolution and pixelated throughout the music video especially looking at the “northern lights” replication. Maybe it was done intentionally since the graphics improved significantly for the battle scene demo, but there were definitely some visual aspects of the music video that could’ve been better. The graphics of “fearless” were plain but provided enough detail to give off a realistic vibe. The shadows casted by the cabinet against the wall and the contouring of the furniture was well done. I think I spent more time just exploring the room and furniture rather than the actual focus of the demo.

The design of the Oculus Rift was as expected. It’s similar to how a lot of VR devices are built and designed, and was surprisingly lightweight. The design is very minimal as you can’t get more generic than a black box. I didn’t like how flimsy the headphones felt and how small they were. I expected the Oculus Rift to fully enclose my face -covering my eyes all the way to the back of my ears- instead of having a slight separation.

Experience This was my first time using an actual VR headset besides the Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear and I must say, the fitting and overall comfort of the Oculus Rift on my head was a little disappointing. When I used my friend's Samsung Gear, I felt physically immersed into the environment, as the Gear left no breach between my face and the display on the actual device. I could see through the slot where the device sat on my nose and there was plenty of empty space between the screen and the rest of the device, while wearing the Oculus Rift. The attached headphones weren't that great at reducing outside noises around me and struggled to fit properly on my ears. This interrupted a large chunk of my experience as I couldn't really enjoy the immersion without noticing these faults in the build quality. Even though the Oculus Rift is a much more powerful device -powered by a gaming PC as opposed to the Google Cardboard/Samsung Gear which uses a smartphone device- it failed to impress me in the "virtual reality" aspect of the experience.

[ZhenweiZhang1995]

HTC vive VS Oculus Rift

Interaction

HTC vive did a better job in interaction. It provides a much more immerse environment than Oculus did. First of all, the biggest difference I notice is the controller. The controllers of HTC vive are fantastic, the two controller mimic user’s hands pretty well and make me feel more real when I am in the virtual world. I feel like I can use my hand to grab, throw, paint or even shooting. And when I am pulling an arrow, I can even feel the vibration and pressure from the controller. On the other hand, Oculus rift uses the controller of an Xbox one. It makes me feel familiar and easy to use because I have my own xbox and I use the controller pretty often. However, the problem is, when you have your headset on, you won’t be able to recognize the buttons on the controller. If I am a first time user, I am pretty sure I will not be able to do anything with the controller in the first few minutes. And also, comparing with the two controller setting by HTC Vive, the xbox controller for Oculus Rift make me feel more like I am playing a game rather than experience the virtual world. But, according to the news I saw earlier, Oculus will release their own controllers very soon. It will be able to detect natural gesture and movement. I think it will definitely improve the user experience for Oculus.

And also, I found that I can move around with a HTC vive, but I am not able to walk around on a Oculus Rift. When I was playing the HTC vive, I can go straight to the cliff, walk towards a whale under the sea or even grab the ball 5 meters ahead of me. However, on a Oculus rift, I am not able to go around but wait there and see what would happen. In this way, HTC is apparently more interactive than Oculus rift, thought the fact that they have the same resolution and 90 Hz refresh rate.

Graphics and games

I think the graphic on both devices are basically the same and depend very much on the apps that is running. The mountain top landscape is my best and truly made me believe the landscape was real. But I think Oculus should have similar videos and I just haven’t seen it yet. Another game I enjoyed is the Minecraft on Oculus. Personally, I am a big fan of Minecraft and have been playing it for a long time. I think Minecraft may be one of the most suitable games for a VR device.

Overall

Overall, both of HTC vive and Oculus are great VR sets. However, if I can choose, I would pick HTC for now because it seems to be able to interact more with player. But just like what I said, after oculus has release the new-designed controller, it would become better. And by that time, the biggest difference on two device would be different games. And I am pretty sure that with the support from Facebook and Steam, there would be a lot of new games coming very soon.

[sjyan]

Oculus Rift Review

Unfortunately, like a few others, the HTC Vive was not working during my appointment, so I will only elaborate on the Rift for now.

Software

There isn't too much to say here: the software was simple and intuitive, and the controls were smooth; I don't really have any complaints there. It is generally tough to make thorough judgments about the quality of the software when you are focusing on the immersive experience and lending yourself to a "new world", for which the Oculus Rift may be more suitable for - there is potentially more room for a visually/audibly stunning experience though overall it is void of any interaction aside from voice and clicking.

Interaction

There wasn't much of this besides handling the controller in the fearless demo. I had urges to touch things and found myself trying to dodge debris and bullets in the last demo. I get the feeling this is a pitfall of the Oculus Rift compared to the HTC Vive, which many have praised. Because of the novelty of the Oculus Rift to me, I found myself looking around a lot and testing the sensitivity of the headset instead of what of the intended purpose of the various demos, which usually has some sort of focal point - for the music video: the moving blocks, for the fearless demo: the screen and voice-over, for the battlefield demo: the destructive machine. I feel like this aspect is one of the most key to having a truly immersive virtual reality experience, so the HTC Vive probably has a big advantage in this sense.

Graphics/Design

The graphics were clear enough to facilitate a good immersive experience, but they are nothing stellar in my opinion. It's powerful enough to support diverse and different experiences. The Oculus Rift is built like your typical headset - unlike some who say it feels surprisingly lightweight, it looked and felt clunky to me. I guess something I look for in the immersive experience is to feel as if I am the most minimal version of myself in the virtual world and not hooked up to anything external - so in short the lightweightedness of the medium is critical for me, and the Oculus Rift did the sound aspect justice by making the ear pieces light foam that just fall over your ears. In regards to the visuals, there is a little crease between the eyes that lets you look down at your feet and possibly inadvertently lets you escape the experience temporarily - whether this is a design requirement or not, I do think it takes a bit away from the immersiveness.

Experience

Generally, it was comfortable, enjoyable, and immersive - at the end of the session, I did find myself wanting more of it. I will however admit that I went in assuming for a big jump in the quality of experience based on my only experiences with virtual reality being in a little cardboard box like many others. I found that I could immerse myself if I let myself, but it was also just as easy to jump back out of the virtual world into reality. I noticed that the headphones were probably intended to be very light as if they aren't even there in the first place in order to further the immersiveness a notch. I found myself wanting to explore the worlds presented to me - I got a little ahead of myself and wound up embarrassingly bumping my head into a wall, which the HTC Vive probably would have prevented.

[gracerenCia]

Oculus Rift Review

Interaction

Due to technical difficulties, the VIVE wasn't working, so I was only able to interact with the Oculus. Except the Fearless software, I didn't feel like there was much interaction with the Oculus and the main part of my experience was viewing the scenes in the Oculus rather than interacting with the software. Even with Fearless, interaction was minimal.

Design & graphics

The graphics in Oculus Rift, although still can be identified as virtual, was pretty realistic. The experiencer is able to look up and down and around, and in the last part where there were debris and bullets flying around, I was dodging and turning because I felt like things were flying into my face. With the first software, although the graphics were very mesmerizing, it felt a little pixelated. My favorite design was Fearless, when I looked down and dodged under the table to examine, it was designed in details, and when I looked back and around, it really felt like I was sitting in a chair.

Experience / Opinions

The overall experience was good for me, but I wish that there was more interaction, as Oculus wasn't really particularly exciting in the sense that I was hoping I could move around and maybe touch things in the VR world. I also was a little dizzy after. The headset was comfortable and the headphones worked pretty well, but in between the ocular lenses there was a little gap for the nose and I could peak outside so it lowered the level of realistic-ness for me. Overall it was really fun and I look forward to experiencing the VIVE when it's fixed.

[Graydorsett]

VIVE vs Oculus

Interaction/Experience

• The Vive by far offered better interaction with it’s motion controllers.  You weren’t just an observer to the digital world like I felt in the Oculus, but a part of it.  Looking down and seeing the controllers as I moved them really immersed me in the world, especially during the carnival game when they became my hands.  Being able to reach out and grab something in virtual reality, pulled me in and was enhanced by the controller design.  The controllers are very ergonomic and feel like you have a slightly open hand.  Pressing the controllers button to grab something, felt natural like I was squeezing my hand around that virtual object.  This level of interaction, helped trick my brain into thinking what was around me was real, providing a higher level of anxiety when looking over a high ledge.

• The Oculus on the other hand was really cool, but didn’t feel like the future.  The interaction was hindered by the xbox controller, and I felt like I was at the next level of an Imax movie experience or television, not another world.  However, Oculus is gearing up to release their motion controllers in the coming months adding this interactivity, but I don’t know if the controllers will be visible in the virtual environment.

Graphics

• I didn’t recall too much of a graphics difference between the VIVE and Oculus, but the resolution difference was immediately apparent. The Oculus was a far higher resolution than the Vive, offering a more premium viewing experience than interaction. I was quite surprised at the resolution of the VIVE and it kind of reminded me of using the Google Cardboard on my iPhone. Having a higher resolution made the Oculus feel like a more premium content viewing device, but still didn’t make up for the lack of interaction. Though the VIVE had a lower resolution, the level of interaction quickly made me look past it and feel immersed.

Design/Software

• Though the VIVE had a better VR experience and level of interaction, the Oculus had a better UX/UI and cleaner navigation.  The VIVE felt more tied to the computer, needing to leave the experience to choose another game on steam.  The VR dashboard was just a ported over version of the steam interface which was great on the computer, but not for VR.  The items were too close to each other and all together it wasn’t very attractive.

• The Oculus UX/UI however was great.  Their dashboard was a comfortable, beautiful home with floating panels in front.  They were all colorful and had many pictures and the size of the panels made it very easy to select and choose in the VR environment. 

On Sep 14, 2016, at 10:44 AM, gracerenCia notifications@github.com wrote:

Oculus Rift Review

Interaction

Due to technical difficulties, the VIVE wasn't working, so I was only able to interact with the Oculus. Except the Fearless software, I didn't feel like there was much interaction with the Oculus and the main part of my experience was viewing the scenes in the Oculus rather than interacting with the software. Even with Fearless, interaction was minimal.

Design & graphics

The graphics in Oculus Rift, although still can be identified as virtual, was pretty realistic. The experiencer is able to look up and down and around, and in the last part where there were debris and bullets flying around, I was dodging and turning because I felt like things were flying into my face. With the first software, although the graphics were very mesmerizing, it felt a little pixelated. My favorite design was Fearless, when I looked down and dodged under the table to examine, it was designed in details, and when I looked back and around, it really felt like I was sitting in a chair.

Experience / Opinions

The overall experience was good for me, but I wish that there was more interaction, as Oculus wasn't really particularly exciting in the sense that I was hoping I could move around and maybe touch things in the VR world. I also was a little dizzy after. The headset was comfortable and the headphones worked pretty well, but in between the ocular lenses there was a little gap for the nose and I could peak outside so it lowered the level of realistic-ness for me. Overall it was really fun and I look forward to experiencing the VIVE when it's fixed.

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[courtjacobs]

Design

I started off with the Oculus Rift and was very impressed by its design. I liked how everything was bundled together. The single headset including both visuals and sound made it feel cohesive and comfortable. The HTC Vive had more parts with the headset, headphones, controllers and many more wires. At first, it felt overwhelming and I was worried about moving around with all the different parts. However, once I began interacting with the visuals it became easier and more natural. The sound on the Vive actually seemed better than that on the Rift, which might be a perk of separate headphones. I was not a fan of all the wires extending from the Vive, but they only proved cumbersome when I really got into some of the Carnival games.

Experience

When in the Oculus Rift, I was very impressed by the immersion and how detailed the graphics were. Once simulation placed you right in the middle of a futuristic war zone with debris flying past you. I loved looking around because it was much more captivating than the 360 videos I'd watched. However, after experiencing two simulations, I realized that the Oculus Rift was visually impressive but not that interactive. I think it provides a platform for very unique storytelling. For example, I loved watching "The Rose & I" because it was an adorable movie, but also I could walk around and get multiple views and perspectives while the scene continued on. I felt like I had control of the camera view, but not of the plot.

With the Vive, however, I was in control of the plot. I enjoyed the Vive because I got to decide what I did next. The mountain scene was fun to be in because it taught me how to use the controllers and had very realistic cliffs and rocks. My favorite by far were the Carnival games. This was amazing because it was the most interactive gaming experience I've ever had. I felt like I was inside a cartoon, and I had a ton of fun with the games. The controllers and visuals were extremely responsive. After a minute of getting used to how everything interacted, I felt natural and comfortable with working through each level of games.

Overall Thoughts

This was my first time using the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. I was blown away by how good the graphics were and now understand how important sound and visuals are for creating a fully immersive experience. Overall, I like the HTC Vive more mostly because I had more fun using it. I think the Rift could make for some awesome storytelling, but the Vive captivates and engages more. It would be even better if it could engineer its headset to be all inclusive like the Rift.

[pawilson]

HTC Vive v. Oculus Rift

Interaction

There is a vast disparity between the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift in this category due to the Rift's lack of mobility associated with using a computer mouse to navigate, and the absence of in-game contextual awareness–like the Vive's geofencing. In my opinion, VR needs to move out of the computer chair and into a standing environment in order to gain mass appeal. I don't want to be tethered to a chair and a computer mouse when I could be standing up, using both of my hands as controllers. This brings me to the HTC Vive which, in my opinion, was the much better executed VR headset. The Vive, unlike the Rift, uses two wireless handheld controllers with incredibly accurate tracking instead of a computer mouse. These two controllers provide haptic feedback within the triggers and on the touchpads which help to make the experience all the more immersive. More incredibly, to me at least, is that I can put the controllers down on a table, leave them, and then locate and pick them up without taking the headset off. The tracking is so precise that when I reach for the controllers that I see in the headset, I am able to pick up the controller with minimal fumbling. HTC Vive also uses geofencing to create a 3D gaming environment in which the player can walk undeterred. When we talked about the geofencing in class, I imagined something much more cumbersome. I imagined feeling constrained to a small area with not much actual ability to move. However, when I was playing the balloon game or the archery game, I could swing or turn or bend without feeling like I might damage the equipment or myself. I much preferred the Vive to the Oculus in this department for these two main reasons.

Graphics & Design

After experiencing the two headsets, I did not notice a stark contrast in display quality, nor did I pay much attention to how either of the headsets look, aesthetically speaking. However, I did find HTC Vive's interface much easier to understand and interact with. With the Rift, the inability of the movement of the mouse to translate to 3D movement, meant that you had to look at what you wanted to click before clicking. While this issue seems miniscule, it takes away from the immersion significantly. The Rift's game menu was also difficult to navigate. The Vive felt much more like a finished product. It's game menu worked fluidly with the two handheld controllers and kept the player immersed even in between games. After some follow-up research on the two devices, I would say that the Oculus Rift looks like a cleaner, sleeker design, while the HTC Vive looks how you'd expect a high performance VR headset to look with its divots for sensors and exposed cables. I must also say that the built-in headphones on the Rift made the experience a lot easier to start up.

Software

While neither platform has a great variety of software yet, I found that the games and experiences presented on the HTC Vive were more immersive, fun, and exhilirating than were the games and experiences of the Rift. Now that is not to say that I didn't enjoy a large portion of my time spent playing Minecraft on the Rift, digging deep holes and jumping into them, but the immersive element just wasnt there. I would be running around the Minecraft world while sitting in a chair and the chair kept me from turning around as easily as I could with the Vive. This difficulty of turning made me lose the immersive element, however I did not mind using the Xbox controller as it is something that I have much experience with. The Vive on the other hand has some incredibly immersive games. The circus games for example kept me entertained for most of my session between slicing balloons with swords, throwing baseballs with one hand and trying to hit them with the other. The experience just seemed more polished, and I attribute that to HTC Vive's connection to Valve. Being able to see your hands in a virtual world is a very strange but cool experience and certainly helped when navigating the world.

Experience

All-in-all I would say that the HTC Vive provides a more polished, immersive, and fun experience, whereas the Oculus Rift provides something more akin to another way to play video games. Not to say that I don't want another way to play video games, but it just doesn't feel like something that I could justify spending $700 on. The Vive is a lot of fun. Its existing games keep you interested for long periods of time, through sweat and exhaustion, and I think this is mostly because of how immersed the player feels. The fact that you can take a bow and arrow and shoot it at the circus game or turn around and shoot it at the surrounding environment is a very cool experience. You don't feel restricted at all, you feel like you're a part of a new world, and that is an exhilarating feeling.

[YongweiZ]

HTC Vive VS. Oculus Rift

Interaction:

The interaction made possible by The Vive is way much better than that of the Rift. Vive's controllers effectively let me reach out the touch the virtual world. Although at the beginning I did not grab the objects as smoothly as I wished but once I figured out how to do it and used gestures to interact with game (threw the ball and constantly turned my body towards the target when I tried to shoot) and feel the enviroment, the interaction became so much more tangible apart from just stepping into the VR world. HTC Vive does a better job in movement tracking that makes roomscale VR possible. It was a lot more interactive when I could do all kinds of different movements as I played instead of mostly standing/sitting still as in Rift. However, one downside of HTC is that the grid will appear to prevent us from bumping into walls or real-world objects, which will take away some immersion effect. So perhaps if there is a lack of space, tracking for Vive won't go well as there are some games that require a lot of room. Rift seems to be a better option for limited spaces as Rift is more of a sit-down device.

Graphics/Software: • I didn't feel much of a difference in HTC Vive and Oculus Rift in terms of graphics quality. The wrinkles of the whale displayed by Vive and the legs of the spider in fearless displayed by Rift are both quite clear to attract me to look closer and to generate a more immersive experience. In the surge video, I really liked how in the middle of the it the parallel lines helped create an immersive depth and it made me feel like I got transported into a much more vast world. The ball-throwing game offered by Vive is a lot of fun and it seemed to bring me back to a carnival. However, in the experiences with both Vive and Rift, I felt like the objects became slightly more blurry when they were flying towards me, which took away some immersion. In addition, I found Fearless pretty boring and didn't think that VR had improved the experience although the graphics is quite clear. It might just be about the same effect if audience was looking at 2D pictures of a spider.

Design : • Both are a little bit bulky, which probably make a person look either very cool or very weird. But aside from the large size, both are quite comfortable with face padding and they are not too heavy as well. Oculus Rift has a more refined and compact design while HTC Vive is a bit larger and has the holes visible that are the sensors. The headphone is connected to the Rift headset so the Rift headset saves the trouble of putting on a separate headphone with even more straps that HTC Vive entails. Oculus Rift's head straps are easier to use as well since the cables of Vive would quite often get in the way. However, I feel that HTC Vive's headset is closer to face and so it feels more steady on my face. Not sure if it just happened to be so or HTC design actually has a slight advantage over Rift for glasses wearing comfort but my glasses seem to embed in the Vive headset better. Overall, Rift is more refined looking and is slightly easier to put on with attached earphone and fewer straps that come in the way while HTC feels more stable on the face.

Experience: • I've had some VR experiences before - once a roller coaster and the other a VR Spa therapy at Moogfest. But either of them could beat the one I had with HTC Vive because of the possibility to interact frequently with the virtual reality world and its sensitive tracking system that facilitates the interaction to be as natural as possible.

[alma19]

Interaction & Experience

Quite obviously, the HTC Vive was a lot more interactive than the Rift. I loved how the Vive had the interactivity and game experience to it, whereas the after the initial novelty wore off, the Rift just felt like I was watching a really cool, really well-done IMAX movie theatre. I also really liked that the Vive still kept you tethered to the real world in a way. I liked that I could see my hands with the use of the controllers, and that they were able to incorporate that into the experience. I also really appreciated the fact that the Vive had those grid walls that would pop up, because it gave me a spatial sort of awareness that I didn’t have with the Rift.

Graphics, Design & Software I’m not that familiar with game/virtual reality graphics, and I didn’t really pay that much attention to the difference in either of them. I do, however, remember thinking that the Vive had clearer graphics that helped me to feel more immersed and like I was actually in the world, whereas the Rift made me feel like I was more of an outsider watching the world.

One thing that I noticed on both of them, design wise, is that there was a little bit of a gap when I put the headsets on. Whenever I looked down, I could see a gap of space where my nose was, and could see to the outside world, which I thought was very disruptive to my experience. Just seeing a little flash of the outside world would immediately remind me about how what I was viewing wasn’t real, and I wasn’t really a fan of it.

Personal experience I liked the Vive a lot more than I liked the Rift. They were both pretty amazing, especially since I’ve never encountered virtual reality before, but the Rift just felt like I was watching really well done short films. The Vive amazed me with how immersive it felt, especially in the case of the program where you’re on a mountain. Even though I knew perfectly well that I was standing on a flat surface, I still actually felt afraid of being on a high up mountain, and felt scared to even try moving my foot off the mountain, even though I knew that I wouldn’t actually fall. I think that’s an extremely impressive thing to do, and am excited to see how the Vive, and even the Rift, will continue to grow and evolve.

[stephanielamm]

When I used the VR lab only the Oculus Rift was available, so here is my review of the Rift.

Experience:

This was my first time experiencing a virtual reality headset, so it was disorienting. I was surprised at how immersive it was, though I was disappointed it did not let me interact using my arms.

Hardware:

As for the hardware, it was uncomfortable. I kept wanting to take off the headset to readjust it. It felt heavy and pushed my glasses into my face. I was also surprised that I had to wear my glasses with the headset. I am nearsighted, so I cannot see far away. I thought I would be fine looking at the screen, but without my glasses it was quite blurry. Even with my glasses I found it was blurry. I had to readjust my glasses within the headset several times, which took away from the immersive experience. The headphones fit nicely and did not feel heavy on my ears, which made me forget I was even wearing them.

Graphics/Story:

The graphics on the Oculus were blurry for me, which might have been a problem with the glasses in the headset. It was not realistic enough to make me feel entirely immersed in the world, but they were still good enough that I could suspend disbelief. In the robot shooting scene I found myself jumping at explosions and instinctively dodging shrapnel and bullets. Maybe I’m a wimp, but I closed my eyes when the robot screamed in my face. So it was realistic enough to elicit a reaction from me, especially in a horror/suspense context.

During the spider video I enjoyed looking around the room, even if it was a bit boring. I was disappointed that I could look down and see my chair, but not my arms or my body. It definitely took away from the experience. I would take a few steps each direction and I was happy to see that the graphics responded, but even that felt unnatural since I was supposed to be sitting in a chair.

Overall: I wish I had been able to test out the Vive, since that is a more interactive/game-like experience. The visuals on the Oculus were interesting but not particularly impressive. Still, since this was my first time experiencing VR, it got me excited to see what else is out there.

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On Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 12:48 PM, alma19 notifications@github.com wrote:

Interaction & Experience

Quite obviously, the HTC Vive was a lot more interactive than the Rift. I loved how the Vive had the interactivity and game experience to it, whereas the after the initial novelty wore off, the Rift just felt like I was watching a really cool, really well-done IMAX movie theatre. I also really liked that the Vive still kept you tethered to the real world in a way. I liked that I could see my hands with the use of the controllers, and that they were able to incorporate that into the experience. I also really appreciated the fact that the Vive had those grid walls that would pop up, because it gave me a spatial sort of awareness that I didn’t have with the Rift.

Graphics, Design & Software I’m not that familiar with game/virtual reality graphics, and I didn’t really pay that much attention to the difference in either of them. I do, however, remember thinking that the Vive had clearer graphics that helped me to feel more immersed and like I was actually in the world, whereas the Rift made me feel like I was more of an outsider watching the world.

One thing that I noticed on both of them, design wise, is that there was a little bit of a gap when I put the headsets on. Whenever I looked down, I could see a gap of space where my nose was, and could see to the outside world, which I thought was very disruptive to my experience. Just seeing a little flash of the outside world would immediately remind me about how what I was viewing wasn’t real, and I wasn’t really a fan of it.

Personal experience I liked the Vive a lot more than I liked the Rift. They were both pretty amazing, especially since I’ve never encountered virtual reality before, but the Rift just felt like I was watching really well done short films. The Vive amazed me with how immersive it felt, especially in the case of the program where you’re on a mountain. Even though I knew perfectly well that I was standing on a flat surface, I still actually felt afraid of being on a high up mountain, and felt scared to even try moving my foot off the mountain, even though I knew that I wouldn’t actually fall. I think that’s an extremely impressive thing to do, and am excited to see how the Vive, and even the Rift, will continue to grow and evolve.

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[samlin01]

Graphics Both the Rift and the Vive had much better graphics than what I was expecting. According to Engadget, they both have OLED displays of 1200x1080 pixels. When in the simulation, the demos definitely impact my idea of how strong the graphics was despite the same displays. Additionally, after looking more into the Vive and Rift, I found that the two headsets measure head tracking differently. Engagdet and CNET both discuss the differences: the Vive uses “two base stations and a plethora of sensors on its front” and the Rift uses “a single sensor”. This means that the Vive can scale the room and put up borders to incorporate the physical parts of the room into the virtual environment, whereas the Rift lets you look around but not necessarily move around with the demo. In terms of PC requirements, many websites noted that both needed a very high quality machine (but similar in requirements) to run either.

Design Personally, I had a much more difficult time using the Vive because it did not quite fit on my face well. Because it didn’t fit well, it was harder for me to see the demo at the right focus. It was bulky and heavy and I used a hand to helped balance it out for most of the demo. While the Rift was also bulky and heavy, I was able to be in the environment without worrying that the headset would fall off. Additionally, the Vive had several more wires, making it appear more intimidating. The Vive seemed more like a contraption of sorts than a simple headset.

Software/Experience The difference in demos made a huge difference in experience. The spider/challenging fears demo on the Rift was somewhat lame – the VR experience was not essential to the environment. When looking up close to the objects (desk, lamp, etc), the graphics were great but from far away, just looked like another simulation. I did notice, however, that although I am relatively afraid of spiders I was not afraid of the simulated spider.

The Vive’s motion controller’s definitely added to the experience. I liked being able to reach out and slice balloons as if I was there (hopefully I kept the high score) and using the controllers to change levels or move to another location. The gestures were all relatively well caught and made the experience a lot more interactive.

When in the headsets, I did not feel nauseous in either, but in the Rift I felt my stomach slightly flip when I was in the spider/challenging fears demo. I think this had a lot to do with the demo itself – if I were to look down, the dimensions didn’t quite accurately match me moving around which might have had caused my brain to be confused.

All in all, I did enjoy the Vive a bit more because of its interactive-ness but also because the demos were much cooler.

[chaosdone]

During the lab, I experienced a action animation and minecraft on Oculus Rift, a Lab experimental scene, a carnival game and tour with whale on HTC Vive. My first impression is the same as others, that HTC Vive performs better than Oculus Rift.

Interaction You are definitely more interactive with HTC Vive than Oculus Rift, because in Vive you need to hold the handle and move around literally yourself. It’s also really nice to have the sensors on the wall which warn you when approaching the wall. There are three interactions that impressed me the most. One is the balloon generator(don’t know what it’s called) on the table in the lab. I first grabbed that thing when I entered the scene, and with the button pressing, I felt the vibration through the handle, and the funny sound through earphone which was really hilarious. Second is using a sword to tear the ballon, and third is drawing the bow. I kind of felt resistance, or I guess motions are just so alike the ones in the real world. All interaction with Vive is nice that I was so immersed in the world inside, and TA spoke my name several times and I didn’t aware it at all, until he knocked my shoulder and told me that my session had ended.

On the other hand, Oculus Rift just let you stay still and play through XBOX. I would think of that way as a 3D version of playing XBOX. When I was playing minecraft, I wished to grab something, or cut the trees down myself, but I can’t on the Oculus Rift. However, I think there would also be concerns that doing interactions all the time is a energy-consuming thing. So maybe with Oculus Rift, you can sitting down, play longer like 2 or 3 hours, but you’ll get a little tired on the Vive.

Anyway, speaking of interaction, Vive does the better job. I guess the point that make interaction really different on theses two devices is the movement and the sensors.

Graphic I didn’t pay too much attention on the graphic. But as I think back, I feel the one in Vive is a bit better. I remember the slow motion animation on Oculus Rift is a little bit blur (I had a feeling of the surroundings are made of pixels), while the tour with whale is very smooth and well-animated. I guess it can be different depends on which studio or what engine the game is made.

Design Speak of the hardware design of two devices, Oculus Rift is more comfortable than Vive, as it doesn’t have that much cables under you, which sometimes trapped me, and the headset of Oculus Rift is a little bit lighter I feel. I remember I sweat a bit after playing the Vive. But in terms of the handles, I like the Vive’s ones. They make your hands moving freely, not binding together on one handle.

Purpose I agree that the purposes of these two devices are a bit different, but I think both are mainly focus on entertainment. Oculus Rift is better for movie, and most of the video games, while Vive has more restriction due to its extra features of interactions. Say you can’t play GTA5, or other shooting game on Vive because that would be too exhaustive to just move around. So Vive is better for experience, education, and have more fun.

[hansharlacher]

HTC Vive Vs. Oculus Rift

Interaction

I was extremely impressed by the level of immersion that the HTC Vive offered. Compared to the Oculus Rift, which only allowed me to look around at everything happing, the Vive felt like a much more complete experience. Both devices feature head tracking capabilities, which is important in experiencing a virtual environment, but it seemed as though the Oculus Rift stopped there; meanwhile, the Vive added a whole new dimension to the experience by allowing me to actually move through each environment. Using the Vive controllers to pick up objects in the virtual world was really easy to learn, and once mastered, it felt so fluid and natural that, at one point in the circus game, I actually believed that I was shooting a real bow and arrow. The Oculus Rift, on the other hand, felt like I was watching a movie. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I was moderately disappointed when I realized that I wasn’t able to move around and dodge the flying projectiles during Showdown. With the ability to walk around freely and interact with the environment, I truly felt like I was in a different world while using the HTC Vive.

Graphics

Both the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive have stunning graphical capabilities. I didn’t really notice a difference between the two, but I was impressed by the visually awesome battle scene during Showdown on the Oculus Rift. Although there were lots of things happening on the screen during this scene, I didn’t notice any drop in frame rate and the picture was consistently clear. Although the graphics of the Vive were also good, it seemed to get very blurry if the headset wasn’t positioned exactly right—but this is more of a problem with the design of the device than with the actual graphical limitations. Both devices seem to be evenly matched from a graphical standpoint, but I’m interested to see how the developers of each device will try to push the boundaries of this area in the future.

Design

The headset portion of each device is roughly similar and I didn’t feel a significant difference in the weight of each one, although I believe the Oculus Rift headset was a bit more compact. The Oculus Rift just has the headset, so it’s easy for one person to put it on and start using it. On the contrary, the Vive required the headset, a pair of headphones, and the two controllers. Because there are so many different pieces of equipment that go along with the Vive, I think that it would be slightly difficult for a single person to use it by him/herself since it would be inconvenient to try to put all of the equipment on. Both headsets have a wire that connects each one to a computer, but once I entered the virtual environment, I didn’t even notice that the wire was there and it didn’t ever get in my way, even when I was walking around the room while using the Vive. One thing I noticed with the Oculus Rift is that there were gaps along the outer edges of the headset, specifically near my nose, through which I could still see parts of the real world and it seriously detracted from the immersion. This is clearly a flaw, but I’m not sure if it is because I didn’t position the headset properly or if the Oculus Rift doesn’t reliably fit the shape of each person’s face. The HTC Vive seemed to also exhibit design flaws during the brief time that I tested it. No matter how tightly I fastened the strap of the headset, it kept loosening as I moved my head to look around in different directions, which affected how far away the screen was away from my eyes and made the whole environment look really blurry, which took away from the experience. Perhaps the developers of the HTC Vive will focus on creating a more secure head strap when designing future models of the device.

Software

The HTC Vive was able to provide a more entertaining game-like environment with its increased level of interaction, whereas the Oculus Rift seems limited to only visual experiences. Because of this, I think the Vive has a much broader potential for different types of innovative software. The menu for selecting different apps within the Vive seemed very straightforward and easy to use. I think this is mostly due to it being backed by Valve, the company that developed the wildly successful Steam service of PC gaming, because they have so much experience creating practical user interfaces.

Overall Impression

I thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to test both devices. Overall, I liked the HTC Vive more than the Oculus Rift because its levels of immersion and interactivity help create a very complete virtual reality experience. However, I think that apps like Showdown really showcase what the Oculus Rift is capable of and they create an experience that is like no other.