VIRTUALLY
HERE!
With all the VR devices out there, it can be
difficult to know where to start. Let tech guru
Ian Evenden be your guideOCULUS RIFT
Facebook-owned Oculus VR has been
a standard-bearer for the new wave of
head-mounted VR displays on the PC.
With the release of its Touch controllers,
it’s also the first system to
get an upgrade.
Previously, Rift games have been
played with an Xbox One controller
from Microsoft; while these are great
gamepads, they’re not kitted out to track
the movement of your hands. The Rift’s
new controllers allow it to catch up
in this area.
The Rift offers head-tracking through
a sensor that stands on your desk, but
the need to remain seated in front of it
means there’s no following of your body
movements. Despite this, the Rift feels like
a complete VR package, just one that may
need another upgrade in the future.
http://www.oculus.comR A Z E R
Razer, in partnership with VR firm Sensics,
is building a headset based on the Open
Source VR Project. This is an attempt to
free virtual reality from the domination
of major tech companies and create an
open standard around which hardware
and software can be developed. Using
the OSVR software development kit, all
hardware on the market can be supported
by software makers.
Its headset, the Hacker Dev Kit, is
similar in specs and looks to the Rift and
Vive, connecting to your PC via USB and
HDMI. A software plugin lets it work with
games from the Steam store.
The Hacker Dev Kit, as suggested by its
name, is perhaps best for those who really
know what they’re doing. It’s an exciting
idea, though, that could open up virtual
reality to all customers.
FACEBOOK, GETTY, PRESS ASSOCIATION, NEWSPRESS http://www.razerzone.com/gb-en| NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCESCIENCE32 February 2017HTC VIVE
The Vive has been developed as
a partnership between electronics
manufacturer HTC and videogame
maker/seller Valve. It offers room-scale
VR for the PC, thanks to a pair of base
stations that you mount onto the walls
of the room you’re going to use it in.
They track the movement of the player,
who controls the game via two wireless,
motion-sensing controllers.
Integration with the real world, through
links to your phone for messages plus
a front-facing camera, mean you never
feel cut off and are less likely to fall over
the coffee table.
As with the Oculus Rift, you’ll need
quite a powerful PC to play VR games.
A GeForce GTX 970 or AMD R9 290 is the
minimum graphics processor supported,
along with a recent quad-core CPU.http://www.vive.com30 February 2017