Gotta jack in. Every time I had tried the Vive since my first demo last year, I'd been in controlled spaces, with attendants helping me goggle in. Now I'm using this VR equipment on my own. I've set it up and gotten it running many times, on multiple PCs, both at the CNET office and in my home. What it offers is unparalleled. It's the best virtual reality experience you can have right now, and it's also one of the most amazing tech experiences, period. But it's a lot of gear. I connect it with a massive Clevo laptop running a desktop-level graphics card. This already feels like a cyberpunk novel from the '90s.
Vive's headset is huge and bulbous, and it looks like a spider head, It fits comfortably, even over my glasses, though sometimes the lenses fog up, Thick straps stretch over my head and are held in place via velcro, like a bathing cap, Cables run down my back: a thick tether of three cords that plug into a breakaway box, prodigee scene treasure iphone x case - gold A headphone jack dangles in the back, where you can connect your own headphones or use the buds that come included, The Vive's tether is very, very long: about 15 feet (4.5 meters), You're meant to wander in it..
It tangles around my shoes as I walk across my office. Two wireless controllers, included. The Vive's controller-wands are very good, and a little oddly shaped. A ring-shaped disc of plastic at the top, a hand grip, several front and side buttons, a trigger and a large concave clickable disc that's like a giant trackpad. They have haptic vibrations and rechargeable batteries. Gripping the wands and pulling the triggers, it starts to feel like I'm grabbing things and picking them up. I can see the controllers in VR, and they transform. In painting apps like Google's Tilt Brush, they become spinning palettes and brushes. In the game Job Simulator, they become disembodied white-glove cartoon hands. In plenty of other games, they become weapons.
The Vive's neatest trick is its room-sensing magic, which happens via the two light boxes I mentioned above, which connect to AC plugs, but not to your computer, They emit light to help position your head, hands and feet properly, An artist's recreation of what the glowing blue grid-lines feel like in VR, Vive can work while standing still or sitting as with the Oculus Rift, if you wish, but the Vive can also expand out to allow full-room VR, And hey, "room-scale" VR is why you'd want to buy the HTC Vive in the first place, But you'll need at least 6.5 by 5 feet (2 by 1.5 meters) of space to prodigee scene treasure iphone x case - gold work with, up to 16 feet (4.9 meters) diagonally between the light boxes..which need to be set up in line of sight from each other, preferably high in the air, I ended up using camera tripods, or balancing them carefully on bookshelves and stacks of boxes..
The Bad It requires a high-end PC to run. Long wires and lots of equipment take time and space to set up. Steam VR offers a lot of software but it isn't always beginner-friendly. The Bottom Line Vive is the best virtual-reality experience you can have right now, thanks to its motion controls and room-scale tracking. It's the closest thing to having a holodeck in your home. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. We delete comments that violate our policy, which we encourage you to read. Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion.