LGR - HTC Vive at PAX Prime 2015

First impressions on Valve's SteamVR platform, using the HTC Vive virtual reality headset. Filmed at PAX Prime 2015.
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Music used is Vaxeen4U and SimCity 2000 Saturn OST

[@LGR]

If you're curious as to what some of these demos looked like, here are links to several of them! *Underwater Ship:* kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3euk39jfLpglbc *Job Simulator/Cooking:* kzbin.info/www/bejne/mmXLhqelhLhmiq8 *Final Approach/Air Traffic Control:* kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5bYeIqBq7djmqc *Fantastic Contraption/3D Incredible Machine:* kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2XPnH5smNB3jsU *Tilt Brush Painting:* kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3e6qGmefK5-o8U *Portal/Aperture Science:* kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4mzdniegLyWea8

[@MrYaotubo]

+Lazy Game Reviews Personally, i dont get how its that great with full room VR... its interesting but nothing i would play. Ive seen "Duke 3d 360 degrees VR threadmill arcade machine" once at it was ok. I prefer my PC, maybe use oculus or just standard monitor. Now if only there was a way to make a duke 3d version to go with oculus rift, then i would be interested. Or descent 1&2. I may just be old. I just dont get why this VR full room thing is so great. Its like telling your friend how "Dude nintendo 3ds is so cool! its like 3d and stuff" and the friend just goes "really? Unless you show me a store that has it as a playable instore console ill ignore it probably". Thanks for uploading the video, though i really would need to try the VR myself before i buy VR for 1000+ dollars. That said, it will certainly change gaming if i does work out and sell well. It would allow for a more "im sort of here" experience. The scene from back from the future is something im thinking of when marty was great at the arcade cabinet in the future and a young kids just commented "Its not even VR, it sucks". Abit off topic though still very much about actual risks: What worries me is how this will affect japan and western culture though. Japan already have issues with people being "not socially experienced", and have places where people "pay to be near people that pretend to like them as friends" or such. I read in a recent article that alot of the younger japanese population just hasnt learnt to develop or value social contacts as much as previous generations, which leads to a slow societal collapse as people become "Islands in a big sea" and very isolated and thus has further risks of diseases and such. Also how they just do their own thing in life, and doesnt bother with social growth or learning how to tolerate and interact with other people. Thats my worry with VR. :(

[@Med0xa]

+Lazy Game Reviews Do you have a link to the Dota one? I would love to see what it looked like as a lover of Dota :D

[@timbruhnke1558]

+Lazy Game Reviews: Playing Yoda Stories on a PC running Windows 10 Pro x64: s708.photobucket.com/user/munkis/media/Untitled.png.html

[@Slot1Gamer]

+Lazy Game Reviews It'd be really cool if VR arcades became a thing

[@peanutrabbit5847]

Are you familiar with the game Buzzing Cars by E games? if so, could you review it?

[@viciousentertainment2355]

LGR 2015 "I saw the future, and it was awesome!"

[@glunn123]

Those controllers. WE NEED A STAR WARS VIRTUAL REALITY GAME WITH LIGHTSABERS PLS

[@teamhex]

+Glunn There's a Star Wars tech demo where you can block shots with a saber. The shots come from a floating training droid. You should be able to find it on youtube somewhere. Good stuff.

[@glunn123]

teamhex aw yis mayne

[@DiscoLucas]

+Glunn OMG YES!

[@bobboberty1479]

+Glunn Tech demos of this already exist, just search it up :P

[@zabimaru1000]

+Glunn Imagine Star Tours at Disneyland using simplified versions of the HTC Vive.

[@FunkadeliccCheese]

Awesome video! You make listening to demos a lot better than anyone else i watch on KZbin.

[@LGR]

+FunkadeliccCheese Thank you, I tried! It's not easy to get across the feeling of these things without trying it for yourself.

[@Robbaz]

I was never satisfied with my DK2 because the borders between pixels, especially when you looked at more detailed stuff like text. The Oculus release candidate and the Vive will both be 1200p it will probably be way to low in the long run and probably from the start to. The StarVR from Starbreeze will be 1440p but i dont even think that will be enough.

[@VincentWernerK]

wow you watch lgr? hej på dig

[@LGR]

+Robbaz Yup, the screen door effect on the DK2 was still quite pronounced. Games like Elite Dangerous and all its tiny text were pretty bad with that. Far less of it going on with the Vive thankfully, and I can't wait to see how the new Rift is! The more pixels the better.

[@TheBigDaddyPrototype]

+Gabe Logan Newell Har har

[@VincentWernerK]

har har?

[@mistaecco]

+Lazy Game Reviews The exact question I was going to ask! I've only tried the first version of the rift one time, and I was pretty rushed so I only got to do it for about 2 minutes, I had to hold it on my face, and the screen door effect was so irritating it almost turned me off VR. Glad to hear the vive didn't suffer from it as much! Are the controllers still prototype-y? All the pictures I've seen of them look very much like mockups.

[@CaspisSinclair27]

Your enthusiasm is infectious. Whenever I get the chance to try/purchase one of the upcoming VR units I'll probably be the same when describing it to friends and family. Now all I have to do is seriously upgrade every component of my computer...

[@andreiordean9346]

I missed the song from the old intro :D

[@vinivax]

You're great man, I love your channel, keep going with the awesome work!

[@brittzkrieg]

Not to be a suck up or imply that you're the King of Pessimism, but the fact that such a glowing review is coming from you... makes me really effing excited about this.

[@helmaschine1885]

Wow, wonderful video!! Sounds so exciting. You DID see the future man!

[@RocketRoosterFilms]

This video seems to be built as a gift to me. Great job, Clint!

[@PieceOfPieSoftware]

As amazing at this all sounds, and as much as I've always loved the idea of VR, the way you described it all makes me kinda legitimately scared if/when it really becomes easily available to the world. People like us who play a LOT of games will probably be spending so long in VR that I would imagine coming back to the real world will be a shock, and possibly have some pretty weird mental effects. Surely nothing that we can't deal with after 5 minutes of sitting down and adjusting, but now that VR is becoming a real thing, it's all just starting to sound like it'll be sooo weird. VERY cool, but weird.

[@Sab_Was_Taken]

+Justin Urhead In 3001: The Final Odyssey Arthur C. Clark writes about something similar, called brain burn.

[@Mctittles]

+Piece of Pie Software As someone who owns a DK2 and has spent hours playing the handful of VR compatible games it can be a bit "weird" but only for a second and isn't that shocking. One day after playing driving in Euro Truck simulator for quite a few hours when it came time to quit the feeling was kind of like if I actually went on a long drive that day and then came home. I wasn't shocked by the real world but I had memories of cruising around in Europe that felt close to having actually taken a road trip. So I guess worst case is you feel like you were on a strange vacation and then came home. No reality confusion.

[@Riviner]

+Piece of Pie Software My thoughts exactly. It will be quite something, i wonder how many can keep the balance. Seeing all the weirdness already (in reasonable relation), with people locked to their smart phones totally disconnected from the world around, hooked to likes and pleasing feedback, how much more will one disconnect. Well, that's for everyone to choose i suppose. Assuming it doesn't turn into addiction.

[@Mctittles]

Ville Mononen Honestly as awesome as VR experiences are I feel more detached from the real world when into a good book. To me that takes over more of my mind than an audio/visual experience because it takes control of my imagination and concentration more. Books will destroy the world!

[@Mctittles]

***** I was replying in responce to Ville mentioning how people are locked to their phones and disconnected from the world. Relavant: xkcd.com/1227/

[@Knightedskull]

Thank you so much for sharing your views on this nifty device. I can't wait until it is out and available. I can tell that in the right hands that this can change a lot of things for the computer in general, not just for gaming.

[@JizzyJazz]

Holy shit. You brought back that funky cover to the intro. Nice one, man.

[@showersmoker]

Too bad arcades died. Those kinds of places would be the perfect platform for VR. If only this tech came out 20 years ago!

[@stevekovoc3939]

+Jonathan Hughes They're not dead. In fact, there's one in my town that's fairly popular. All the times I've been there, they've gotten pretty busy so yeah, not entirely true.

[@Poorgeniu5]

+Jonathan Hughes Arcade isn't dead yet, there is an Barcade in a city near me.

[@Poorgeniu5]

+Byron Lucky you, i also got another one at the boardwalk. Its $6 for 30 min of gameplay without the needs for coins. The roaster is small, maybe 12 arcades to play on but its the game that counts!

[@showersmoker]

I live in Illinois and we have a few barcades near downtown Chicago, but the trend seems to be that they are going away, not coming back. One nearby me called Game Pazzo just closed last year. It may not be "Dead", but its definitely not the thriving business it was in the 90s. My first and only VR experiences were back in 1999 at Disney Quest in Chicago. I remember being pretty impressed with the technology at the time.

[@velius2014]

+Jonathan Hughes this could bring them back

[@JohnRiggs]

Awesome! I saw the demo, but didn't wanna wait in line. I did test the Vive in another section of PAX and it blew me away. I spent most of my time throwing an item up in the air and catching it on the way down.

[@nottiredofwinning3736]

Love hearing the old LGR song!

[@hankl8730]

Great video as usual dude.

[@The1234philly]

freaks me out how mind blowing you found it man!! x-D but it sounded like the awesome experience

[@merchantfan]

It seems like these sort of VR things (especially a room based one) might be better suited for an arcade setup at this point. Imagine if they had features for like smell or heat. You could have the smell of food and the feeling of heat from the kitchen or feel colder and smell moss when you walk in a cave.

[@LGR]

+merchantfan Someone else made a good point about how VRcades may become popular in the way that karaoke and bowling lanes are. I know I'd pay to go enjoy some quality virtual reality in a dedicated room like that. Although VR is (as of now) somewhat antisocial, unlike karaoke and bowling. I think it'll take off even more when you can easily join in on this stuff with your friends. There are a few demos with multiplayer, but it's proving difficult to sync everyone up and also design an engaging game that works well with it and isn't just a quick gimmick.

[@WarMonk0]

+merchantfan these features are already implemented in something called REAL LIFE.

[@merchantfan]

Well, cooking and bopping balloons exist in Real Life too. The reason you'd play this is for game components and unusual experiences.

[@pewpewihaslaser]

I don't know if I said it before, but I love your writing (and the reviews too, of course).

[@nathang00dwin]

Hi there, I've been fortunate to demo this unit recently too. all I can say is OMG! what an experience! I too have been overwhelmed by this device, I was very sceptical before but whilst I was connected I felt totally immersed in the experience. it also took me time to soak it all in. I now just cant wait for this to be released, I truly hope that this dose not turn out to be a fad that dies out. I've been blown away at how interactive a simple demo like blowing up a balloon can be. I found myself laughing at a virtual balloon as it floated away. even though I know it was just a simulation there still seemed to a sense of reality too it. Wow, just Wow!

[@HotSoupYum]

The solution that immediately comes to mind is a VR apartment complex, sort of studio apartments with a VR room built in. The market wouldn't really be there until someone made a fantasy game for it, but once Blizzard makes a VR game, people would move in.

[@willa5551]

This is awesome!

[@goldenretrogames]

My favorite VR experience is still Elite Dangerous, using the Rift DK2 and a good flight stick. It truly feels like you're piloting a real spacecraft, which is awesome.

[@RobinFowler1982]

I missed to old into music so much, so glad its back

[@Keksmania]

Same experience here with the Vive! Besides the cord it's super immersive! I WANT A VIVE NOW! :D

[@iadanamada1673]

7:06 Well, now the Valve Knuckles exist! And haptic gloves too!

[@OkraPlutonium]

You know, something like this could bring back an arcade-like gaming experience. This kind of thing could easily overcome the issues of implementation in the home by having a more static setup at some venue in malls or whatever. Something like the old laser tag places. With an experience like the one you described here, it would easily keep people coming back.

[@The1stFishBone]

This video made me more excited than anything I've seen in since I don't know.

[@AsahinaZatsu]

Yesterday, I dug in my garage and found my old crt monitor. It has been buried in there for years and it still works fine. Watched this video with it just now, just thought you'd appreciate that. About the VR stuff though, it does kinda seem like that's the future, in a way. I don't think it'd ever fully replace what we do now but I can see it becoming rather popular, when something is /that/ immersive.

[@pftyea]

I think Michael Fisher (Pocketnow) said his HTC Vive experience brought tears to his eyes.

[@LGR]

+Svviftie That sounds about right, actually.

[@leajiaure]

Every time I consider buying this I have to remind myself it's a first-gen product. No doubt, this is the future, and it will VASTLY improve. Just think how much better mobile phones have gotten in the last 10 years. I think VR will improve just as much in not much time. So I'm (probably) saving my money for that.

[@brotalnia]

I can't wait for that future.

[@LastWish90]

Great impression I really liked it, and the Vive sure will be a damn good product butwhat many people seem to forget about is that the Oculus Rift CV1 will have room scale tracking capabilities as well and with Touch you will have your hands ingame as well, they just don't advertise it (yet) probably because they don't want to overpromise because there will supposedly be a lack of content in the first few month for these experiences and they don't want to disappoint the consumer and tell him what their product can do without there being real content for it besides the usual demos.

[@VladDracul2nd]

Cool it like the vr shooter i played back in 99. It taking the "future" a long time to catch up it seems

[@hexusG4Z]

I think it might hail the return of the gaming/internet cafe!

[@elgroxo]

I love your honest reviews, please never sell yourself to companies!

[@tntiscool54]

I NEED TO PLAY THAT PORTAL DEMO!

[@JonnyInfinite]

imagine an interactive body suit with in game haptic feedback :0 As for the room thing, I was thinking along the lines of the AR in the Hololens that can actively adapt to an environment through cameras. Surely that would help set an environment up

[@WeegeeJuice]

Gloves with haptic feedback would be absolutely insane with this.

[@sceerane8662]

I can imagine themeparks having these, like a massive dungeon with sensors everywhere and then you can be an adventurer.

[@Sampler19]

Ya, it's really impressive - tried out the same demo at gamescom. :) I haven't been so hyped since launch day of the Xbox 360 on a brand new HDTV.

[@MagusMarquillin]

Have you ever tried the omni combined with the Oculus Clint? I wonder how it would compare, cause from my outside perspective it seems more practical for space requirements and not having to trip over the cord. And how many games could you really play that limit the game area to the 15 foot box, I guess it be just Valve exclusive releases. But I guess you could still use the headset in open environment games.

[@Mctittles]

Btw from all information so far the Oculus will have near identical specs as the HTC and similar room tracking area. HTC has been demoing with Valve walking experiences while Oculus has been demoing full games that are sit down experiences. HTC also pushes the "walking" aspect which confuses people into thinking you can't walk around with the Oculus. So I wouldn't rush a decision of device based on the demos shown.

[@AdamSmithNES]

Very exciting stuff. I can't wait to see what kind of life changing killer apps are dreamed up with this kind of VR tech. Singularity when?

[@hkoizumi3134]

I have oculus rift dk2 and at the moment, it is clunky as hell to get it working but I managed to get it working with elite dangerous. The initial experience I had was being able to sense the scale of your space ship from cockpit. It is pretty much the definitive way to play space sim. The only problem I had with this was the text being blurry. I have been told that oculus rift dk2 have an ongoing issue with DX games text. I wonder if valve VR will be better.

[@henrydave6603]

I remember as a kid going to a trade show and seeing the early VR systems. The helmet was all bulky and you had to stand inside this odd circle device. Anyways, interesting to finally see this technology really starting to take off. I mean when did VR3D systems come out, like 20 years ago?

[@brandoncyoung]

love that dolie on your chair.great elderly touch :)

[@LGR]

+Brandon Young It's hand-made by a viewer of mine, says "LGR" in the stitching!

[@brandoncyoung]

That is disturbingly amazing. I'll wait too see a afghan soon

[@brandoncyoung]

An* how silly of me

[@plarkmoby]

As soon as the Vive is out, I am buying it. I don't care the cost. I have the space and am willing to part with much cash for this. We are at a turning point in how we experience media. Hurry up the future!

[@racerxgundam]

this was the most hardcore Star trek TNG borg cosplaying i ever seen! :-P

[@shoddyworkmanship4934]

I'm happy there are so many competitors in the new VR technology market. Ever since John Carmack started working on the Oculus models, I've been hyped harder than I have since the fucking Super Nintendo came out! I so hope the competition between brands helps turbo charge the evolution of the technology.

[@stevenwarner9156]

I look forward to the days when we can get VRCades for this type of tech in future.

[@AmayirotAkago]

Sounds like some impressive tech, but the requirements seem like a massive hurdle. Plus I dunno if there will actually be any worthwhile games made for this thing. My money's still on the Oculus. Still, fun to hear you relay your experiences and I would love to try this myself if I ever get the chance :)

[@lPsychoMax]

+Amayirot Akago worthwhile games to go with it: half-life, portal, tf2 , simulator games (euro truck for example), horror games, 3d pokemon, anime game, etc...

[@UndergroundHorrorRap]

+Amayirot Akago If people treat it like they did the Oculus, they'll make drivers that make it backwards compatible with older games.

[@somethingsomething3313]

+IPsycho Doodle I'm not so familiar with all this VR stuff, but... how would you be able to play all those games? You'd need an empty room the size of black mesa, right? Or would it be you sitting in a couch with a controller on your hands?

[@lPsychoMax]

Ca Copser Sitting on a couch with a controller in hand. The movement tool would be better if you could press a button to relocate yourself in the center or something. Well I hope they add something like that, otherwise I'll end up 1/2 to japan playing skyrim XD

[@Vartazian360]

check out hoverjunkers and the gallery six elements. and the assembly. imo these are amazing looking full games for vr

[@Rentta]

I'm most excited by Star Vr just by looking at specs it should be a winner

[@Larry]

I've tried the V2 Occulus Rift, my main issue with that is you can still see the gaps between the pixels and the endge of the screen, throwing you out of the immersion

[@Drat333_]

+Larry Bundy Jr It's a limitation of current display and optics tech, unfortunately. Both the consumer Rift and consumer Vive use near identical screens and optics, so they're both going to suffer from screen door and FoV

[@Larry]

Adrian Zugaj Wow, I didn't know it even had a name for it!

[@Octamed]

+Larry Bundy Jr The final versions are much better apparently. I've got a friend who tried the final oculus vs dk2, he said it was a lot better.

[@Larry]

Octamed Yeah, I've been told the retail version will be a lot better, one of the reasons I never went out and bought one.

[@GrumpDog]

+Larry Bundy Jr V2? Do you mean the DK2? The consumer versions of these have higher resolution, better quality screens. So don't worry, that wont be a problem. Also both the Vive and Rift seem to be using the same screens for their consumer versions. So other than the different lenses, the visual quality will be identical. Most people can't see the pixels in the consumer versions.

[@superjoker]

4:37 is the most therapeutic sound in the world I'm making it my ringtone...

[@Buffycomics]

I like the boxed Broken Age at the background :) Is it signed by Tim Schafer? Very nice!

[@LGR]

+Buffycomics It is indeed, I was able to meet him at PAX a couple times!

[@MalaksMessage]

When yuh talked about that airport simulator, I thought about banished, and how great that would be it play it like that

[@stavrogin023]

Great video. I´m very excited to try out flight simulators like dcs world with this.

[@LGR]

+stavrogin023 DCS World and other flight sims are already great with the Rift, so yeah, it's only gonna get better :)

[@stavrogin023]

Yes, from what I see and what other people say it´s gotta be, but one key feature for me is the ability to have a wide FOV AND be able to read small instruments in the cockpit - something that hasn´t been possible until now with the RIFT and probably, to a lesser degree, with the VIVE. That´s pretty much the only reason I´ve been holding off until now, still using a 27" monitor @ 1440p. What are your experiences? I´ve never tried any recent VR gear... Why don´t you make onther video in DCS with the Rift? BTW, I really enjoyed your videos on that subject (and many others ;)). Great channel!

[@BWOSC]

Sounds amazing. I wonder if the space requirements for this kind of tech could bring back the arcade...

[@FakeButt]

Imagine in the future the games having *free area of room space* listed in the system requirements

[@patrickwalsh2086]

isn't that disk drive to your left a Teac dual floppy drive? We had that in our first Dell PC from way back in 1993. Needless to say, our first PC didn't even have a CD ROM drive let alone a dialup connection.

[@wolf7115]

My main issue is that it looks easy to trip over the cord. I guess if you had a room dedicated for the Vive, you may be able to run the cord on the ceiling.

[@samlee4371]

I love your chair.

[@Carlos.Santiago]

How does this compare to using a little vr viewer like googled cardboard? Does it get foggy ? I have a cardboard and a vr viewer called Freely VR, it's cool but I don't feel that immersion you are talking about , it's like there is a virtual world out there but I can,t reach it , also I feel like my face is the size of the game , like the proportions are not that great. I know cardboard is super low quality vr but I wonder how much better are the Oculus and Vive compared to it and mobile vr.

[@orihalchon]

Wait i'm a bit puzzled. Does the lighthouse system require a roomy/clear room for the VR to work (regardless of the game needed you to walk around or not) or can the VR work without the system?

[@LGR]

+orihalchon It can work without it if you don't want to walk around, but that's limiting what this can do by quite a lot.

[@Grumpydrawer]

Seems pretty interesting. Though like the occulus I doubt I'd ever buy one unless there were enough virtual reality games I was interested in on the market. Though if they made a virtual reality Jurassic Park game I'd be buying a VR headset in seconds.

[@branpurn]

Love the DOS shirt, got a link on that?

[@LGR]

+Brandon Purnell www.redbubble.com/people/catskull/works/11891996-ms-dos?p=t-shirt&style=mens&body_color=brown&print_location=front

[@SimplyMavAgain]

"I saw the future and it was awesome." -LGR, 2015

[@thomaswhite7527]

Please tell me there is a video of these demos for people to view, I got to see the Aperture Science one!

[@CyberMoomin]

This seems perfect for Survival Horror, I can imagine an Outlast or Monstrum style game working well with this.

[@Valitzu777]

So to clarify, are they aiming to make it wireless as opposed to its current wired mess?I would have a dedicated EMPTY room for this thing, you did a great job explaining what you visually experienced and enjoyed, so yeah.. I'm keen :) I know there are a couple of companies out there that are working on gloves with haptic feedback for that extra immersion (i believe one is on kickstarter) so I hope it all becomes available at the same time or they collaborate... or something :) those controllers you used in that demo just looks like it would be an immersion killer for me..

[@SwobyJ]

+Ndev07 VR is certainly aiming for wireless... later. Through streaming and internal hardware and both. But for now they can't do this without sacrificing the experience. I'd say expect that sort of stuff later, maybe into the 2020s. (EDIT: Though for the lower quality sets, indeed cordless 'soon'. But not really now.)

[@alexsmith6607]

They did have gloves before in the mid late 90`s i think , i did see a old computer meg and it had a picture of someone playing virtual poker in a 3d world holding the cards. They should look back at the older tech for ideas.

[@glunn123]

What happens if it glitches? Like, horribly deformed playermodel glitches you see in the WWE games.

[@FeverAmbone105]

+Glunn lol that will be funny XD or creepy....

[@googleforcedhandle]

+Glunn hearth attack

[@EdgeO419]

+Glunn barfbagtime

[@rvdm88]

+Glunn nah the crashes now are either just "jumping" back to the loading program after a crash or your view freezes, thats a bit disconcerning though, but hey, prototype hardware with pre-release software...

[@Weird.Dreams]

+Glunn Head explodes like in Scanners.

[@Pynter_]

I'd love to play a game like antichamber with this

[@Garrette63]

I tried VR back in the 90's. It was Heretic, with some kind of gamepad controller, connected to a heavy crt based headset. Not the best.

[@ShoMibu]

I wonder, if the arcade places in the mall would be dedicated VR rooms. I am thinking that's the only way to actually do this VR right and Co-op done.

[@hamblok0]

Ughhhh can't wait to get my hands on any VR set, Oculus or HTC Vive, don't care.

[@steve24822]

How many years until we are at the standard of Ready Player One! ?

[@deanlillie7140]

Just a bit of tech info: Most developers are testing their games within the constraints of "two yoga mats placed side by side". Games can be designed to scale their worlds from a seated experience to a space as big as 3x3m and beyond. The Lighthouse tech is practically infinitely scalable with virtually no overhead, you just have to add more Lighthouse stations. You could theoretically fit out an entire building with lighthouse stations. On the flip-side you can use it just as you would an Oculus Rift. You don't even need 2 lighthouses to use it while seated, just the one. Even then, it's far superior to Oculus' system due to it's 3 meter+ range, far wider FOV, greater precision and inherent lower latency. The lighthouses themselves are pretty dumb. They don't need to be connected to anything but power and the only information that needs to be communicated to them is sync data, which in the consumer release will be done wirelessly and transparently. The controllers contain the tracking hardware, but it's all very simple stuff. Expect to see custom controllers and 3D prop objects. All you really need is a solid frame of plastic or whatever, a bunch of photodiodes and some very basic, low cost microprocessors and you have yourself a "controller". It's all stuff you can get over-the-counter. The headset itself is the least interesting part of the package. Make no mistake, it's excellent and the optics are fantastic but it's no better or worse than the Oculus. The reason why the experience is still tethered simply because of video bandwidth problems. There is a couple upcoming wireless standards which may be suitable but it'll be a generation or two before the wire is cut. As for bumping into stuff, rumor has it this is a solved problem in the consumer release. The consumer version will have an IR camera on the front apparently and through some technical voodoo it will essentially be a depth sensor. My guess is that they're going to use the laser sweeps from the Lighthouses as a way of calculating depth, in combination with the positioning data of the camera. Should be noted that having near perfect object tracking opens up some pretty interesting possibilities that haven't been practical before. Having said all that, the current HTC Vive is a prototype and while the specs will be roughly the same in the consumer version, some of the details may change. The head mounting mechanism in particular. The controllers too are getting an overhaul.

[@Ltulrich]

Trying to explain VR with tracking to someone is like talking about the show LOST. You just sound totally insane lol.

[@Crowforge]

I plan to get the vive (steam fanboy) but I don't really want to walk around. I just want to be able to look around while in my current games. I just wonder how I'm going to see my keyboard since I doubt those controllers have enough buttons for my mmos.

[@dgsdfkm]

been trying to get my hands on one for a VR investigation game i've been concepting, i was too late for the sign up's though :/

[@B24Fox]

You and P.U.R should do some stuff together .. some projects or whatnot. I would love to see that.

[@pokemon3335]

you are so darn lucky to try this out i never even touched one to see how it feels nothing so what are your true honest to god true thoughts about vr as a whole?

[@RRW359]

I don't think VR will be successful as a consumer product for the reasons you mentioned at the end (as well as cost, market saturation, and difficulty in development), but in an arcade-type situation, I can definitely see it taking off.

[@weaboosama6706]

No way this this kind of "virtual reality" heavy quotes will ever catch on.

[@4IN14094]

I am still trying to find an apple to apple compare to Oculus touch. So far it seems Vive have better tracking and better spacial experience, while Oculus touch have a better controller geometry, better system integration(as some people testing Vive have experience technical difficulty).

[@Riviner]

When this will be wireless, i can foresee the masses stumbling on the streets, yards, volcanos, playing the next open-world exploration in jazz. My crystal ball is looking good.

[@SwobyJ]

+Ville Mononen Maybe. Or maybe there would be a Public mode that has a crossview that allows seeing the immediate physical environment. Still will be idiots. People check their phones and get run over, they read the paper and get shoved, I don't see why this will be different in that regard.

[@Lemming1970]

Thinking it would be amazing in the garden :-)

[@ShadeWMD]

YESS!!!!!!!!!!

[@skaterlover1999]

I WANT ONE!!

[@zebare726]

Next gen racing!!!! :DD

[@DavidMarsden]

You sound wonderfully insane. But stuff like that room requirement means it won't catch on at home? Maybe this is the rebirth of the arcade?

[@KountKasper]

Imagine this thing with something like the Sims. I would love that.

[@thekosmickollector7748]

How does the Vive fair for people with glasses? Would you have to take them off?

[@LGR]

+TheKosmicKollector I meant to mention that! It works well with glasses, far better than the Rift. I had enough room for mine in there, although I ended up taking them off anyway since my eyes adjusted nicely to the lenses, me being nearsighted.

[@thekosmickollector7748]

+Lazy Game Reviews Ah, that's awesome! I'm supposedly short sighted too but I'd still need my specs cos my vision's terrible at pretty much any distance. Not being friendly to glasses was one of the main drawbacks of the rift for me so this is great news.

[@SagaraUrz]

;( i so want it. I hope they keep releasing devices for it, like gloves. This is the future, i hope they don't blow it.

[@MiotaLee]

They should try to do the holodeck thing where the room changes dimensions or direction so you never walk in to a wall. basically the simulation has you walking in circles xD idk if it's actually possible.

[@qwerdf12]

OMG i want to see the dota 2 one