VR Help

I'm thinking of buying a VR setup for my wife for next Christmas and just saw a Sunday morning show on virtual reality sets. This looked pretty cool, and I'm running out of things to buy her. Years ago she said no more jewelry.

I'm not very tech savvy, so I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm not on facebook, twitter, etc. I have never played a video game on anything since PacMan. I do have a 4 year old laptop and an iPhone5. I'm an old dog but willing to learn new tricks. I do spend a lot of time doing research on the net.

We probably wouldn't play games. Going to the bottom of the ocean, tops of mountains or space would probably be our type of thing.

I'm not saying money is no object, but if I do this, I'm doing it atleast to the level of "very good" or better.

I'll wait until Christmas to buy this because technology will be better. But, for now I'd like to know what direction to aim my research?

Any suggestions or advice? Thank you.

 

I'm a lifelong, hardcore, gamer and I honestly think VR is way overrated personally. I've not actually experienced it from the new tech that's out but I can tell you that I've seen some game journalists do it and they've said that some of it is awesome and very convincing. What they were using was the Sony one. I would make a joke about Virtua Boy but I know you wouldn't have a clue what I was talking about. LOL!

 

I agree. My thing is that it's really hard to ever tell how good VR is from ads because I think that people seveeeeerely dramatize their reactions to certain things. I personally would have to try one for myself before I would ever buy one.

 

The Rift is actually supposed to be gold standard isn't it?

 

I got a Oculus Gear VR for Christmas and am having some fun with it thus far. Things to note if you're interested in this tech:

1.We're still in the baby phases of this tech. While I have been impressed with it so far, I don't think it was quite ready for prime time. People that are impressed are tech geeks like me that understand the technology that is required to have VR.
2. If you're expecting HD resolution, we're not quite there yet. Video looks as sharp as it did in the 1980's.
3. That said, The 3D immersion is pretty cool when you dial in the settings right. I mean, it can really blow you away.
4. Search IPD and see if that is going to be an issue for your wife. Some VR setups allow for IPD adjustments, some don't.
5. If you wear glasses, that might be an issue too.
6. The Oculus Rift is the standard right now. DK2 Model but it requires a $1,000 PC set up too!
7. Try a cheap Google cardboard version $20 first before splurging on a $600 headset.

 

this is all i know about it

 

VR is still in the infancy stages of its life. As such, being able to utilize it's capabilities to the max hinders it's overall appeal.


As it stands, buying one now is not a bad idea. Just be sure that, currently, there is no "killer app" for it yet.

 

?

 

us or is
???

 

Yep, that seems to be it's biggest issue right now: Lack of content.

 

Yep, same thing. It's a great intro into VR if you have one of the compatible Samsung phones. The actual rifts are marginally better due to the higher frame rates and adjustable IPD. But if your IPD is within a normal range (55 to 71 - good, 61 to 65 - best) it's hard to go wrong with a gear VR considering the price of $79 vs a $599 + computer hardware Rift. The HTC Vive has just come out too but it's at a pricey $799. It's the price you pay for being an early adopter for tech that's in it's infancy.

 

Oddly enough my buddy told me his brother played a low end Sony one the other day and thought it was incredible. It just seems like VR is so dang subjective. He said he felt genuinely immersed.

 

I don't know a whole lot about it but I can tell you one thing...my brother in law is a professor at Yale so I guess he has access to some pretty cool stuff. On Christmas he brought over the Oculus Rift with a desktop/monitor set up. He ran us through a simulator that had a handful of different scenarios,being on top of a building,a alien encounter ,a T- Rex ...those were really pretty cool. He then set up a roller coaster simulator that I wasn't even gonna try because I was busy helping the wife...after quite a few requests I finally gave in.
Let me tell you something that **** was crazy...he had us sit in a chair and your body was literally leaning in the direction of the ride and your stomach actually got queasy from the twists and turns. I'm pretty sure the two things he put us through were actually free versions of things,so I can imagine some of the ones you pay for. I know there are certain specs required in the equipment to be able to handle the graphics and what not....if you ever get the chance to try the Rift especially the roller coaster you definitely won't be disappointed.