Do the base stations have to be way up high like that or is eye level ok?
You have the potential for issues if you do that. If you can obstruct the view of one base station to the other with your body there is the potential for them getting out of sync. You could run the sync cable between the two base stations, but that's just more cables you need to run through your space but it theoretically should be fine in terms of tracking due to the high FOV.
You really want them above you looking down for best results in tracking accuracy. Highly recommended you mount them to the wall if possible or get tripods.
*Edit* Welp, I decided to bite the bullet. Put in my pre-order for the Vive and estimated ship date of May. Still incredibly impressed that HTC has been able to keep their ship dates reasonable and how no-nonsense the Vive shipping has been. Makes me confident that I'll get it in May, though I'd imagine it's going to be at the end of May rather than the beginning.
The problem I need to figure out is how the hell am I going to make space for the Vive... The room where my computer is in has
maybe 3 feet x 4 feet if I move my furniture around so the wall and my monitors are still going to be in range of my arms and it's under minimum requirements for the Vive. I have a spare bedroom (same size as my current one) but that would require me to lug my PC back and forth when I want to do the Vive and then sit in a chair (
this is my chair so you can see the problem. It's concerning a bit to me because I won't be able to actually extend my arms to aim in games like Space Pirate Trainer or Hover Junkers which I'm super pumped for. I may just end up cancelling which would be really disappointing due to this, but since I have some time I at least wanted to reserve my place in line and think about it. Hopefully I can join you Vive'rs soon.