On September 8th was the Life & Tech Wearable Tech Expo and Fashion Shows in Toronto, Canada. Given the lack of any east coast sites for the HTC Vive's tour, I decided to journey 4 hours and into another country to try it for myself. Funny enough, I almost didn't make it. The event started at 12:00PM, and after getting a little lost navigating without GPS, I stumbled in at roughly 12:30PM. The HTC representative kindly informed me that all but 3 appointment slots were available, and those were at 8:00PM. Obviously, I took one.
Among the other booths and showcases were a variety of fitness bands, smart watches, smart jump ropes, a meditation feedback device, GPS pet trackers, wearable cameras, and GearVR. A lot of things described as "smart". I decided to try the GearVR again. I had tried it once before, but I literally just walked into a Best Buy, and asked to try it. I didn't have much time before, and there wasn't much installed to try. At this event however, they sat me down, and I tried a Cirque du Soleil experience. As before, I found that even after adjusting the focus wheel it wasn't particularly clear. This is more obvious when you're looking at the white text on black before you start the demo though. As with my prior experience, being able to look around a 3D space, even if limited is interesting, and perhaps even more amazing is the sense of scale. The Marvel Iron Man experience I got to try my first time had you fighting along side of the Hulk, and well, you can really appreciate it the way he towers over you. GearVR was the only VR experience I had tried up until this point.
Onto the HTC Vive... I was guided into one of three rooms in their large truck. The HTC demo lady showed me the basics of the controller: The trigger and track-pad. I put on the headset and was in this tiled-floor white room. In comparison to GearVR the Vive was immediately clear to me. I got familiar with the chaperone system, meaning if you get too close to a wall you see a green wire-grid pattern. She then suspended the controllers in front of me and asked me to take them. I could see them represented in-game, and intuitively grabbed them based on their represented position. I spent a little time blowing balloons out of the left controller, hitting them, and trying to grab them. I then proceeded to try three demos.
The first one placed me underwater on the front area of a sunken ship. I spent some time walking around the deck, and admired the fishes swimming around me. I walked over to the edge and peered into dark abyss below me, and immediately felt vertigo and my legs become weak. I'm not sure how else to describe it, but it was that, anxiety and an urge to step back onto the "safe" part to stabilize myself. At some point a school of mantis rays swam above me. Finally, and I don't remember how I first noticed it, but a giant (blue?) whale started its approach around the front of the ship. You cannot imagine the sense of scale this provided, it was incredibly enormous in size. I was left in awe.
The second placed me in room where I could paint in 3D. The left controller, my left hand, acted as the source for an in-game menu. I used the track-pad to navigate it, and the right controller was sort of like the selector. For instance, I could see a visual representation of a color wheel in my left hand, and my right hand acted as the brush to select it. I began creating shapes in my 3D space, writing out characters, and walking around the room to take it all in from various angles.
The final demo was Valve's Portal experience. You're placed into this room with a desk full of electronic equipment, a couple of drawers on one side of it, and a door hatch. The first thing I noticed was the level of detail on everything. I spent a lot of time just getting really close to objects to appreciate the detail, and exploring my room. After some time I was told to pull out a drawer. I don't want to spoil it, but there is some great Portal-humor involved. Eventually the hatch door opens slightly, and ATLAS and P-body are on the other side. ATLAS comes in and I immediately become aware that he's a lot larger than I imagined. You proceed to open him up, and search for a component, which, at least I failed at, and the pieces fall to the floor. Moments later the tiles of the room's floor start to give way, and that same vertigo feeling came over me as I backed up. GLaDOS then comes down into your room and the scale of it all is again very impressive. She really gets into your space, and you kind of feel invaded, at the very least a sense of uneasiness. Shortly after the room's walls get taken apart, and you're left standing on a platform in the middle of a Aperture Science assembly area. The fact that you're on this platform, with no walls, suspended up high gave me that same feeling of vertigo as before. At one point I thought I was going to lose my balance as I quickly backed away from the edge of the platform. There is an interesting sequence following that which rebuilds your room, and opens the door again to a hallway with a Aperture Science testing "button" and companion cube, only to be demolished in front of you before you can even think about walking forward.
What I haven't yet mentioned in any of this is, is what made this experience one of the most incredible ones I've ever had, and more than made up for the long drive. It's also the one I'm at a loss for how to properly explain. Even from the white-tiled room of the introduction and all the subsequent demos, the feeling of really being there was incredible. The popular term is presence, but that doesn't mean anything until you know what it is. It gives you an overwhelming sense of belonging to the virtual environment. I felt like I could live in those spaces. I came out of the HTC truck in shock of it all. It's one thing to get "sold" on something, but this is unlike anything I've experienced. Above anything else, this is the most important part of everything that I experienced, and unfortunately I don't know how else to describe it. I for one cannot wait until I can have one in my house.
Among the other booths and showcases were a variety of fitness bands, smart watches, smart jump ropes, a meditation feedback device, GPS pet trackers, wearable cameras, and GearVR. A lot of things described as "smart". I decided to try the GearVR again. I had tried it once before, but I literally just walked into a Best Buy, and asked to try it. I didn't have much time before, and there wasn't much installed to try. At this event however, they sat me down, and I tried a Cirque du Soleil experience. As before, I found that even after adjusting the focus wheel it wasn't particularly clear. This is more obvious when you're looking at the white text on black before you start the demo though. As with my prior experience, being able to look around a 3D space, even if limited is interesting, and perhaps even more amazing is the sense of scale. The Marvel Iron Man experience I got to try my first time had you fighting along side of the Hulk, and well, you can really appreciate it the way he towers over you. GearVR was the only VR experience I had tried up until this point.
Onto the HTC Vive... I was guided into one of three rooms in their large truck. The HTC demo lady showed me the basics of the controller: The trigger and track-pad. I put on the headset and was in this tiled-floor white room. In comparison to GearVR the Vive was immediately clear to me. I got familiar with the chaperone system, meaning if you get too close to a wall you see a green wire-grid pattern. She then suspended the controllers in front of me and asked me to take them. I could see them represented in-game, and intuitively grabbed them based on their represented position. I spent a little time blowing balloons out of the left controller, hitting them, and trying to grab them. I then proceeded to try three demos.
The first one placed me underwater on the front area of a sunken ship. I spent some time walking around the deck, and admired the fishes swimming around me. I walked over to the edge and peered into dark abyss below me, and immediately felt vertigo and my legs become weak. I'm not sure how else to describe it, but it was that, anxiety and an urge to step back onto the "safe" part to stabilize myself. At some point a school of mantis rays swam above me. Finally, and I don't remember how I first noticed it, but a giant (blue?) whale started its approach around the front of the ship. You cannot imagine the sense of scale this provided, it was incredibly enormous in size. I was left in awe.
The second placed me in room where I could paint in 3D. The left controller, my left hand, acted as the source for an in-game menu. I used the track-pad to navigate it, and the right controller was sort of like the selector. For instance, I could see a visual representation of a color wheel in my left hand, and my right hand acted as the brush to select it. I began creating shapes in my 3D space, writing out characters, and walking around the room to take it all in from various angles.
The final demo was Valve's Portal experience. You're placed into this room with a desk full of electronic equipment, a couple of drawers on one side of it, and a door hatch. The first thing I noticed was the level of detail on everything. I spent a lot of time just getting really close to objects to appreciate the detail, and exploring my room. After some time I was told to pull out a drawer. I don't want to spoil it, but there is some great Portal-humor involved. Eventually the hatch door opens slightly, and ATLAS and P-body are on the other side. ATLAS comes in and I immediately become aware that he's a lot larger than I imagined. You proceed to open him up, and search for a component, which, at least I failed at, and the pieces fall to the floor. Moments later the tiles of the room's floor start to give way, and that same vertigo feeling came over me as I backed up. GLaDOS then comes down into your room and the scale of it all is again very impressive. She really gets into your space, and you kind of feel invaded, at the very least a sense of uneasiness. Shortly after the room's walls get taken apart, and you're left standing on a platform in the middle of a Aperture Science assembly area. The fact that you're on this platform, with no walls, suspended up high gave me that same feeling of vertigo as before. At one point I thought I was going to lose my balance as I quickly backed away from the edge of the platform. There is an interesting sequence following that which rebuilds your room, and opens the door again to a hallway with a Aperture Science testing "button" and companion cube, only to be demolished in front of you before you can even think about walking forward.
What I haven't yet mentioned in any of this is, is what made this experience one of the most incredible ones I've ever had, and more than made up for the long drive. It's also the one I'm at a loss for how to properly explain. Even from the white-tiled room of the introduction and all the subsequent demos, the feeling of really being there was incredible. The popular term is presence, but that doesn't mean anything until you know what it is. It gives you an overwhelming sense of belonging to the virtual environment. I felt like I could live in those spaces. I came out of the HTC truck in shock of it all. It's one thing to get "sold" on something, but this is unlike anything I've experienced. Above anything else, this is the most important part of everything that I experienced, and unfortunately I don't know how else to describe it. I for one cannot wait until I can have one in my house.
