So the hype for HMDs seems to only be building and building, with new versions of the Oculus Rift every few months over the last couple years, and more companies getting in the game like Sony, Microsoft, and now HTC/Valve. It's all pretty exciting and the next year or so is gonna be pretty big with (hopefully) most of the big names launching their flagship products.
I'm sure many people are like me and started hearing about this as a serious thing when the Oculus kickstarter launched, but now there seem to be enough serious competitors it's time to take a look at which one would be best for you and why. I'm interested on hearing what some of you are interested in and your reasons because I'm not entirely sure myself.
I've compiled some data on the current HMD options, but please be aware that because of the constant updates and a lot of information floating around some information may be missing/incorrect. I'll try and keep an eye on the thread and update this post with updated info if people correct me.
Let's take a look at some of the top options:
Rift [Oculus (owned by Facebook)]
Release: TBA 2015
Price: between $200 and $400 (expected)
Latest version: Crescent Bay (Sept 2014)
Tech Specs: TBA (2560x1440p expected), ~20ms latency (estimate)
Previous versions: Dev Kit 1 (Sept 2012), Crystal Cove (Jan 2014), Dev Kit 2 (July 2014)
Vive [HTC+Valve]
Release: Late 2015
Price: TBA ($300?)
Tech Specs: 90Hz refresh rate, 2400 x 1080p
Morpheus [Sony]
Release: Early 2016
Price: TBA (under $1000)
Tech Specs: 120Hz refresh rate, 1920x1080, <18ms latency
Hololens [Microsoft]
Release: TBA
Price: TBA
Tech Specs: Mostly unknown, transparent lenses
OSVR [Razer]
Release: ETA June 2015
Price: $199.99
Tech Specs: 1080x1920 OLED display, open-source
Smartphone mounts
Gear VR [Samsung/Oculus]
Released: Out now (December 2014)
Price: $199, $249 with Bluetooth gamepad
Tech Specs: Just a head mounting case, specific Snapdragon variants of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 can be used as the screen. 1280x144 per eye, < 20 ms latency.
VR for G3 [LG]
Release: March 2015
Price: free to customers who purchase a new LG G3 smartphone
Tech Specs: Another head mounting case, just a set of lenses that fit over the LG G3.
Cardboard [Google]
Released: Out now (2014)
Price: $20-25 (or make your own)
Tech Specs: It's made of cardboard. 2 x biconvex 45mm EFL acrylic lenses.
What are your current thoughts on VR/HMDs? What are you planning on getting, if any, and why?
I'm sure many people are like me and started hearing about this as a serious thing when the Oculus kickstarter launched, but now there seem to be enough serious competitors it's time to take a look at which one would be best for you and why. I'm interested on hearing what some of you are interested in and your reasons because I'm not entirely sure myself.
I've compiled some data on the current HMD options, but please be aware that because of the constant updates and a lot of information floating around some information may be missing/incorrect. I'll try and keep an eye on the thread and update this post with updated info if people correct me.
Let's take a look at some of the top options:
Rift [Oculus (owned by Facebook)]
Release: TBA 2015
Price: between $200 and $400 (expected)
Latest version: Crescent Bay (Sept 2014)
Tech Specs: TBA (2560x1440p expected), ~20ms latency (estimate)
Previous versions: Dev Kit 1 (Sept 2012), Crystal Cove (Jan 2014), Dev Kit 2 (July 2014)
Vive [HTC+Valve]
Release: Late 2015
Price: TBA ($300?)
Tech Specs: 90Hz refresh rate, 2400 x 1080p
Morpheus [Sony]
Release: Early 2016
Price: TBA (under $1000)
Tech Specs: 120Hz refresh rate, 1920x1080, <18ms latency
Hololens [Microsoft]
Release: TBA
Price: TBA
Tech Specs: Mostly unknown, transparent lenses
OSVR [Razer]
Release: ETA June 2015
Price: $199.99
Tech Specs: 1080x1920 OLED display, open-source
Smartphone mounts
Gear VR [Samsung/Oculus]
Released: Out now (December 2014)
Price: $199, $249 with Bluetooth gamepad
Tech Specs: Just a head mounting case, specific Snapdragon variants of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 can be used as the screen. 1280x144 per eye, < 20 ms latency.
VR for G3 [LG]
Release: March 2015
Price: free to customers who purchase a new LG G3 smartphone
Tech Specs: Another head mounting case, just a set of lenses that fit over the LG G3.
Cardboard [Google]
Released: Out now (2014)
Price: $20-25 (or make your own)
Tech Specs: It's made of cardboard. 2 x biconvex 45mm EFL acrylic lenses.
What are your current thoughts on VR/HMDs? What are you planning on getting, if any, and why?