> I’m thinking about getting VR gear, but is it too soon?
I’ve been wanting / waiting for VR since sometime in the mid 90’s and still haven’t made the plunge. I highly recommend that before you buy one you should check it out first. A few questions...
How much do you want to spend? Yes, you can get Google Goggles for a few dollars and stick a smartphone in it and get the effect, but, while it works, you’ll get what you pay for and right now you are looking at something between $500 and $1000 for the headset and another couple of thousand for a screaming fast desktop to drive it.
I’ve seen hints of much cheaper hardware from China. While this bodes well for future price-drops the fact that although VR is selling well it is still a niche market and as a result will not be able to take advantage of the economy of scale.
Do you wear glasses? Are you near-sighted or far-sighted? I have no idea how much this affects use of the hardware and I’ve never been able to get a satisfactory answer to date.
A final consideration to me is the fact that, without prior trials of the various hardware I have no idea if the lack of frame rate, jerkiness, low resolution or some other factor will trigger the barf factor. It’s got nothing to do with what kind of game you are playing, to me it has to do with the kind of motion you are experiencing while you, yourself are stationary. I do not suffer from motion sickness but I’ve found that sometimes when watching drone or POV cam video, all of a suddden I get sick as a dog.
The only place I know that will let you try one on before you buy is if you have a Microsoft store near you, otherwise make sure the store you buy from has a real good return policy. Good luck and if you are a pingee please let us know about your future experiences with VR.
The nearest Best Buy has Oculus Rift, but no demonstration model and no facilities to demo it.How much do you want to spend? Yes, you can get Google Goggles for a few dollars and stick a smartphone in it and get the effect, but, while it works, you’ll get what you pay for and right now you are looking at something between $500 and $1000 for the headset and another couple of thousand for a screaming fast desktop to drive it.
And no, I don't want to lay out big bucks on something I haven't tried out first.
I'm prepared to spend up to five thousand for the high end PC and all the gear necessary to run VR.I’ve seen hints of much cheaper hardware from China. While this bodes well for future price-drops the fact that although VR is selling well it is still a niche market and as a result will not be able to take advantage of the economy of scale.
I wear glasses but don't need them anymore for close-up viewing, so that would not be a problem here. Getting claustrophobic because my real world vision is totally blocked might be an issue, though.A final consideration to me is the fact that, without prior trials of the various hardware I have no idea if the lack of frame rate, jerkiness, low resolution or some other factor will trigger the barf factor. It’s got nothing to do with what kind of game you are playing, to me it has to do with the kind of motion you are experiencing while you, yourself are stationary. I do not suffer from motion sickness but I’ve found that sometimes when watching drone or POV cam video, all of a suddden I get sick as a dog.
The software for Skyrim creates an adjustable cone around your vision when you're moving to prevent sickness from peripheral vision dizziness, I understand.The only place I know that will let you try one on before you buy is if you have a Microsoft store near you, otherwise make sure the store you buy from has a real good return policy. Good luck and if you are a pingee please let us know about your future experiences with VR.
How about the problem of prolonged standing? Can VR be played enjoyable without standing?