Samsung’s recent high noise marketing campaign for its new Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge phones, which come with a free Gear Virtual Reality headset, has had the unexpected side effect of popularising VR headsets in India – and this comes at the right time. After an excruciating 18 month wait of testing, talking and dreaming about virtual reality becoming, well, a reality, the next and most significant wave of VR devices and platforms is expected to get their international launch this year.
For those who have not kept abreast of this new technology, Virtual Reality headsets are devices that you wear like wrap-around glasses around your eyes. The way it is positioned, the headset blocks external light, and what you see is a high definition screen that provides an immersive 360-degree experience when playing games or watching a movie. The new headsets, such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Sony PlayStation VR, let you move around in your virtual surroundings, and seamlessly look around just as you would in real life.So what are the best VR headsets in the market? Read on.
Google Cardboard
If you want to experience virtual reality in a simple, fun and affordable way, then Google’s Cardboard VR Headset is the way to go. According to Google, more than 5 million units have been shipped, and viewers have watched more than 350,000 hours of 360-degree video on YouTube. It ships with foldable cardboard and a reference design and instructions, 45mm plastic lenses, a magnet to operate the screen and a Velcro strip to hold the phone in place when you slip it into the front of the viewer. You can also buy viewers made from plastic, or aluminum, or EVA foam.
Price: Starts at around Rs 200.
Samsung Gear VR
Powered by technology from Oculus, the Samsung Gear VR is a VR set you can buy right away. To use it, you download apps and games from the Oculus store and simply clip your Samsung phone into the headset. In principle, it is a lot like Google Cardboard, since it uses your phone’s screen as a display. However, it has more going for it, with built-in sensors, controls and input options, such as the proximity sensor that pauses and plays based on whether the headset is on your face. There’s a touchpad to allow you to interact with onscreen options easily when it’s strapped on alongside a volume rocker, and a Back button. Even when you are immersed in a VR experience, you can still read texts or see incoming phone calls.
Price: Rs. 8,200
Oculus Rift
The latest Oculus impresses with its 360-degree headtracking LEDs, that follow your head movements to provide 3D imagery on its stereo screens. The headset allows players to step inside their favorite games, watch an immersive VR movie, jump to a destination on the other side of the world or just spend time with friends in VR. It has a 1080p, high-resolution 7-inch display that uses stereoscopic 3D to mimic normal human vision. Available now for $599, the headset ships with a sensor for motion tracing, as well as an Xbox One controller.
Price: $599
PlayStation VR
Sony’s got its own virtual-reality hardware for the PlayStation 4, and you can pre-order it with or without the PlayStation. It features a 5.7-inch OLED 1080p display running at up to 120 fps, 3D audio from built-in headphones and Sony has promised that the PS-VR will come with up to 50 games at launch. The headset will work with the DualShock 4 gamepad and the PlayStation Move motion controllers, and the camera will be able to track the movements on the headset, gamepad as well as the Move wands simultaneously.
Price: Starts at $400. Availability: October 2016
HTC Vive
This new generation VR headset was developed in partnership with Valve, the company that made the Half-Life, Portal and DOTA 2 games, and which operates Steam, the biggest online storefront for PC games. Powered by SteamVR, it features a 1200×1080 screen in front of each eye, a refresh rate of 90 fps, a gyro, accelerometer and laser position sensor to track the movement of your head. But what makes it truly special is that it lets you walk around your surroundings using the optional SteamVR base stations, which track your physical location within a room, allowing you complete immersion. That is a real game changer, if you ask us.
Price: $799. Availability: April 2016
Microsoft HoloLens
Sony’s got its own virtual-reality hardware for the PlayStation 4, and you can pre-order it with or without the PlayStation. It features a 5.7-inch OLED 1080p display running at up to 120 fps, 3D audio from built-in headphones and Sony has promised that the PS-VR will come with up to 50 games at launch. The headset will work with the DualShock 4 gamepad and the PlayStation Move motion controllers, and the camera will be able to track the movements on the headset, gamepad as well as the Move wands simultaneously.
Price: Starts at $400. Availability: October 2016
FOVE VR
How do you stand out from the likes of Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR, with their deep marketing pockets? Offer interactive eye-tracking. The FOVE VR reads subtle eye movements using an infrared sensor inside the headset, thus opening up new gameplay options and immersion. Specs include a hi-res 5.7-inch display, accuracy in eye tracking of 1/5th of a degree and ultra-low latency head-tracking to gain positional awareness.
Price: From $349, getfove.com
