My first experiences with the HTC Vive

pipnina · May 11, 2016

When I got my hands on 3D for my computer, I loved every game that supported it (Sonic Generations, Euro Truck Simulator, Trine 2 et al) all took on a whole new dimension sorry I had to with 3D. So when I heard that I could have 3D... but it was on my face and I could walk around and move in the game and it turned with my head and eeeeeekkkk!

Of course, I then learned that you need a large area to use the Vive in and it also costs £750 to import *jaw drop*. So when my friend at college invited me around to use theirs I was pretty excited to be able to use one without the extraneous costs being involved.

My first experience with the Vive was putting the headset on: It was mostly simple but you had to enable the device on the computer first. Once on your head and in a game, I noticed that the lenses are rather cheap- they are not apochromatic or even achromatic so everything you look at in the games has stark red/blue fringing, not to mention the lack of anti-reflective coatings and poor optical design (severe coma, difficult to position your eyes correctly- failure to do so results in streaks / stretched & blurry image) Highly distracting. Furthermore, the screens in use are terribly low resolution considering they take up 110 degrees of your field of view. You can see every pixel.

What I noticed before the lens and screen issues, however, was that the headset was clamping my glasses to my face, I could not be in any way comfortable until my glasses were OFF. This is a killer for me- atop the issues with optics and the screen mentioned prior, anyone with astigmatism will not be able to use the Vive comfortably with their glasses on, and will have to put up with a blurry image using it with glasses off.

While using it, you have two controllers to hold in your hand: They move in the game world and are visible as though they are your hands or as the controllers themselves. I found this rather novel and liked it a lot until the in-game controllers started floating away from me as the IR sensors get rather confused when placed in a room with lots of reflective surfaces (this room had two large windows, cabinets with glass panels and a mirror-map). There were sever head tracking issues as a result, making it feel like your robotic science lab or corner shop was experiencing an earthquake.

The last problem is the cable... It is always in the way. If there were a way to make the device wireless or have the cable suspended from the ceiling this would be an ideal situation but as it is the device is quite a tripping hazard.

I think it's pretty cool and some bold first steps... But it's definitely less than perfect, that is apparent. IMO not worth £750. (How does it even cost that much?)

~pip

VeeTeePee · May 11, 2016

What's your personal suggested retail price?

pipnina · May 11, 2016

3 minutes ago, VeeTeePee said:

What's your personal suggested retail price?

To make the Vive worth it to me... about £400-500. The reality of that cost I've no idea but for the price I'd have expected better lenses if nothing else. Probably substituting the black boxes with IR cameras and putting the LEDs on the headset / controllers.

As it is right now... It's just imperfect enough to make it not really a viable choice to me considering I could triple my performance in games in a few months for almost half the price. (I'd be going from a 670 to a 1080/1070)

alamox · May 11, 2016

the Vive gives you the option to bring the lenses closer and further away from your face to avoid touching your glasses, you have a thing on the side of the headset, the Vive also provides you with a 2nd foam if you have larger glasses, so it doesnt put pressure on the frame.

also before you put the headset, loosen the cables at the top, so when you are putting the headset the back sits under the base of your head, that makes the headset feel way lighter.

i dont know how to embed youtube videos here, so just go to youtube, and search for "Vive Tutorials" channel, and look for the following videos

1-Adjust the headset strap

2-Adjust the lens distance on the headset

you have like 5 videos would solve most issues you had.

pipnina · May 11, 2016

14 minutes ago, alamox said:

the Vive gives you the option to bring the lenses closer and further away from your face to avoid touching your glasses, you have a thing on the side of the headset, the Vive also provides you with a 2nd foam if you have larger glasses, so it doesnt put pressure on the frame.

also before you put the headset, loosen the cables at the top, so when you are putting the headset the back sits under the base of your head, that makes the headset feel way lighter.

i dont know how to embed youtube videos here, so just go to youtube, and search for "Vive Tutorials" channel, and look for the following videos

1-Adjust the headset strap

2-Adjust the lens distance on the headset

you have like 5 videos would solve most issues you had.

Ahhhh, this makes a lot of sense. I'll tell my friend since it was her Vive not mine, she just let me use it. Cheers for the info.

alamox · May 11, 2016

23 minutes ago, pipnina said:

Ahhhh, this makes a lot of sense. I'll tell my friend since it was her Vive not mine, she just let me use it. Cheers for the info.

Finaly i found out how to post videos lol took me forever hahaha, anyway here