Shulou(Shulou.com)05/31 Report--

Virtual reality seems to be the crazy taste of the future in 2016, with the emergence of a wave of headphones. Today, it is more like a work in progress. You can buy a lot of very good VR headphones now. Whether you need it or not is another matter. Depending on who you ask, VR is either alive (probably just to help you stay healthy), or dead, or at least a promise has not been fulfilled. Since you are reading this article, I guess you either belong to the first category or are looking for new signs of life.

VR is still evolving, which may eventually shock us even more: completely independent headphones, such as Oculus Quest, already exist, and they are great. Some headphones also have an eye tracking function. Completely independent, independent systems look like the future, but low-cost, lightweight devices can also be plugged directly into the phone. There may be more VR in the future, or VR may never be the future. But now you can do some amazing things in VR, some new VR headphones worth considering.

There are several different forms of virtual reality helmets: they are cheap, can work with your phone, and require powerful computers or those game consoles and some mobile space. Between them are independent headphones, which are wireless and do not require any additional external hardware to run.

So, what will you do in 2019? My advice is: don't spend a lot of money, buy some hardware that suits you.

Nothing else costs $400. Oculus Quest can provide gaming and active experiences anywhere, with independent tracking and a fully dynamic six-degree-of-freedom (6DoF) controller. Vibrations can also track the movement of fingers: they are the same controller, and you get the Oculus Rift that PC needs. The Quest has an amazing high-resolution display and built-in speakers, and applications can be downloaded directly to the headset's on-board storage device. The Mobile Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor used by Quest may not sound powerful, but it works well with Beat Saber, Moss, and SuperHot VR. This reminds me of the versatility and fun of Nintendo Switch, which can be used in a few seconds. It's also very suitable for glasses.

Good: independent, wireless, great controller, comfortable design.

Bad: the application library is limited and incompatible with the large Windows/ mobile software ecosystem.

The Sony VR headset three years ago is still the only headset suitable for game consoles, and it is surprisingly good. Even better, it often sells for as little as $200 (and sometimes in games). Sony has launched (and will continue to offer) many excellent PSVR games, many of which are exclusive. You only need a PlayStation 4 to start the game. Here are some good games.)

Good: the game support is great and the price is lower, which is suitable for many PS4 game controllers, such as DualShock and Move.

Bad: low resolution is not the most advanced; Sony has yet to produce an excellent VR controller that can compete with its competitors.

Oculus Rift S is an improvement on the 2016 Rift PC headphones, adding outdated features such as a higher resolution display (1280x1440 per eye) and independent room tracking through five cameras built into the headphones. No external cameras or sensors are needed, making Rift S easier to use at will.

Oculus has an excellent collection of games and applications, and Oculus Store makes it easy for first-time users to browse (easier than the sometimes confusing Steam VR layout). Tracking in headphones is not always as seamless or large-scale room tracking as the holodeck on HTC Vive and Valve Index, but it is a great help without any extra hardware (like Microsoft's VR headphones). It still uses the cable connected to the computer, but at least one cable is very compact.

Good: reasonable full price; clear display; room tracking in headphones; very good controller.

Bad: bulky headphones are not very portable; they can't be flipped like some Microsoft Windows VR headphones.

Valve's new headphones are probably the most interesting PC VR of the year, simply because of its fancy new controller. Valve's "joint" controller is pressure-sensitive and tracks all five fingers, making them almost like gloves. At present, there are not many applications that can be fully utilized, but the hardware of Valve is compatible with HTC Vive and is also based on Steam VR. Index headphones have excellent sound quality and slightly above average field of vision.

Because index uses the same room tracking sensor box as HTC Vive, existing Vive owners may not need a complete (and expensive) set of index hardware. In addition, you need to set up those small boxes in your room, and you need to connect to your computer with a long cable. Unlike Oculus's Rift S, it can track rooms using a camera in its headphones or Microsoft's Windows VR headphones. And it's definitely not wireless.

The good: amazing futuristic controllers, high-quality headphones and Vive hardware.

Not good: very expensive, need room settings and Internet cable.

To help cope with the space and computer requirements and high costs of VR headphones, Microsoft has jointly developed Windows Mixed Reality headphones with its PC partners. WMR headphones use so-called inside-out tracking, so you don't need to set up camera sensors for motion tracking. Prices start at around $200, and most of them have the same function. Reverberation headphones for $600 are more expensive.

But it has a higher resolution display (2160x2160 per eye) and a compact, comfortable feel. It won't flip like some earlier Windows VR headphones, but if you want to see 3D objects and textures at higher resolution, this may be your best choice. Or, if you are a serious professional VR creator, you may prefer HTC Vive Pro because it has larger room tracking accuracy, but it is not so compact or convenient.

Good: high resolution display, smaller, lighter design, built-in tracking.

Bad: there is no flip visor.

HTC's Steam VR-compatible Vive uses the same application libraries as Valve Index, and if you are interested in creating or exploring them, you can provide a panoramic room experience similar to the whole house model. Professionals tend to use Vive hardware because of its flexibility and the ability to track movement in a larger area.

HTC launched a $799 Vive Pro headset in 2018 with a 78% increase in display resolution (2800x1600; or 1400x1600 per eye), a wireless adapter, and a more expensive version with eye tracking.

This still makes sense for any PC VR user who is looking for a large number of hardware options or wants to create a location-based experience-but also consider Valve Index and Vive Pro.

Go is basically like using a cell phone headset, but not a cell phone. Considering all the built-in content, it's relatively cheap for $200, and it includes a controller. The internal monitor looks clear, and the built-in speakers have convincing spatial audio. You can't walk around like Oculus Quest, but for video and simple experiences, Go still works.

Basically a better bare metal Cardboard version, the Daydream View is comfortable to wear, suitable for a variety of new and old Android phones, and its growing list of compatible applications costs $60 at an affordable price. It also has a controller that can navigate quickly.

The biggest drawback of Gear VR is that it only applies to Samsung phones. If you have one of them, these are headphones. Like Daydream View, Gear VR is equipped with navigation and game controllers. Oculus provides support for Gear VR software and applications, bringing a large number of compatible applications.

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