Get Your Head in the Game
With new developments, virtual reality is the next big step for video games.
November 2015
Giancarlo Donnini '18
Over the last decade, virtual reality has been evolving rapidly, and most apparently in the field of gaming. Though originally focusing their efforts almost entirely on motion controls, such as the Wii or Playstation Move, developers have transitioned into utilizing some form of headset with two screens. Instead of controlling your character with motion, you can actually see through the perspective of whoever you are playing as in the game. There are two screens inside the headset, one for each eye.
The best and most popular VR headset is the Oculus Rift. Despite remaining in development, two development kits have been released for people to buy early before its retail release in 2016. A large variety of games from the past have been made compatible with this device. Along with this, many popular game engines have implemented support for the device such as Unity 4, Unreal Engine 4, and CryEngine.
Additionally, the Oculus is able to project games in high resolution. The most recent release also included depth. Most VR headsets only allow you to look around, but Oculus now allows for depth in sight, tracking your head moving in any direction. It combos nicely with a special controller known as the Oculus Touch, which is like a Wii remote but with better tracking motion, and more dependent on pressing buttons on the controller instead of motion.
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A runner-up would be the upcoming Sony Playstation VR. Less is known about the Playstation VR because it has had less exposure. Unlike Oculus, Sony has not released any forms of it to the general consumer, but has released the specifications and small demos at gaming conventions. As far as revealed specifications go, it seems very similar to the Oculus Rift. Unlike the Oculus, it would have support for all games on Playstation 4, which is much better than just a few game engines. Oculus wins when it comes to display. It has an overall better resolution, larger field of view, and as previously mentioned, depth of sight.
Although less discussed, the HTC Vive is a huge competitor to the Oculus Rift, expecting its release very late this year. It boasts all of the qualities of the Oculus Rift, such as 1080p screens for each eye, and ingame depth perception. It even has special controllers made for increased immersion. Though few games on PC are universal in their VR support, the HTC Vive will not have to worry about compatibility issues. It will be backed by SteamVR, which is part of the biggest digital video game distribution company for PC. The only real downside is that it costs around $50-150 more than the Oculus.
Though there are a surprising amount of other virtual reality headsets (such as Google’s budget headset “cardboard”), these three are the most popular. Though it seems to be limited to video games, maybe one day virtual reality will see use in other areas.
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