The Wacky World of VR Headsets
“Step into a world where reality and fantasy merge seamlessly, where you can explore distant lands, battle fierce foes, or simply immerse yourself in breathtaking experiences without ever leaving your living room. This is the promise of virtual reality (VR), a technology that has captured the imagination of millions around the globe. With VR headsets becoming increasingly accessible and affordable, now is the perfect time to take the plunge into this exhilarating realm of endless possibilities.”
But where to start, what to buy and how much will you spend?
The Big Two VR Headsets
In our opinion, it’s simple. You should choose the Valve Index or the Oculus Quest. These two have the best store access and they’ve had the longest development time.
Vive Turned Index – Valve owns Steam the largest gaming network in the world and initially they partnered with HTC to create the HTC vive which is a VR headset. Since then it seems that Valve has taken the development in-house and created the Valve Index which is a major step up in competition.
Oculus Turned Quest – Oculus was initially created by John Carmack which was a pioneer of VR gaming, since then it has been acquired by Facebook turned Meta and integrated with the metaverse in an attempt to build out Metas software suite, which does create for an interesting parallel for online marketplaces, but might be trying to segment a market of everyday users not gaming enthusiasts necessarily.
Every Other Headset
Apple Vision Pro – Debatably the most expensive hardware on the market they seem to be marketing theirs as a lifestyle change device moreso than a gaming device. This is supposed to be designed for remote office work to increase a feeling of connectivitiy and they are also indicating it should be a replacement for everyday things like a TV.
StarVR – This might be vaporware but it is uncannily similar to the Apple Vision Pro which is why it is included. Initially, back when Oculus and Vive were coming out, the StarVR was angling to be the best and most expensive with extra wide FOV and 144hz framerate which is nuts, some people have had it but now it seems like you can only purchase one second-hand.
Windows Odyssey – There is a third-party set of headsets that Microsoft creates and are part of the Microsoft ecosystem, without walling off access to things like Steam. Additionally it seems to be not walling off third-party developers since you can buy one from Microsoft direct or other manufacturers like HP.
Magic Leap – This is more of an AR device so not designed for intensive gaming or full on VR but rather augmenting what is going on around you. While there are some that are angled towards recreational use it seems recently they’ve pivoted towards high-end development and medical devices.
The Google Cardboard – You can still buy this, which is insane. Use your phone, and a piece of cardboard construction to have rudimentary, low-res VR from your phone. It is actually not bad and quite interesting if you want to see if VR is a fun thing for you to invest in before you dump a ton on a headset.
