HTC's Vive Headset Paves The Future For Virtual Reality | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Lifestyle

HTC's Vive Headset Paves The Future For Virtual Reality

What awaits us in the future

21
HTC's Vive Headset Paves The Future For Virtual Reality
International Business Times

On April 5th of this year, HTC released their newest product – a virtual reality headset called the Vive. While previously known for problematic hardware and plummeting sales, HTC’s Vive has managed to surpass all other virtual reality (VR) systems currently on the market in terms of immersion and gameplay. This is due to its use of motion controls and 360 degree tracking, allowing for players to fully walk around the environment and interact with objects within the games. As said by a writer from the online magazine Polygon while playing the VR game Fantasy Realms, “It’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t tried room-scale VR before what it feels like to suddenly be transported. I know I’m in a tiny office, with maybe three feet in every direction to walk. But I’m looking at a huge room, with stone columns stretching up to the ceiling.”

However, the Vive’s practicality extends beyond video games. The car company BMW announced that it will be incorporating the Vive’s use of mixed reality into its vehicle development process. Having made large investments into HTC’s VR technology, BMW was given several development kits for the Vive back in the fall in order to launch pilot projects with it. While BMW has used virtual reality systems since 90s, the company has made sure to utilize the Vive with the most “powerful” processors possible, in their own words.

With all the positives of the HTC Vive in consideration, there have been several setbacks and complaints. The Vive’s headset has three rather large wires protruding from the back of the device, which are easy for the user to get tangled up in. While making them all wrap into one wire would have been an easy fix, the current clunky nature of these wires is certainly an issue. Additionally the Vive does not come with built-in headphones, but rather a headphone jack wire to plug headphones into. The setup comes with a standard pair of HTC headphones, which are serviceable, however not having them already built in adds a fourth wire to the mess and Bluetooth headphones cause lag in the audio making them unusable. It is understandable what the intended purpose was, allowing for easy replacement if a pair of headphones were to break rather than requiring the entire system to be fixed, however in practice it certainly has its drawbacks.

Additionally, the design of the Vive makes it difficult to adjust, take off, or put on, with the three main wires running directly over the Velcro lining. It is also very easy to accidentally drop the headset and while the wires would most likely keep it from falling on the ground and breaking, that would not be before painfully pulling out a fair amount of your hair. Add on to this an expensive price tag and the tiring nature of the motion controls and you have a system with some serious downsides.

HTC has also been experiencing several problems with shipping of the Vive. Even before the release date, all pre-orders were accidentally cancelled automatically during processing. While HTC has released an official statement saying that all people will still receive their Vive systems on time, the company’s problems continue as many users who pre-ordered and paid extra for express shipping found that their Vive’s were mistakenly sent through economy transit. HTC is compensating users for the extra cost, but what cannot be compensated is the additional time their systems will take to arrive. Many users are also concerned that Paypal customers are receiving their Vive systems first over credit card customers and even though HTC has claimed to be operating on a first-come, first-serve policy, many users are taking to Reddit and claiming this is not the case. HTC has addressed the situation involving shipping complications with the following statement: “We understand that multiple issues have arisen in the past two days and we are working hard to resolve them as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

While there are certainly issues from hardware to shipping, the HTC Vive is currently the most immersive mixed reality system and a true demonstration as towards what the future of virtual reality has in store. One critic of the system said it best by describing the Vive to the first-ever iPhone: it’s unpolished, but truly shows what is to come in the near future. With a price tag at $800 and a backorder wait list pushing into June it is not reasonable for the average consumer to purchase the Vive, nor is it recommendable; however, this is without a doubt the start of a new kind of technological wonder that we will see grow into something marvelous in the near future.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Entertainment

College Life: As Told By Bob's Burgers

If there's anyone who understand the struggles of college, it's the Belcher family

179
Bob's Burgers

College is a time of gaining independence, exploring new things, and copious amounts of Netflix. If you're like me, you often find yourself laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the situations you find yourself in. Here are ten times Bob's Burgers accurately captured college life.

1. What you're pretty sure your upstairs neighbors do at 3am every morning.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Why Theater Kids Are the Greatest People Ever

Supportive and spontaneous human beings are the best.

136
Theater Kids

Throughout school, the theater department has always been my go-to place with go-to people when I need advice, a dance party, or just someone to listen to me vent.

You never know what's going to happen when you're dealing with theatre or what kind of characters you'll encounter. We have too much fun doing anything! One time in my senior year acting class, we spent an entire class period watching Bob's Burgers, and it was the greatest class period ever.

Keep Reading...Show less
Gilmore Girls
Hypable

In honor of Mother’s Day, I have been thinking of all the things my mom does for my family and me. Although I couldn’t write nearly all of them, here are a few things that moms do for us.

They find that shirt that’s right in front of you, but just you can’t seem to find.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

10 Reasons To Thank Your Best Friend

Take the time to thank that one friend in your life you will never let go of.

6993
Thank You on wooden blocks

1. Thank you for being the one I can always count on to be honest.

A true friend will tell you if the shirt is ugly, or at least ask to borrow it and "accidentally" burn it.

2. Thank you for accepting me for who I am.

A best friend will love you regardless of the stale french fries you left on the floor of your car, or when you had lice in 8th grade and no one wanted to talk to you.

Keep Reading...Show less
sick student
StableDiffusion

Everybody gets sick once in a while, but getting sick while in college is the absolute worst. You're away from home and your mom who can take care of you and all you really want to do is just be in your own bed. You feel like you will have never-ending classwork to catch up on if you miss class, so you end up going sick and then it just takes longer to get better. Being sick in college is really tough and definitely not a fun experience. Here are the 15 stages that everyone ends up going through when they are sick at college.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments