Is VR Great?

[RCHeliguy]

Interesting use of pass through cameras. The simple masking he is using in this video is supposed to put almost no additional load on the CPU.

Meanwhile real time Chromakey is more of a CPU load, but can create an even better mixed environment.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Today in VR is see a few paths.

Reasonable Cost

Quest 3 - reasonable cost with incredible bang for the buck.
Crystal Lite - reasonable cost with higher ppd.

Enthusiast Headsets

Visual Quality Highest priority - Somnium VR1
Visual Quality priority less expensive - Crystal

Comfort lightweight uOLED - BigScreen Beyond

I would be hard pressed to say that any of these is not a modern headset with a solid set of attributes to make it attractive to some buyers. Pick your priorities and budget and compromise on the things that don't matter to you.

 

[blekenbleu]

Enthusiast Headsets

How good can (ALVR) hacks get for SteamVR in Apple Vision Pro?

 

[RCHeliguy]

nm.

 

[Leynad777]

Two worth to watch reviews from today/yesterday:

 

[RCHeliguy]

I broke down and watched a little of MR TV's review on the Crystal Light. Interestingly he says it looks better than the normal Crystal, and he credits that with the lenses being fixed at the factory.

I still think the Crystal's replaceable lenses were both a marketing gimmick and a way for them to start production of the headset and later patch the lenses later when they were ready.

No one wanted the 42ppd lenses and the wide lenses haven't turned out that well. If they had focused on the lenses that most people use and fixed them at the factory, people would likely have a more consistent experience. However they've moved on and it's unlikely we will see any new lenses for the Crystal, so it really was a waste as an upgrade path.

This makes me seriously question the real reason they are using replaceable display/lens modules on the upcoming Supers.

They are adding complexity, cost and weight to make a replaceable option. So once again this seems like they are trying to sell this as a feature (marketing gimmick) but it is more a way to hedge their bets because they still don't know how they are going to build this yet. They may try to pretend to sell this as a way to future proof the headset, but they will abandon it shortly after it is released and move on.

The other review with the Beyond I have mixed feelings about not because of anything he said about it but because he has a more mainstream YouTube channel with 1M subs. That video has over 250K views in less than a day and over 1K comments. This is also his first review of anything VR related. He was mostly positive about the Beyond but I would imagine anyone hearing about the Beyond for the first time on his channel is a complete VR newbie.