Questions about VR for group/multiple person use...

[lovemesomespeed]

I'm in the process of upgrading my sim setup and am debating between VR and triple screen. I have never tried either option but I'm leaning toward VR at this point, since immersion is my #1 goal.

Two questions I have regarding VR...

1) I often have a friend over and we take turns racing (and cheering/coaching each other on). It's fun to watch as the other person races. What are my options for displaying what the driver is viewing on a monitor so that the non-driver can watch? And does this degrade performance a lot due to the computer having to divert resources to an external monitor?

2) My friend wears either glasses or contact lenses. Is there going to have to be a bunch of adjustments that would have to be made to the IPD and/or focus (don't know if VR has that...) as I hand the headset off to him, and then vice versa?

 

[metalnwood]

yes, you can mirror the screen which is good enough for others to watch you in VR.

If he comes around tell him to put on his contacts and not wear glasses. Unless your IPD is vastly different you probably dont have to bother changing it if it is software based.

If you have something like an index with mechanical IPD it takes a couple seconds and done but if you guys are of similar ipd it wont matter.

 

[lovemesomespeed]

Would it be best to have a 1080p screen to draw less resources? Or would 1440 be OK if that's what I have for other games?

 

[metalnwood]

most mirrors are in a window anyhow so you can size it to what you want. I understand that the mirror doesnt impact performance that much.

 

[Locoblade]

As I understand it the mirror is just like watching a video of what is being sent to the VR headset, its not as though the GPU has to do all the geometry and texture calculations again to display it a second time on screen

 

[stigs2cousin]

I think one thing to consider would be the state of the VR Device when you pass it on:

i just did some hotlaps and my headphones are hot and sweaty, i would not take them from somebody else.

if what i read is correct the VR headset would be even more "gross" than my headphones are right now.

 

[metalnwood]

I think the index as an example has a magnetic facial interface, so if you have two of them it takes a second to swap them. for others you can have your own cover, there is an established aftermarket for this kind of thing.

Having said that, I have a fan going when in VR and I couldnt imagine getting too hot and sweaty when playing with someone else and having turns swapping.