VR: Is it Really the Future?

Paul Jeffrey

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Virtual Reality is fast becoming a mainstream alternative to the traditional ways we view our gaming experiences, but is it a long term solution for sim racers? RaceDepartment has a think on the subject...

In the not too distant past Virtual Reality (or VR for short) was the lone possession of a select few arcade machines simulating anything from first person shooters to Battle of Britain style fighter pilot games, yours for a few minutes of gaming pleasure in exchange for a healthy handful of loose change and presented in a strictly controlled environment. In fact I can clearly recall my first VR experience back in the mid to late 1990's at a local arcade in the north of England, strapping on a bulky headset and piloting the guns of a 'Red Barron' style double winged aircraft as enemy planes (actually more like pixelated dots at the time) flew above me and I gasped in awe at the realism of it all. Of course with the steady march of technological progression over the years that game would be laughed out of the door nowadays, but at the time the experience felt simply mind blowing.

Step in to 2017 and Virtual Reality has progressed at such a rate that the first serious VR headsets are slowing beginning to feed into the general gaming population. Back in 2012 Oculus began a Kickstarter initiative to develop their own VR headset for PC gaming, very quickly exceeding their initial funding target and in the end raising a staggering $2,437,429 across 9,522 backers - putting the wheels in motion for what has turned into a technological arms race to establish a clear lead in the quest for mainstream VR access in modern gaming. As of February 2017 Oculus (now owned by Facebook) have been joined in the VR marketplace by such industry giants as Sony with their PlayStation VR headset for console users with the HTC Vive now a genuine alternative for PC players, albeit a little more expense at around £700 in comparison to the Rift which retails around the £500 mark and the PSVR which usually comes in at a reasonable £350.

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Mainstream VR technology is still very much in it's infancy, with issues surrounding the pixel density one of the main concerns from members of the public perhaps looking to upgrade from their current viewing solutions. As of today, no current VR headset can hope to match the graphics quality one can achieve with a standard monitor setup, let alone come close to the Ultra HD / 4k screens some lucky gamers have access to within their own gaming rooms. Couple this with the need to pack some serious hardware into your gaming PC in order to run the vast majority of VR ready title's at a reasonable performance level, it quickly becomes clear that VR gaming has not quite reached the stage where everyone would be willing to take up the obvious advantages, despite the many remaining pitfalls of the technology.

No doubt as the technology matures further in the coming years and more companies join the VR bandwagon these obstacles will be overcome in time, leaving open the original question posed by this post - is VR the future for racing simulations?

In order to answer that question I feel we first need to ask ourselves a series of questions to determine exactly how VR might fit into our future gaming requirements. The first question many serious sim racing enthusiasts may ask is - does running VR increase the immersion of simulation racing? Or in other words, do I feel more like I am driving a real race car when viewing the action from a headset rather than on a monitor (or three). For me the simple answer is yes, considerably so.

Using VR in a sim racing title is simply one of the most incredible things I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing during my many years playing racing games. The purity of the feeling of being strapped into a car is quite simply incomprehensible until you try it for yourself. With VR you are quite simply sitting in the car yourself, you are at one with the machinery around you and suddenly you find yourself transported from one who is playing an approximation of the real thing to someone who is physically part of the experience itself. It really is that good. Prior to trying VR myself for the first time I, like many others, watched a series of videos of people playing racing games with the headset on. I've seen countless videos of people looking around the environment inside the car, leaning forward to check the dials and generally making the most of the ability to completely experience the virtual world in which they are participating. That's all really cool. So cool in fact I decided that would be a great reason for purchasing VR and trying it out myself. This is where my mind was simply blown the first time I took the humble KTM X-Bow out around Spa in Assetto Corsa pretty much as soon as the headset arrived. It's not just the ability to look where you want in game that makes VR, after all you can achieve something similar with trackIR, it's the 3D aspect that really takes away the breath, an experience that simply cannot be captured watching YouTube videos of people playing in VR.

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I can't make this point enough... wearing a VR headset you are quite literally inside the cockpit of your car. The feeling and visuals you experience are simply breath taking. It really is amazing how the mind can be tricked into convincing your body you are sat inside the machine, so much so that even though at the time I'm running a big Fanatec BMW rim on my rig my brain see's the in game car wheel and convinces my body that I'm holding that specific size and shaped wheel. It's a spooky experience...

So far so good. In order to try and remain objective and keep this piece balanced, let's turn our attention to some of the immediately obvious issues one encounters when first sampling a VR headset within a sim racing environment. Namely motion sickness.

Now I am not one who easily suffers from motion sickness and I appreciate that views on this topic are subjective to how each individual reacts to the experience of wearing a VR headset for prolonged periods of time. When my Oculus first arrived I found myself only able to really drive comfortably for around 15 minutes at a time without the need for a break. After the 15 minute mark I started to feel a little bit queasy and hot under the collar due to the visual sensations received from the headset. This was using Assetto Corsa. If playing something slightly more visually taxing like DiRT Rally, then trying to complete a stage without removing the headset was basically impossible for me. This quickly became a concern. However after reading some of the considerable amounts of information on the internet my concerns gradually faded away, it is commonly acknowledged that players new to VR have to establish their "VR legs" so to speak, giving the mind and body a chance to adapt to this new experience. For me personally after around a week or so spent with the Rift I quickly overcame the initial sickness feeling and can now use my headset without issues for as long as I wish, running multiple races in one session or completing endurance stints of several hours at a time. Just because I now feel comfortable is no guarantee that everyone will share the same experience however. This factor needs to be considered before making a purchase yourself. I've heard a few people simply couldn't get on with the experience and have sold off their headset because of it.

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So, does using VR make you faster? This is a very difficult question to answer, and the response will be different for each individual person. Taking my own experience with the Oculus Rift I would argue that I'm a quicker driver with the headset than without, and for sure my positional awareness and ability to navigate traffic is greatly improved because of VR.

The advantage of Virtual Reality over traditional monitors is most prominent when considering depth awareness. Because you are now firmly planted within a 3D environment, the curbs and track immediately in front of you are infinitely more prominent and "alive" than what is experienced on a tradition 2D screen setup. I feel using the headset I can pick out an apex much easier than before, and hit the apex on a considerably more consistent basis than was possible without the headset. The reason for this can be attributed to several factors in my opinion. Firstly the 3D environment is much closer aligned to the real world one is used to, and therefore the brain doesn't have to compensate for the lack of 3D images when picking out details of the track on a 2D screen. In a standard screen setup you have to apply a little bit of estimation between real and virtual when entering a corner as your eyes and brain are seeing something presented to you differently (i.e. in 2D) than you would experience in the real world. With VR you are in the car yourself and everything is as it would be in real life, the element of estimation has been removed. The track / corner / apex is presented to your eyes in 3D, as it would be in real life. Added to this you can see the depth of the apex and track much easier, it is quite simply a much more accurate representation of that particular piece of tarmac that you would find outside of a VR situation. For me at least this makes hitting the apex a much simpler and more natural experience, which obviously has a positive effect on overall laptimes.

Conversely because of the current lack of high resolution graphic rendering capabilities using VR, one could find it more difficult to accurately judge far off braking points using the headset, in comparison to the standard one or three monitor setup. For example when playing Assetto Corsa in the rift, despite having high in game visual settings and making VR specific adjustments to the pixel density, far off objects still remain considerably less clear than they ideally could be. This impacts the ability of the player to look up the road and make an accurate judgement of a far off braking zone and can even cause the eye to miss potential track blockages that would otherwise have been obvious to a monitor user. Over time one develops the ability to shut out this issue and compensate subconsciously for the lack of long draw distance quality, but it must be taken into account when considering the laptime advantages offered by using the rift or not. Personally I find this distraction to be of secondary importance compared to the additional immersion offered by the headset and improvements in the ability to pick out an apex and better understand depth perception within a game. This may not be the same result for other users and should be taken into account when considering purchasing a virtual headset device.


If truth be told it's still very early days in the world of Virtual Reality gaming and current VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have quite a way to go until they are capable of matching the visual fidelity of mid to high range monitor setups. Even with that taken into consideration I firmly believe (aside from the invention of FFB wheels) Virtual Reality is the single most impressive enhancement to a sim racers experience in the last dozen years. If you can afford to spend a not inconsequential amount of money on a device, and you are willing to overlook the drawbacks of the lower resolution produced by current units, then Virtual Reality isn't really the future of sim racing - it's the present day, right here, right now.

Will the technology improve over time? Yes I expect it will get considerably better over the next five years or so, but to be perfectly honest what we have available right here today is an outstanding piece of kit that will help take many sim racers above and beyond the levels of immersion they ever thought possible. It's tomorrow's technology, available and working on today's simulations. I love it.

Current racing / driving sims that support VR headsets include: American Truck Simulator, European Truck Simulator 2, Assetto Corsa, iRacing.com, Project CARS, RaceRoom Racing Experience, Live for Speed and DiRT Rally.

If sim racing equipment is your thing or you just want some advice before making a purchase, head on over to our Sim Racing Hardware sub forum here at RaceDepartment and engage with the often knowledgeable, and always helpful community members on a wide range of sim racing related equipment.

Do you think Virtual Reality is mature enough to become a "must have" piece of tech in sim racing? Do you expect the technology to improve in time? Have you tried VR yourself and what do you think? If you don't have a VR set, what is the main think that keeps you away? Let us know in the comments section below!
 
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I just can't take it when graphics look grainy, out of focus and worst when you can see the actual crystal squares that the LCD's are made out of, almost like getting giant pixels thrown at you.
You should try the Oculus then, because that's mainly the problem of the Vive. I played with the Rift for hours and never saw single pixels
 
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I will consider it once prices have dropped considerably (for heaven's sake its all about playing games, not managing vital aspects of your real life...), and image quality/resolution has gone up. Double resolution on every axis, giving you four times the pixel resolution per eye than you have now, achieve this and drop the prices - then we can start talking seriously.

Right now, its all in the expensive teething phase.

One can be pessimistic and say the next Apple iphone is expected to break through the 1000-dollar barrier, but I can also remind of the first pocket calculators in the late 70s and early 80s costing hundreds of bucks while just offering +, -, x and / - and today? You know it yourself. Or take chess computers in the early 80s (my beloved old hobby...), good and beautifully crafted table machines could cost the equivalent of a brandnew middle class car from back then, thousands, tens of thousands. Today you get chess programs for free that are capable to take on grandmasters while running on a cheap smartphone.

If the industry has a realistic financial motivation, a realistic chance to earn reward, to hang to it, things will change for VR headsets, and the future looks bright. If the concept does not start as fast as needed to get customers in time to finance the needed development, it will die. What seems to be of the essence, since many people are not willing to invest this lot of money for this type of resolution, is that significant progress gets done in short time. If it takes too long, their financial funding may dry out since customers in huge numbers will stay away for too long - and so companies will then drop the idea.

After all, it has to pay off as a business model, as a product. And that is the uncertainty, still.

P.S. I could easily afford to buy the needed system and headset, I am not dependent or poor. But it is not worth the costs for me, considering what I get. I do not waste money just because I can afford it.
 
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I'll buy one of those VR units when they act and behave more or less like in Caprica tv series. Until then, nah... motion sickness for me is terrible with those things.
 
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You should try the Oculus then, because that's mainly the problem of the Vive. I played with the Rift for hours and never saw single pixels
It's not the pixels but the screen itself, saw that on the Oculus too but not so pronounced since the Vive is brighter.
Apart from that I did not find the graphics enjoyable, to downgraded for a fluid experience, even with a GTX1080.

I use curved 34" 3440x1440 with TrackIR, can max my graphics out in all racing games and still have a fluid gameplay (exception would be PCars crazy AA settings).
 
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I had a HTC Vive set for almost 2 weeks but had to return it since my eyes suffered from to much strain.
Besides that, I did not enjoy it for racing games.
1. Steering Wheel layout in games does not match what I use
2. LCD display behind the wheel shows the info I in the way I want to see it (Z1 board), can't really do that in game
3. Button boxes.....
4. If you have a nice looking rig VR kinda defeats it's purpose (unless you only have it for showoff)
Agreed, I have the same concerns, how do I operate my rig when it's not included in my VR world?

Also, the concerns with long term optical damage has not been established, but scientific medical research has found as stated previously that even monitors can over time, pose a threat to vision, so whats a VR unit going to do long term.
If you have one I'm a little jealous :notworthy: the visuals must be "awesomeness in a headset", but I'm just not that convinced, doubt I'll ever own a set TBH.

Cheers
 
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Maybe I am one of the unlucky few, but I suffer from motion sickness after 10-15' with VR. Tried it two times. Apart from that I did not like it. It think VR could be more useful in flight sims, rather than in racing sims.

So NO, it is never going to replace my triple screen setup (3 x 27" 144 Hz 1ms).
Also, I need to be aware of my surroundings.
When his cat jumped on his lap while he was driving in VR, it scared the hell out of my friend.
Another one wants to be sure his toddler does not stick his fingers in the pedal set, without him seeing it (which almost happened).
Both sold their VR units...
 
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I absolutely agree with Paul. VR is a game changer (excuse the pun). I think I suffered from about 10 minutes of stomach churning and then I was fine. The sensation is authentic. No other way to describe it. Close racing is so much easier to achieve - although I was initially scared by the sheer size and proximity of the cars - running in the skip barber on iRacing.

I'm not sure I was any faster, but I was certainly a lot safer. Yes, the difficulty in seeing braking markers clearly is a negative, but from what I've experienced racing bikes, seeing brake markers while doing 250+ km/hr on a bumpy track isn't easy either - at least that's how I justify it.

I know a couple of black stripers in iRacing who use the VR exclusively, even in Pro races, and they swear it's a faster alternative.

A few problems I've found: my forehead and the rest of my face gets very sweaty when wearing the kit and I can't wipe sweat as it runs down into my eyes. I have to use a straw to drink while driving because I can't get the cup properly up to my mouth.

I run the Clubsport rims plus Fanatec shifters, a custom hardware dash (siminstruments) and two DSD button boxes. My initial concern, back in the DK1 days, was that VR would make it impossible to see all the real world stuff (including iSpeed). Now I've used a CV1 I don't care. There is a little bit of "alignment time" finding the right button or knob, but it's not a problem. As for now not being able to see the data on the hardware dash? Not a problem, the in-game instrumentation, which was hidden off the viewable area thanks to my FOV, covers that and adds the immersion back.

I did find if increased the supersampling I felt ill (e.g. from 150 to 200 in iRacing), so I only tried that once. You (I at least) can run at lower than 90 FPS and not get motion sickness.

Is VR now good enough? Yes, it's "good enough". It doesn't equal every positive of monitors and then adds some, but its positives outweigh its negatives.
 
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Yes, it is the future, and to deny that would be silly. BUT, in it's current state? Maybe not. It's easy to see why many would still prefer monitors. They're compatible with everything, simple, cheap, don't cause nausea for some people like VR dpes, and are just all around practical.

But VR takes people to insane levels of immersion. That aspect of 3D and the freedom to look around and be connected with the environment is un-surpassed. There's no going back. The biggest things to make it more practical though would have to be:

-Affordability
-Simplicity
-Compact size
-Optimization for lower-end systems
-And Clarity of such displays confined to such a small area, since 1200x1080 x2 is hardly adequate to provide realistic clarity.

Also, VR is going to have to become a system peripheral like a monitor if it is to survive... Rather than exclusive games.
 
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It already is. Used in plenty of areas, architecture, design, engineering, simulation (pilots etc)...
My point was that most simulators, games and programs are only exclusively compatible with either the Vive or the Rift, OSVR gets far less attention or compatibility, it's all licensed, if you are able to use your VR headset with full compatibility, it's because they have the license to... Even talking to an official Oculus Rift employee, she completely dodged my comment about them being plug and play like TVs and monitors and kept comparing them to Consoles.

My point is, I can take an HDMI capable TV, and plug it into my PC, my PS3, PS4, and pretty much any modern game system with 0 adjustments and tweaks other than resolution. And I can play any game with that TV and use any program... If VR is going to survive, there needs to be some way to make headsets work like that... I am aware that there are currently limitations with hardware and software for that to be possible. But if it is to survive, it needs to work like a display rather than just another monopolized, regulated piece of tech.
 
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  • ronniej

Maybe I am one of the unlucky few, but I suffer from motion sickness after 10-15' with VR. Tried it two times. Apart from that I did not like it. It think VR could be more useful in flight sims, rather than in racing sims.

So NO, it is never going to replace my triple screen setup (3 x 27" 144 Hz 1ms).
Also, I need to be aware of my surroundings.
When his cat jumped on his lap while he was driving in VR, it scared the hell out of my friend.
Another one wants to be sure his toddler does not stick his fingers in the pedal set, without him seeing it (which almost happened).
Both sold their VR units...

VR (HTC Vive) was my brother's answer at attempting to get a "leg-up" on my system, but in the long run a similar scenario as yours kept it from becoming a permanent deal. We both agreed that "VR" wasn't ready for our environment as either too much is happening around you, or the house could burn down when you use these units along with the extra space it requires. My nephew ended up killing the unit and it hasn't been replaced. Maybe when the technology becomes more affordable and stable, and future software and hardware make it more viable.
One of the rare occasions in where a family member saved me money. I was initially excited, and I look forward to seeing where VR technology goes, but I will wait.
 
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I remember playing games at 640x480 resolution, and later 800x600, even if the first LCD supported more
and it was fine

I feel like sharpness/resolution is bit overrated, 4k gaming doesn't give you that much, unless you sit really close

the immersion of VR is unmatched, and I think with second gen the resolution will improve,

it's currently expensive, but so were the first sound cards, first LCDs, first DVD burners
 
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Give me wireless VR with wqhd and 144 hz per eye for 1000 euro incl the needed GPU power and im going for it tommorow. But i guess that will take about a gtx 1080 per eye (dont come up with software development as rendering 7,3 mil. pixels at 144 hz need serious hardware) which is 1600 euro's. Plus the VR device itself which also will be around 1000 euro (on the cheap side). Sooo...thats about 2600 euro.
But hey...there are enough peeps playing VR with a Gtx 970. Im sure there are enough peeps gaming at low - medium settings. I know a peep playing Rocket League on a MAC with 30 frames...slammin one goal after the other. When i sit behind his mac playing i cant hit a sinlge ball as im used to play at 165hz.
Its what peeps are used to. For me quality has to be on very high level. I only go fot gtx ti versions but i wont go SLI unless i get 90% redement per card in every game or, with VR per eye.
To have VR on the same quality im using now with a gtx980ti and a asus pg2u9q, will never be in reach of my budget. Not now and never will unless Nvidia drops its price with 50 -60%
Happy vometing,

Bee out
 
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Great article Paul, nicely written covering all key points ! :) VR since Oculus first hit the scene and I only use it for racing ... tried few other games but not for me. Racing in VR is simply incredible despite the few negatives, could never go back fully to flat screen racing.

The motion sickness aspect for me was a critical point and I struggled for about 3 days until everything came good but I got really sick and limiting time in the Rift to 10 minutes every 2 or 3 hours seemed to be the way to get my VR legs - by crikey that first day I really thought I would have to sell it on and VR was not for me, so glad I persisted and pushed thru the sick barrier.

Between Dk2 and CV1 I had a break of about 7 months and was surprised to find I had to go thru the VR sickness stage all over again ... ginger and motion sickness tablets are your friend for that first week ! ;)
 
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The future is a drug with controlled effects: you take a pill, lay down and then suddenly you are in a car waiting for the lights to go off and everything is 100% realistic from physics to graphics and sounds obviously ... no need for MP or SP, your mind is the source of everything.
 
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It really is that good.

I can't make this point enough... wearing a VR headset you are quite literally inside the cockpit of your car. The feeling and visuals you experience are simply breath taking

Exactly how I felt when I started using my DK2 in August 2016, the only regret I have is why did I wait so long.
VR for SIM racing is mind blowing and a game changer.
To all saying they will wait, don't, find a way to try it, it is too good to not use it sooner than later.
It will improve, off course, but the incredible feeling of immersion is already good enough to not delay doing it now.
 
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