Oculus Rift or HTC Vive – Which Should I Get?(unity3d.college)
unity3d.college
Oculus Rift or HTC Vive – Which Should I Get?
https://unity3d.college/2017/07/11/rift-vs-vive-which-should-you-get/
15 comments
I've rather enjoyed the HTC Vive, the room scale experience, breadth and depth of games available for it coalesce to make it a solid product.
I doubt I'd ever buy anything from Facebook, but then again I'm an oddball in that my FB account has been unused for many years. Last time I logged in it was a rotting cesspool of shitposts by people I had long stopped dealing with, not very enticing to go read.
I doubt I'd ever buy anything from Facebook, but then again I'm an oddball in that my FB account has been unused for many years. Last time I logged in it was a rotting cesspool of shitposts by people I had long stopped dealing with, not very enticing to go read.
The bottom line is that both products are excellent, and you can't go wrong choosing either.
There are a few key deciding factors: people with (1) VR rooms > 4m^2 (~12'x12'), (2) large glasses, or (3) staunch anti-Facebook beliefs. If you fall into one or more of those camps, Vive is your best choice.
Otherwise, at $399 (vs. Vive's sale price of $699) the value of the Rift simply overwhelms all other factors. With ceiling mounted sensors, Rift's room scale tracking is within a percent or two of Vive's, though in a smaller range (as above, about 12'x12'). It also includes more software that adds to the value.
Note that a full apples-to-apples comparison adds the following costs to Rift: a 3rd sensor, a USB card, mounting brackets, and extension cables. Total: about $130 (note that the article misstates the price of a third sensor as $99; it is $59). This remains $170 less than Vive's $700 sale price, excluding software value.
Note that an equivalent comparison could also add costs to the Vive: A deluxe audio strap (for similar comfort and integrated audio), and potentially the upcoming Knuckles controllers. Total: between $200 and $250 (assuming a cost of $100 to $150 for the controllers, which seems conservative given a single replacement controller is $129 from HTC), getting back to the similar price advantage of the Rift.
There are a few key deciding factors: people with (1) VR rooms > 4m^2 (~12'x12'), (2) large glasses, or (3) staunch anti-Facebook beliefs. If you fall into one or more of those camps, Vive is your best choice.
Otherwise, at $399 (vs. Vive's sale price of $699) the value of the Rift simply overwhelms all other factors. With ceiling mounted sensors, Rift's room scale tracking is within a percent or two of Vive's, though in a smaller range (as above, about 12'x12'). It also includes more software that adds to the value.
Note that a full apples-to-apples comparison adds the following costs to Rift: a 3rd sensor, a USB card, mounting brackets, and extension cables. Total: about $130 (note that the article misstates the price of a third sensor as $99; it is $59). This remains $170 less than Vive's $700 sale price, excluding software value.
Note that an equivalent comparison could also add costs to the Vive: A deluxe audio strap (for similar comfort and integrated audio), and potentially the upcoming Knuckles controllers. Total: between $200 and $250 (assuming a cost of $100 to $150 for the controllers, which seems conservative given a single replacement controller is $129 from HTC), getting back to the similar price advantage of the Rift.
IMO: Rift has way better controllers, but head-tracking and room-scale is so much better in Vive-land. Edge for me goes to the Vive, but you can make an argument for either.
Valve's new Knuckles controllers look very promising and will offer far better hand presence than the Touch controllers.
https://www.vrheads.com/valve-knuckles-controllers
https://www.vrheads.com/valve-knuckles-controllers
True! I'm excited to see them, but I haven't spent time with them so can't really rely on them with a recommendation. Right now, the Vive controllers are a step back.
I'm a dev that's used the knuckles controllers. You're in for a treat.
Yea i'm really excited for the knuckles..
Valve has been showing off new controllers [1] which look really neat, but also points to the more open ecosystem of something like the Vive over Oculus' seemingly more closed platform.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/12/13264950/valve-vive-vr-c...
[1] https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/12/13264950/valve-vive-vr-c...
the rift controllers are nicer, at least until Vive releases their new ones.
Tracking is less of a hassle on the vive. Fewer cables, easier.
rift has their own ecosystem which can also play almost every game on the steam library.
vive primarily has steam, but with some hackery (revive), you can play some rift games.
Hardware-wise, they're practically the same. Comfort-wise, Rift takes it.
Development-wise? tough, but I think Rift takes it as well. You get a free license for unity or unreal4 i forget which. And they've improved the developer documentation greatly recently.
The good thing is most multiplayer games support both.
Tracking is less of a hassle on the vive. Fewer cables, easier.
rift has their own ecosystem which can also play almost every game on the steam library.
vive primarily has steam, but with some hackery (revive), you can play some rift games.
Hardware-wise, they're practically the same. Comfort-wise, Rift takes it.
Development-wise? tough, but I think Rift takes it as well. You get a free license for unity or unreal4 i forget which. And they've improved the developer documentation greatly recently.
The good thing is most multiplayer games support both.
Hardware wise, Vive's tracking tech supports larger tracking volumes and is more scalable. We'll be able to add quite a few more tracked objects to a Vive scene.
Why do you say that the Rift takes it comfort-wise?I'm only curious because I take issue with the OP for exactly this reason. The latest Vive release ways less than the Rift (according to their specs) for which the hardware has changed very little. They were so focused on the controllers that they haven't bothered to update the main hardware and I think their win with the controllers will be short-lived.
As I understand it, the Rift's weight includes the weight of the integrated headphones.
Also, the actual HMD (excluding strap, headphones, cable hooks, etc.) of the Vive is still about 40% heavier than Rift's, so there's still more "face tug" and fatigue over longer sessions.
Again, I have not directly tested this, but it makes sense as there's substantially more plastic in the Rift's strap system (i.e., back of the head) than Vive's.
Also, the actual HMD (excluding strap, headphones, cable hooks, etc.) of the Vive is still about 40% heavier than Rift's, so there's still more "face tug" and fatigue over longer sessions.
Again, I have not directly tested this, but it makes sense as there's substantially more plastic in the Rift's strap system (i.e., back of the head) than Vive's.
Where are you getting that info? According to the specs on both sites, the Vive is lighter than the Rift (although you're probably correct that this includes the weight of headphones whereas the Vive only comes with the in-ear buds). That to me makes it seem like the HMD hardware has gotten lighter because I can't imagine that they would make the straps less sturdy to shed weight. I could be wrong, but that doesn't make sense to me.
Edit: It seems the initial Vive release was heavier than the Rift but the latest release is lighter.
Edit: It seems the initial Vive release was heavier than the Rift but the latest release is lighter.
According to Palmer Luckey[1], the Rift strap assembly (including back of head counterweight and earphones) is about 150g. That puts the HMD portion at about 320g.
The new Vives weigh about 468g. According to Amazon, a replacement back strap weighs 1.8 ounces (51g)[2]. The Vive HMD w/out strap would be - at the least - about 417g.
Even at a 417g weight, that's about 30% heavier than Rift's strapless weight. Since the 1.8g may include packaging, the HMD may weigh a bit more, bringing the % up to 40% or so.
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/47rb3m/the_rift_cv1...
[2] http://a.co/6PUVw7v: "Package Dimensions 4.2 x 3.9 x 3.9 inches; 1.8 ounces" (so 1.8 ounces may include packaging).
The new Vives weigh about 468g. According to Amazon, a replacement back strap weighs 1.8 ounces (51g)[2]. The Vive HMD w/out strap would be - at the least - about 417g.
Even at a 417g weight, that's about 30% heavier than Rift's strapless weight. Since the 1.8g may include packaging, the HMD may weigh a bit more, bringing the % up to 40% or so.
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/47rb3m/the_rift_cv1...
[2] http://a.co/6PUVw7v: "Package Dimensions 4.2 x 3.9 x 3.9 inches; 1.8 ounces" (so 1.8 ounces may include packaging).
For starters, he complains about the comfort of the Vive vs. Oculus due to the weight of the Vive. He’s clearly using a 1st rev Vive, though, whereas the latest rev, which you can order today (and I don’t think I’m wrong in assuming that the target audience is those buying a new one) is actually lighter than the Rift.
As someone who has used both the 1st rev Vive and the latest and who also owns a Rift with 3 cameras, the Oculus Rift really only wins out for me in 2 areas:
1. The controllers are awesome but they’re not better than the new knuckles controllers. I even agree with his point that some experiences are actually better with the large, unwieldy Vive controllers.
2. The price. The Vive really needs to come down in price to be a worthwhile recommendation, especially now.
Other than that, the Vive wins for me. You can choose whichever audio/band style you prefer, the ease of setup for the lighthouses is light years better, and the experience for most people when done 1-to-1 is better (for all the people I’ve demo’d them to). I typically show people AZ Sunshine, the Blu, Job Sim, and some seated games on both and then show off Lucky’s Tale for the Rift (awesome game) and The Lab for the Vive. Without fail, everyone has preferred the Vive with a few people mentioning that the Oculus did have less distracting visuals in some areas.
Even for the price, though, I would recommend new users wait for the newer Vive when the knuckles come out. Especially with the Facebook fear-mongering, the Rift is just not where it needs to be to compete. There are too many places where it takes you out of the presence that VR absolutely needs to be compelling.