Let’s Play VR — HTC Vive Virtual Reality

HTC VIVE Virtual Reality

The application I chose to experiment with was HTC Vive virtual reality. I reviewed it using my brother’s system that he has set up in his house and it was a really fun experience. Here is a link to the HTC Vive website — https://www.vive.com/us/

Initial Experience

When beginning to use this VR system, you have to put on the headset and learn how to use the controls in your hands. It actually made it very simple which I was kind of surprised. Following the intro and learning tutorial, I was then able to go into the main space of the system which looks like the living room in a home. All the pictures on the walls are interactive and are where you pick to go next, such as selecting a game to play. There is also an option to just walk out the back yard and explore, which is what I chose to do. One of my favorite parts of the home space is that you have a pet robot dog that follows you around and you are able to play fetch with it, it’s a clever little feature they added!

Who is it made for?

I think that this experience is made for younger people. I only say that because it is mostly games on there, at least on my brother’s system. Although, my parents have enjoyed using some of the features as well such as Google Earth where you are able to select a location and walk around as if you were there. Overall though, I think that this system and its applications are geared towards a younger generation, specifically people that love games.

Virtual Reality

This experience is an example of VR. It is 6DOF room scale where there are sensors all over the room so you are able to walk around and interact in that way. This system takes advantage of many forms of virtual reality because there are just so many applications for it. I mentioned a few of them above, but the options of things that you can download onto the system are endless and I am hoping to explore more of what it can do.

Other Technologies Involved

This technology requires a lot of sensors which is another technology. The sensors are placed all around the room so that you and the system are aware of your surroundings even while you have a headset on. It does this by displaying a see-through wall in front of you on the goggles when you are coming close to hitting something in your room (which means you’re getting too close to a sensor). This is important for safety while using this technology.

Strengths

One strength of this system is that there are so many applications for it. The downloads you can buy are endless which is so exciting. Another strength is that you can wear goggles and become completely immersed in a virtual reality world all from your living room. As we have learned in this class, there are so many advantages to this in many careers, but it can also just be for fun!

Weaknesses

One small thing that I would improve about it would be to make the headset smaller if possible. It is a fairly big thing that you wear on your head and if you are having to mess with it and situate it then it takes you away from the virtual reality world and reminds you of real life.