2016 will be remembered by many as the year Virtual Reality became popular. Many companies like Samsung, Xaomi, HTC, Huawei, Facebook, (even young) Oneplus, and most recently Sony has already joined the VR train — I also see Microsoft joining that train at its October event.
The Playstation VR
Back to the topic at hand, Sony introduced the Playstation VR on the 13th of October. Unlike some VR headsets it doesn’t need the most powerful desktop available to work, it just works with your PS4 console. Quick specs:
Display: OLED display with a size of 5.7 inches and a resolution of 1920 x RGB x 1080 (960 x RGB x 1080)
Refresh Rate: 120hz, 90hz
Field of View: Approx. 100 degrees
Weight: approximately 610g
Despite it being relatively new, it has garnered very high praises, most notable one from Ttrustedreviews which gave it a 10/10 rating.
The Playstation VR being used
Well, the PS VR may be very gorgeous with those bluelights making it seem like something that came from the future, it also may be cheap compared to the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, but it is not exactly cheap especially for those of us that don’t have the PS4 console. Adding the cost of getting the console plus the VR headset and the camera, you may be looking at almost $1000 device, which is still better compared to the Vive coming at $800+ without the computer that you’d need as well.
My problem with the headsets are not the price, they are with the capabilities. You can’t make me shell out $1000+ just to play games or watch 3D movies. For starters i’m not much of of a gamer, so I may not see things the way a gamer would, but let’s face it, the first four or maybe six months of using this VR may be exquisite, then, what next? I for one easily get bored of things after the first few months, then the headset may eventually get into the hands of a cousin or a nephew because the features in VR presently are not practical.
I want to be in the comfort of my parlour and enjoy the view of the Chinese glass bridge, be in the museum checking out ancient artifacts, check out the amazon forest, shop for goods in a store and so on. I know some of these are already possible, but I want it incorporated into one device. I don’t want to have an headset for shopping, another for gaming. I also know these features are inevitable, but until then the premium price being asked for are not justified. For these features I would part ways with $2000, if I had it.
Let me make a suggestion, how about there is a single platform (something like android), where different museums, stores, tourist centres, game developers can upload the VR experience of their product either free or paid to consumers. This will not just speed up the growth of VR around the world, but it will also make it cheaper.
For now, if you’re really bent on enjoying the VR experience, you are better off getting a capable Samsung phone and $99 Gear VR, at least you know you could use the phone as a daily driver for snapping and so on. Well these are my thoughts, let me hear yours; am I being too harsh on the VR producers or am I rushing to get to the future?
