Games and porn in virtual reality: what you need to know ahead of the launch of Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR with HTC Vive

In the coming months will go on sale in several virtual reality devices:
— Oculus Rift (28 March 2016)
HTC Vive (April 2016)
— PlayStation VR (first half 2016)
— Microsoft Hololens (DevKit in the first quarter of 2016)

It's time to summarize all that is known about these devices and decide whether they should take now, what to choose, and which device is most promising to develop the game.




Why you need a helmet and will it replace the monitors?


Virtual reality technology give a whole other level of immersion. When you are in the helmet, in the field of view is only a game, but the review is not a mouse or stick, and the movements of the head. Image quality compared to monitors and televisions is still notable for the worse, but even taking this into account, virtual reality has strong. Ride on a roller coaster swayed, and the usual horror game scary as a child.



The appearance of helmets does not mean that displays thing of the past. Virtual reality technology is still far from perfect, and in some games, their use is irrational (many of the strategies, two-dimensional games).

What are the chances of success? The virtual reality helmets tried to release earlier, but the spread they never received.


Yes, indeed, attempts were before. The first commercial helmet of virtual reality (Virtuality) appeared in 1990. But then there was no technology that would allow mass available product that could have success with buyers. For example, the Oculus Rift displays the image resolution 2160x1200 (1080x1200 for each eye) at a frequency of 90 Hz. This requires the computer 2-3 times more powerful than the games in 1080p.

In favor of the fact that the current boom is not a false start, indicate the prevalence of the Oculus Rift still in the prototype stage for developers and the great interest of the people.

Which of the three hats to choose? The Oculus Rift?


While difficult to say. The characteristics of all three slam similar. A new wave of VR has launched Oculus Rift, and he still draws most attention. Oculus Rift began as a Kickstarter project, which gathered several millions of dollars, and was later bought by Facebook. CEO Palmer Luckey was interested in VR since childhood, he has one of the largest U.S. collection of virtual reality helmets. The CTO at Oculus VR John Carmack known as the Creator of the engine for id Software games (Doom, Quake), i.e. people in the gaming industry not the last.

However, the experience of creation and promotion of gaming devices the company does. Oculus Rift may be difficult to configure for the inexperienced user and also it is designed for PC platforms (only Windows, in the future there will be support for OS X and Linux), which market is significantly smaller than the market of console games.



As for characteristics, the Oculus Rift two screen, each gives permission 1080x1200 with a frequency of 90 Hz. Will be sold in a kit with a gamepad from the Xbox One and games EVE: Valkyrie and Lucky Tale. The list of supported games includes more hundreds of titles. It is planned to produce specialized Touch controller to the Oculus, which will be managed in the games, not only with buttons and sticks, but also movements of the hands.

What is known about the PlayStation VR?


Sony already has experience with such devices — in 1997, she produced a helmet Glasstron, supported by MechWarrior 2. PlayStation VR his successor. The company is working on it since 2011.



Helmet Sony is designed to work with PlayStation 4 and is able to give each eye image of 960×1080 with a frequency of 120 Hz. The list of supported games is calculated tens, among them 20 exclusives, including Ace Combat 7 and Gran Turismo Sport. You can play with a controller or two PlayStation Move. In the future we plan to release a new generation Move (may be called differently), sharpened by the VR.

What are the chances HTC Vive from Valve?


Valve entered the VR race after all: the first prototypes were shown in 2014. Helmet being developed jointly with HTC. Features such as the Oculus Rift: 1080x1200 for each eye, 90 Hz. Included are specialized controllers, as well as PS VR and Oculus Rift. Support Vive stated in 37 games.



In spite of the authority of the Valve, great prospects of slam is not yet visible. Experience in the "iron" business Valve a little, and a bad start Steam Machines shows this fully. HTC Affairs too are not the best way: the business press to describe with the words "collapse", "spin" and "stock quotes is lower than the value of the assets".

What are the hats?


There is a curious project Google Cardboard: under the special scheme to cut out a cardboard helmet, insert the lenses, magnet and a smartphone as the screen. A large effect can be expected. Surprisingly, there is a Russian equivalent.

There are also a lot of hats, which are made by analogy with the Google Cardboard (instead of a smartphone screen), but factory production: Samsung Gear VR (works in conjunction with Samsung Galaxy Note 4), Homido VR 3D VR 3D VR Box, VR BAOFENG3, VR Shinecon, Magic Glass, the Carl Zeiss VR One, VR Vortex One, Pro Fibrum, Durovis Dive, Merge VR, Freefly VR. They are already on sale, but none of the big boom did not cause.

In addition, there is a second tier counterparts Oculus Rift, ie, full helmets with their own screens: NVR (Russian development, sales), from Razer OSVR (sales), Total Vision VR2 (pre-order for 2016), Omimo. One (on sale), ANTVR (sales), VRVANA Totem (sold out).



The most interesting alternative called Microsoft HoloLens. It's not a helmet, and glasses to create augmented reality that show three-dimensional holograms in the real world next to the user. Unlike the helmets it's an independent device (like Google Glass) and its application goes far beyond games. Most likely even beyond the games Hololens will find far more applications than in games.

The release of the Hololens was announced for the current quarter at a price of $3000.

the Most interesting games for VR?


In Russia the most popular Minecraft and tank games. Minecraft Oculus Rift will appear in the spring of this year, and, in addition, will support Hololens. War Thunder already supports Oculus Rift and will support the PlayStation VR. "Armata" you can make friends with Oculus with VorPX. For World of Tanks is fashion the Oculus Rift.

What to exclusives, i.e. games developed specifically for helmets that are of greatest interest EVE: Valkyrie (space SIM in the universe of EVE Online), The Climb (climber simulator game from Crytek), Private Eye (Noir Thriller), The London Heist (crime action), The Deep (simulator diver), Edge of Nowhere (something like "the Ranges of madness" from Insomniac Games), the future game from the authors of the horror Until Dawn. In General, the strongest lineup at the moment, Sony.



will Change with the advent of helmets, the game control?


No doubt. While the most convenient method of control remains the standard controller — no coincidence that the developers of Oculus Rift include it in standard package. But in the long term the best experience are likely to deliver specialized controllers that resemble bisected the controller and is capable of tracking hand movements. Work all three of the manufacturer (Oculus VR, Sony, Valve/HTC).

In addition, developed and other periphery: vest, that simulates the falling bullets, costum on the whole body with the opposite effect (most likely, the required amount will not be collected, but it was hardly the last such project), treadmill Virtuix Omni, the weapon recoil, ustroystvo for tracking pupils help to aim, simulator of the flight of birds, and even controller to Tuscania female breast (invented, of course, the Japanese).
The wide spread of this kind of device is unlikely to get: they require extra expenses, many places (especially Omni) and support from the developers. Doubts remain even in the success of specialized controllers like the Oculus Touch that will be supplied with helmets. In the words of managing movements of hands sounds great, but in practice, this requires space, and just tiring. The standard gamepad is no one has been able to surpass, although attempts were many.

Where else besides games can be used the virtual reality device?


Video 360 degrees. Already removed movies the Oculus Rift.

— Social services. Linden Lab (makers of Second Life) last year said that they are working on a new virtual world Project Sansar for the Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR.

— Designing. Several architectural firms have expressed interest in the Oculus Rift.

— Sports broadcasts. The company LiveLike promises them in the VR.



— Selling cars. Audi last year uses Oculus at dealerships for the selection of machines and virtual test drives.

— Army. Helmets convenient for training of pilots and drivers of vehicles. And even in battle they are useful: the tank crews get a much better overview. The Norwegian army has been experimenting with Oculus in that direction.

Variants of application mass, and most of them haven't even been invented.

what about porn?


This is generally the most important thing. The porn industry took the Oculus Rift on the arms from the first days of its existence (NSFW). The porn sites on separate partitions with VR has not yet appeared, but the specialized sites are already there.

Reviews tried virtual porn mixed. Some say that the sense of presence so strong that you can reflex to pull away or "feel" the smell of a partner. Others complain that VR porn, contrary to expectations, not so interesting: the helmet on the head disconnects you from reality and does not focus on your body besides your hearing and vision isolated, which is why there is the fear that someone will enter the room and catch you like this.

Certainly we can say that VR will breathe new life into that kind of adult, when a girl on chat money doing what she asked. The effect of the presence of these videos will increase obviously, the girls can "almost touch".

That to games for an adult subject, the most attention has received Summer Lesson. It's a Japanese Dating SIM for the PlayStation 4.



No porn there, of course, is not only a flirt.

On the PC VR games will be much more confident but, as usual, uninteresting (who was trying to play Sexy Beach knows that boredom will die before seeing at least the bare chest). Summer Lesson about the witnesses, however, also say that she is stupid and boring.

How much will have to pay for VR?


Consumer version Oculus Rift will cost $600 + $1000 for a computer. Recommended system requirements: CPU Intel i5-4590 or above, NVIDIA GTX 970 / R9 290 AMD or higher memory 8 GB+, Windows 7 SP1 64 bit or higher.

The price of HTC Vive is not declared, but according to rumors it will be in the range of $600 to $1500.

Cheapest PlayStation VR: console for 25,000 RUB and about the same for the helmet.

So what helmet is better to choose?


You can gently suggest that the optimal choice on a ratio the price/quality will PlayStation VR: the price of the helmet will be compatible with the Oculus, but the console will be cheaper than a gaming computer. In addition, PS VR can be easier to handle because of the orientation of the less technically savvy audience and great experience in the creation of Sony gaming devices.

Before buying, be sure to test the helmet for a long time — at least half an hour. It may be that the helmet you uncomfortable physiological reasons.

Should I take VR now?


A pioneer to be interesting, but as always, it will have to pay its price. The consumer version of the helmets is a better devkitov, but it is unlikely they will solve the problem of rapid fatigue, headache, sickness. Surely there will be technical problems. And money will have to pay a lot.

In the other hand, to be among the early adopters is priceless.

Bonus track: a collection of bookmarks to websites about VR
Article based on information from habrahabr.ru

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