Reality Check: Headsets That Enhance Your Whole VR Experience
From riding an enormous roller coaster infested with demons and fire-breathing dragons to avoiding ghosts in a museum, virtual reality has fast become more realistic than ever. No longer are they enjoyed only on the games that you can play at home, these amazing innovations allow you to plug into alternate worlds where you can dive underwater and tea party along with realistic sharks and colorful fish, or have your dream of becoming a commercial pilot come true while you sit comfortably in a replica cockpit. As the popularity of these devices continues to rise, let’s strap in, buckle up, and find out how to get the best VR headset experience.
What Is Virtual Reality?
Created perhaps more for the fun it brings rather than for its function, the goal of VR is to provide us with a virtual environment where we interact with a computer much like we do in the real world. As remarkable as it may sound, this cutting-edge technology allows you to get a hold of a virtual object through simple hand gestures, lift it, and place it in another spot. Generated by VR science, visiting a virtual landscape provides you with the experience of going to an actual place, complete with images, sounds, and even smell to help you enjoy the scenery better.
While Virtual Reality is all about taking you to a place that exists separately from the real world, VR headsets are used to keep track of the user’s position and movements, giving them the illusion of actually existing and interacting in the virtual world. From pushing the ignition button of your airplane to swinging a machete to slay that annoying goblin, interactions are as close to reality as possible wherein moving around requires you to actually move around and to not just mash on controller buttons.
Applications Of Virtual Reality
Although video games play a major role in the launch and the coming-of-age of modern-day VR, there is a lot more to this technology than playing virtual tennis and fighting off zombies. While games and entertainment are still the best channels to show off this great innovation, there are a handful of industries that can benefit from virtual reality.
Here are a few of them:
Film-Making
No doubt, the rise of the internet has produced journalists as well as documentary and filmmakers from all walks. Since most of us tend to get bored with the redundancy of the various kinds of media and entertainment, the use of Virtual Reality can tell stories from different and perhaps more spectacular “angles”.
Sports And Music
Just when you thought concerts and sporting events couldn’t get any better, VR technology comes crashing in with advancements that promote an entirely different experience. While most of us cannot afford front row or give-the-superstar-a-high-five seats, virtual reality provides you with the prime spots on shows and tournaments, allowing you to watch together with friends, complete with reports, videos, and color commentary.
Tourism
One of the best things about VR technology, particularly in video games, is its ability to put you in places that you are unlikely to visit. Whether it’s too far, too difficult a trek, or too infested by monsters, some places are simply out of bounds due to mobility issues. Today, virtual reality is your ticket to exploring the Grand Canyon, summiting Everest, or wandering around the surface of Mars without having to fulfill requirements such as passports, visas, and a huge bank account.
Medical
To be extremely good at something, you need to put in the time to perform whatever it is that you want to be good at. Call it muscle memory if you will, but VR technology is currently being looked into as a tool that enables medical students to experience operating from a surgeon’s perspective. Several hospitals are conducting studies to see whether immersing patients in virtual reality images such as swimming with whales or flying above Iceland’s skyline have rehabilitative and therapeutic value.
While games and applications are still making the most out of it, experiments and trials are being done to promote the use of these devices. As VR moves towards being widely accepted and established, it would no doubt be a delight to get informed, be entertained, and communicate in a virtual world.
How To Get The Best VR Headset Experience?
An exceptional virtual reality headset experience does not necessitate a powerful device. Well-designed, comfortable, and convenient, perhaps the most important piece of any VR kit is the headset. Alongside good quality headphones and optional accessories such as hand controllers and treadmills, each tool is designed to simulate the experience of being in another world.
Here are some of the best VR headsets that are designed to enhance your virtual reality experience:
HTC Vive Cosmos Elite
Designed to correct the weaknesses of previous models, this incredible headset includes a wide 4.3-inch display that runs at 90 Hz, making it one of the hottest VR pieces available. Boasting a considerable improvement on its accuracy, this equipment will get you jumping and ducking in no time, requiring you to strap it in a more spacious area for you to maneuver yourself around.
Pros:
- High resolution display
- Enhanced accuracy
- Comes bundled with several top-notch games
- UK / EU Model
- Elite performance for PC-VR gamers
- External tracking
- Precise movements
Sony Playstation VR
As one of the pioneers of cutting-edge video game technology, Sony offers one of the most affordable VR headsets guaranteed to provide a realistic, heart-stomping gaming experience. Although it runs at a very slim and limited list of games, this incredible tool, which is ideal for young and novice VR users, packs enough punch to ensure that you start your virtual reality journey with one of the bests in the industry.
Pros:
- One of the most affordable high-end headsets available
- Respectable image quality
- Comfortable to wear
- Contains: PlayStation VR headset, Processor unit, PlayStation VR headset connection cable, HDMI cable, USB cable, Stereo headphones, AC power cord, AC adaptor, PlayStation VR Demo Disc
- Games Come First - With gamers in mind, PlayStation delivers a new world of unexpected gaming experiences through PlayStation VR
- Just Plug and Play - Getting into PlayStation VR couldn't be easier. Just plug the PlayStation VR headset and your PlayStation Camera into your PlayStation 4 system. Sold separately
- Advanced VR Display - Seamless visuals keep you connected to the virtual world through an expansive 5.7” OLED 1080p display running at up to 120 frames per second
- 3D Audio Technology - 3D Audio with PlayStation VR means that you'll be able to pinpoint sounds above, below, and all around you
Oculus Quest 2
Hands down the best VR headset in the market, this highly-revered headgear delivers a fresh and wide LCD that offers excellent quality and clarity at a very affordable price. Improving on the specs of its predecessor, it is capable of handling your sharpest VR moves across several different gaming titles. Boasting a 90 Hz refresh rate, this extraordinary piece is equipped with an inside-out tracking as well as a built-in hand tracking device, all the more making it an exceedingly better deal.
Pros:
- Highly improved graphics
- Links to other Oculus programs
- Extremely affordable
Conclusion
The growing popularity of VR technology has raised a number of concerns regarding its safety and effectiveness. Although it is easy to get “warped” into its unique capabilities, it is important to understand that its proper use has led to unimaginable results, while utilizing it imprudently has had its adverse effects. Long been a subject of science fiction, we strap these headgears on to figure out how to get the best VR headset experience.