They're wireless, have a great immersive game experience and cost just US$399 (RM1,657). The new VR Quest headset from Oculus seems to be on the right track. — dpa
Might it be possible that the virtual reality industry has finally found the middle ground between a high-quality virtual reality headset and an affordable price?
They're wireless, have a great immersive game experience and cost just US$399 (RM1,657). The new VR Quest headset from Oculus seems to be on the right track.
The Quest headset will cost the same as the updated Oculus Rift S headset, which needs to be attached to the PC with a cable, but has better graphics.
But what's different with the Quest is that these glasses don't need a PC at all. All you do is switch them on, put them on, and you're off. The company, which is owned by Facebook, is hoping to attract a wider audience with this easy setup.
The biggest change with the Quest are the four new sensors that are integrated right in the glasses. They can recognise the player's position in the room and detect how you're moving your hands with left and right controllers.
The older Rift, which came out three years ago, needed two more external sensors. The simpler Oculus Go from last year has no sensors for the surroundings – and therefore isn't really any good for VR video games.
The advantages of the new Quest sensors can be detected as soon as you mark the gaming area in the room. This is done by virtually marking the boundaries of the room you're playing in, which makes sure you don't end up wandering into an unsafe area. The new headset has a so-called "Passthrough" function, which allows players to see the real room when they activate it.
The company is also careful to note that the information the sensors picks up about the room does not ever leave the headset, and is not shared with software developers.
To set up the Quest you first need to pair it with your smartphone in order for the glasses to be able to connect to WiFi. The important thing to note is that you'll need a fairly fast Internet connection, as all the games are several hundred megabytes in size.
The headset uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip, which means there are limits to what the glasses can do in comparison to the Rift, which has a cable to connect it to a PC. Get used to some simpler textures, less detail and less complex effects for the Quest.
But the good news is that none of this stops you from enjoying the game. The improved display and lenses make the picture seem clear and sharp. When playing a game like Beat Saber – in which players have to use a light saber to cut up flying cubes in sync with the music – the illusion of the virtual room is fantastically realistic.
The graphics in games such as Stormland or Asgard's Wrath that are designed for the Rift would be too much for the Quest to handle. And some of the other Quest games are significantly slower than anything on the Rift.
The headset's battery lasts between two and four hours on one charge.
The Quest and the Rift S are coming out on May 21. By then, there will be around 50 games available for the Quest.
Overall, the Quest is the first VR headset that offers so much fun that you don't mind the compromises necessary for it to be wireless. And at that price, it's hard to complain. – dpa
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