I like the Google Daydream view for the VR headset. It is affordable with a lower starting price at 59.99. It is compatible with various Android smartphones and thus is more mainstream and consumer friendly as many consumers own an Android smartphone. I also like the fact that it looks completely different from most other VR headsets, it is built with soft breathable fabric for comfort and thus has the consumer’s comfort and experience in mind. In fact, the facepad is also hand washable, allowing users to keep the VR headset fresh and clean to share with friends.

As for AR headsets, Google Glass was the pioneer in that market. It made waves in the AR headset industry when it came out 2013 with the explorer version being released to certified “Glass Explorers”. It was a very novel product, with input being through voice commands and a touchpad mounted on the side of the device. Even the sound input was one of the first of its kind, using bone conduction to do so. However, it was not a viable mass market product and has thus pivoted for industrial use in the form of the Google Glass Enterprise Edition.

The first ever VR headset that I have tried on was an Oculus Rift DK2 for my Orbital Project. Back when I used DK2, the cable runs over the back of the head which sometimes can drop down over the neck or shoulders, feels like it’s in the way. The screen resolution was not ideal, and the headset is heavy, making it uncomfortable over prolonged use. Not only that, the camera must be connected to a computer, thus restricting some movements.

From my experience then, the factors that I looked out for in a VR headset are,

1. Comfortable even for prolonged use
2. High screen resolution and sound
3. Freedom of movement and minimal physical restrictions
4. Easy & Quick Set up and configuration

The latest VR head mount displays ranking high on the list are:

HTC Vive, Oculus Quest, Sony PlayStation VR, Google Daydream View, Oculus Rift S.

Here are the list of VR Headsets

Looking through the list, my most preferred device is Oculus Quest.

The Oculus Quest VR headset is wire-free with six-degrees-of-freedom motion tracking and two controllers, and all without the need for a separate computer to use it. It is reasonably priced at US$399 and cheaper compared to HTC Vive Pro ($599). The graphics are high res and stunning with an OLED display panel with 1440 x 1600 per eye solution and powered by Snapdragon 835 processor. It also takes room scalability into consideration, so the user doesn’t accidentally hit the wall.

The setting up of the headset is quick and easy just by using the Oculus mobile app, apps are downloaded right to the headsets onboard. The user is also able to share their VR experience with others via smartphone or tv.

The only downside to Oculus Quest is that it has slight light leakage and it has a short battery life, lasting only 2-3 hours.

However, compared to the other headsets in the list, Oculus Quest has fulfilled my criteria and is my most preferred device. From Hassle-free set up and configuration to an immersive experience anywhere with no wires and having self-contained tracking with full six degree of freedom motion to high-resolution built-in speakers, this is the excellent VR for a standalone device, and it is reasonably priced.

As for MR, my most preferred device is Microsoft HoloLens 2.

List of MR Headsets

It is light, gaze and eye tracking capabilities, allowing voice commands and easy to adjust. No restrictions on physical movements as it is wireless. It also supports gaze, gesture and voice controls and able to track your eyes to see what you are focusing on. HoloLens 2 allows the wearer to interact more intuitively with holograms, such as grabbing and rotating them.

It is comfortable for people who wear prescription lenses (like me) and the fact that it has a flip up visor, allowing the user to just flip it up to make eye contact easily. Despite its price tag, I think it’s the best so far for me.

In addition, here’s the list of AR headwear

Thanks to advances in both technology and commoditization of components and overall products, XR has become more and more common. Now, it can even be included in your everyday smartphones, game systems, and plenty of others devices. The development that goes into the hardware and software has also begun to be streamlined, so it is much easier to have access to these devices than it was, say 5 years ago.

So without further ado, here are some current XR devices that don’t come 1st to mind.

Virtual Reality (VR)

Nintendo Labo (VR Kit)

Nintendo Labo are a set of “toys come to life”, as Nintendo puts it. They are cardboard sets that encourage building, engineering, programming, and of course, playing games. Each set comes with a number of designs and minigames that correspond to each Labo design.
However, we will be focusing on the VR kit.

There are 6 designs included with the VR kit:
* VR goggles
* Camera
* Bird
* Wind flap
* Blaster
* Elephant
And in particular with the VR kit, it is compatible with some other non-Labo titles such as:
* Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
* Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
* Super Mario Odyssey
* Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
The VR kit also allows you to write your own small minigames.

Google Cardboard

Google Cardboard is Google’s current foray in XR, as well as their most successful. Previously, they tried their hand with Google Glass, an AR set of glasses, and Daydream, an enhanced Cardboard.
But seeing as they failed, we will continue with Cardboard.

Seeing as Google Cardboard is just a cardboard headset with a phone placed in there, it functions about the same as a normal smartphone would. That being said, there is a Cardboard app that pairs your phone and allows you to tap into VR apps more. The momentum for Cardboard has been falling, due to no killer apps.

Relativ (Relativty)

Relativty is a completely open-source, DIY VR headset. Built using Arduino, anyone is able to create, develop, and contribute to this small project. This project pretty much just focuses on the headset itself, but others in the community have made games and peripherals for this.
Because it’s 100% open-sourced and relatively new as of writing, there’s only so much I can comment on, so I will leave the site and GitHub below:
https://www.relativty.net/
https://github.com/relativty/Relativ

Winner: Relativ (Relativty)
I love open-source projects and I love DIY projects. I also have a bit of a bias, as I recently just built this and am trying to figure out controller support. If you just want to have a go at VR on your own, I’d highly recommend this, as you get a basic idea on the ins-and-outs of what’s in a VR headset, as well as specify this to your own needs.
For all the materials, it was supposed to cost around USD $100, but I was able to get it down to about USD $80.

Augmented Reality (AR) / Mixed Reality (MR)

Vuzix Blade

The Blade, unlike the other glasses in Vuzix’s lineup, bill themselves as a head’s up display rather than a fully MR device. The OS is Android, and while you can somewhat use it as a standard Android device, there are several apps developed specifically for the Blade.

Some companies that have developed or worked with the Blade include:
* Amazon
* Accuweather
* Yelp
* Google

Magic Leap 1

Magic Leap 1 is the 1st generation MR device from Magic Leap. It uses its own custom OS known as LuminOS. LuminOS is designed with spatial computing in mind, dealing with motion detection and object placement.

There have been a number of games and art installations revolving around using the Magic Leap 1, and the 2 is on the way. But since it is the 1st of the company’s, there is only so much software.

Varjo XR-1

Varjo’s XR-1 is the 1st of the company’s Mixed Reality line. It is mainly aimed at businesses and in the field of medicine. As a full on headset, the virtual view can be turned off in favor of the real world view.

The main use cases of the XR-1 is for R&D teams, as seen by the requirements for using it. It has near photorealism in the virtual world.

Winner: Magic Leap 1
While still in the early stages, the Magic Leap 1 shows a lot of promise in all industries. LuminOS seems to work relatively well, considering its not even in 1.0 yet. If the price can be lowered and more developers get interested, I think the Magic Leap will not only be a good competitor for Microsoft, but a great device to own.

In 2020 there are many options for VR hardware. My personal preference are standalone headsets as I prefer the freedom and don’t need to worry about tripping over wires. I also believe that this leads to greater freedom with designing applications for VR as it does not restrict the movements of the user. Because of this, I am choosing the Oculus Quest as my favourite VR headset. The Oculus Quest uses outward-facing cameras to provide 6DOF motion tracking, and uses Oculus Touch motion controls. Combined with a faster Snapdragon 835 processor makes this VR headset incredibly immersive.

In terms of choosing my favourite MR headset it would definitely be the Hololens 2 (assuming that money wasn’t an issue). I have had the opportunity to try out the Hololens when it first came out and I was in awe. It seamlessly blends real life and computer generated graphics and had so many useful applications. This version is even lighter, a custom AI chip to improve performance and has a wider field of view so I think it would be even more impressive.

VR Devices

Out of all the listed VR devices above, the one I like the most (based on the description and research on the internet) is Oculus Quest, but if price is disregarded then it would be Vive Pro Eye. The points that I consider when making that decision are the price to quality ratio, design, wireless capability, and sensors.

I personally prefer untethered to tethered devices, which is strongly supported by the possibility that our legs may get tangled because VR activities mostly require body movements and that is quite dangerous, so there are 3 devices that fit the preference: Oculus Quest, Vive Pro and Vive Cosmos (by purchasing wireless adapter). Next thing to consider is the platform support. For Oculus Quest, it is not possible to connect to SteamVR unless you want to perform additional actions to make it possible (e.g. using Vridge or purchasing Oculus Link). Meanwhile, Vive Pro and Vive Cosmos support steamVR from the get-go and an alternative called Viveport. Having more options is always a nice thing, which is why I lean towards Vive VR devices in this category.

Aesthetically speaking, Oculus Quest wins in this department in my book due to its simplistic design. However, it may not be comfortable when worn on the head because it is quite heavy since all the hardware (CPU, memory, storage, graphics, etc.) that makes it wireless and the sensors contribute to the additional weight of the headset.

Having external sensors is not all that bad to me, they just require an initial setup to your room, thus not adding more weight to the headset which Vive Pro trumps at. If we are comparing Vive Pro to Vive Cosmos, I would rather have the former device. On top of not adding weights to the headset, outside-in tracking system (in Vive case the “base stations”) excels more at precision tracking than integrated sensors (inside-out tracking) which Vive Cosmos has. Plus, if you happen to use a software that takes eyes movement as an input, Vive Pro Eye got that covered.

When we are talking about price tag, however, Vive Pro is the most expensive out of all 3 options and that is not even including the wireless adapter or the eye tracking upgrade. Again, my choice would be Vive Pro Eye if price is not an issue.

AR Devices

First of all, I would like to say that AR devices that exist in the present come in various forms and purposes (smartglasses, projector, AR SDK kits, etc.), so it is harder for me to decide which one I like as each of them may excel in their own field. But for smartglasses, Vuzix Blade is up there on my personal preference.

Vuzix blade, for example, is very similar to the predecessor of AR smartglasses, which is Google Glass. It works just like Google Glass, in essence it is a smartphone in form of a pair of glasses. But instead of the information being displayed on a smartphone screen, it is all displayed on your glasses screen. Notifications, calls, messages, taking photos or even yelp review when looking at a restaurant. Notable improvement from Google Glass such as the design: Vuzix Blade design is a huge step up from Google Glass. Google Glass design is widely criticized due to making the wearer looks goofy. However, Vuzix Blade looks just like any other trendy glasses. It is hard to tell if they are actually a pair of smartglasses unless someone takes a closer look.

Unfortunately there is an inconvenient downside of Vuzix Blade. They do not have speakers, so you have to use the Bluetooth function to pair it with your smartphone or Bluetooth headset when calling someone or listening to Alexa’s feedbacks.

Wayray Navion is another interesting and unique AR device for me, as it is a holographic AR navigation system used for cars by projecting layers of information to the car windshield. Some of the features are displaying speedometer, additional UI to warn the driver of an incoming pedestrian crossing the street, GPS system (routes and directions), and building identification.

MR Devices

There are not a lot of true MR devices existing in the public. Windows Mixed Reality devices, for example, are classified as VR headsets even though they have mixed reality as parts of the name. For MR category, my choice of device would be Varjo XR-1. It has the features of switching from MR to fully VR easily, photorealistic virtual objects, a very wide FOV, and ultra low latency. Those are all the attributes needed for a MR device to create an immersive experience of mixed reality, and Varjo XR-1 has it all, of course, with a hefty price tag.

While Microsoft Hololens 2 and Magic Leap 1 project holographic objects (to which they do refer the virtual objects created by their respective devices as holograms) that are a little bit transparent (see-through), Varjo XR-1 offers a more immersive experience by rendering the objects to be solid and photorealistic. Not to mention, there is also a pretty crucial existing problem to Magic Leap 1. When virtual objects are approached and very short distance is left between them and the wearer, part of the objects are cut off from sight depending on how close you are. Personally, that would really decrease the immersion value by a lot, and there is also the hologram-like objects reducing more of the immersion.

Based on my current experiences with the HTC Vive and Oculus Quest, my preference is definitely for non-tethered VR headsets since the cable easily get’s tangled up and is easy to trip over. Ideally I would also prefer the VR device to not have to be dependent on a high-end PC to run.

Hence my preferred VR device would be the Oculus Quest, given its relatively cheap price compared to other standalone VR devices which provide 6DOF.

However, I am very interested in the Pico Neo 2 Eye which has the function of eye tracking since the common methods for gaze inputs is to have rotate the headset for the center pointer to “look” at objects, and look forward to seeing how it can perform.

My pick for my preferred MR device would be the HoloLens2, it looks the most stylish and least clunky to put on. The hand gesture controls are also pretty cool.

As the world of AR/VR/MR is new to me (having only fiddled with HWs a few times), I naturally turned to Google in search of the latest HWs for 2020.

Based on pcmag, these are the latest VR HWs for 2020 and their respective specifications and reviews:

Link: https://sea.pcmag.com/consumer-electronics-reviews-ratings-comparisons/10991/the-best-vr-headsets

Based on my previous experiences, I have always found that VR HWs are either clunky, headache-inducing or just too expensive for the normal consumer. I guess that’s why despite owning a gaming laptop and a PlayStation that are perfectly capable of supporting VR games, I never really bought into the hype.

That is until I bought a Nintendo Switch last year and found this really cool addition that Nintendo has introduced to the VR world:

Behold the Nintendo Labo VR Kit made for the Nintendo Switch:

Before someone mocks the design and appeal of this product (I mean who has heard of a cardboard headset? Is this a copycat of the Google Cardboard VR?), hear me out on why this is one of my favourite VR HWs! However, we first need to understand Nintendo’s motivations behind creating such a product.

What Nintendo has done was truly bizarre at the time when this product was released. Like many gaming and PC companies, Nintendo wanted to enter the VR market, but it did not want to stand beside the slew of competitors such as Microsoft, Google, HTC, Sony, who were all more than capable of creating the best VRs HWs possible. Furthermore, Nintendo devices have always been geared towards a younger audience and its latest Nintendo Switch product doesn’t even have the graphical horsepower like most of its competition such as the Xbox and PlayStation counterparts. Thus, Nintendo did what it had to do, it created a VR headset that draws the users’ creativity at a much lower price point, geared towards its own unique target audience.

The Nintendo Labo VR is a cardboard VR headset that introduces features and accessories you think only a company such a DIY company such as IKEA would think of. There are a range of things to build and customize the VR headset with accessories such as a Blaster, an Elephant, and even a Bird! These accessories make the VR experience a truly unique one as they complement the cartoony and kid-friendly characteristics of a typical Nintendo game. With a battery life depending on the Switch console itself as well as graphic limitations, it is a good entry-point for experiencing the VR world without worrying about charging ever so often.

As such, this product taps on the creativity and imagination in you to experience a world of VR that is unlike many traditional VR headsets. Thus, it is one of my favourite VR HWs.

Now that we have covered a VR HW that is more for entry-level VR experiences, the next entry for my favourite MR HW will be more serious in terms of specifications in order to blur the lines between reality and virtual reality perfectly.

My favourite mixed-reality HW has to be the Asus Windows MR headset (HC102)

Looks like something from the future, doesn’t it?

At less than 400g (according to Asus’ website), it is by far one of the lighter MR headsets and it features a design that is ergonomic and elegant. One can simply just flip up the visor and take a short breather when required; a plus for usability and user safety. However, the best part of this headset is the fact that it is cheaper than most of its competitors such as Samsung as well as an easy setup that doesn’t require too much horsepower on your computer.

This makes it affordable and available to the average consumer who just wants to get in on the action whilst getting the same refresh rates and sufficient visuals that a MR headset needs.

As you can see from my choices, I am particularly fond of companies that go out of their way to create something unique, comfortable and affordable for consumers. Sure, my favourites don’t provide the most graphically intense visuals or the best possible experience. However, what is important to gamers and consumers is the illusion of a virtual/mixed world that seems real enough to get you in on the action.

Author: Darren Sim A0136233N

Images are sourced from Google or the products’ respective websites.