Back in 2016, the first few VR devices were clunky, unwieldy and restrictive. My first encounter with VR, Oculus Rift DK2 (on the left), was no exception. It has two wires sticking out of the console which made head movement restrictive. It (and its camera accessory) had to connect to a computer, which reduced its portability. It itself required a rather powerful graphic card to power it, which made the barrier of entry really high.

Now, in 2020, there are multiple VR devices out there in the market.

• HTC Vive Pro
• Oculus Rift
• Playstation VR
• Nintendo Labo (well…. it counts)
• And my personal favourite, Oculus Quest

Wires? Gone. Requirement of a high-end graphics card? Gone.

It’s hard to not love the advancement of VR technology with the release of Oculus Quest. VR experiences lie on the Immersion and Presence factors, and when motion is restrictive, the VR experience is dampened. The Oculus Quest solves that and a number of problems of its predecessors and even improves the immersion with the exclusion of controllers.

Yes, you heard it. Controllers? Gone.

With all those features packed in a portable headset, Oculus Quest is now my personal favourite (for now).

And while I never really encountered Mixed Reality devices in real life before, the current list of devices out there is pretty long for a niche technology

• Magic Leap One
• Samsung Odyssey
• Dimension NXG AjnaLens
• Nreal Light
• Zappar Zapbox
• And my personal favourite, Hololens 2 (and its predecessor, Hololens)

The Hololens 2 caught my eye for the same reasons as Oculus Quest.

Like the Oculus Quest, there is no need for a high-end PC to power it as it has its own mini processor. It’s portable, lightweight and it has hand tracking. While other MR devices may have similar functions, one edge the Hololens 2 has over its competitors is the amount of support it is given from its parent company (Microsoft), in terms of the UX/UI of the internal OS and developer support.

While the Hololens 2 also triumphs in price (Approx 3k, competitors price less), the technology of Hololens 2 makes every dollar count.

Seeing the step up from the Oculus Rift DK1 to the HTC Vive Pro, the visual quality hasn’t quite improved as much as I expected in 5 years. However, the industry has gone on ahead, with 6DoF, really decent tracking controls and higher refresh rates. More specifically, they have continued developing VR applications, with Valve even releasing a new Half-Life game. Who would’ve thought?

The most exciting trend to me is the development of a budget series of headsets, which definitely didn’t quite exist till recently. The Google Cardboard doesn’t quite count if we’re going to be talking full headsets with motion controls.

Much as cheap Android phones and televisions brought about the new medium to the mass market, it would be terribly safe to say that VR is going to be a thing in the next few years, and that’s why I would like to highlight one of the more prominent mid-range headsets, the Oculus Quest.

The Quest has entered the list of recommendations for the “VR-newbie”, partially offering the experience of the big boys like the Vive and Rift when connected to a PC, yet being an all-in-one package that is also wireless. It may not boast 90Hz+ refresh rates, but it sits squarely at the mid-range with its price. The PC link was a later update, coming in on November 2019, and likely helped boost the headset to its current status of entry-level king.

On the end of MR/AR, there are a few major points to me that I find important in an MR/AR experience. Firstly, as someone who does not wear glasses (weird flex, sorry), I absolutely can not stand the feeling of wearing glasses, and this makes products like the holo-lens and other smart-glasses extremely unappealing to me. Secondly, I currently do not see much value in having an always-on AR application as an average consumer who already spends most of his time looking at a screen anyway. This is not to discount the benefits to those who require assistance in their daily lives, for whom I feel MR/AR has the most use for.

With that in mind, I find the humble(?) smartphone of today to be my preferred way of augmenting reality. Of course, everyone has one these days, and most new smartphones offer multiple cameras which have been used for depth-sensing for selfies. Given that everyone walks around with their smartphones out anyway, I feel they are currently the best way to apply MR/AR applications and have good reach to users.

Some recent smartglasses and headsets I think are great are:

• Microsoft HoloLens 2
• Magic Leap 1
• Solos smartglasses
• Vuzix Blade
• Epson Moverio
• Nintendo Labo VR
• HP Reverb
• Oculus Quest
• Oculus Go
• Pimax Vision 8K Plus
• Google Daydream
• Playstation VR

My choice of an MR headset is The HP Reverb. The headset provides a wide FOV of 114 degrees with two very crisp 2.9 inch displays of 2160×2160 each, with a refresh rate of 90Hz. It’s quite light at 500g, and is said to be quite comfortable to wear due to adjustable support runs along the top and sides of the head. It has built-in headphones which are removable for auditory immersion. Although it’s more expensive than some of the competing Windows MR headsets, the added FOV and high screen resolution shows what’s possible and is important in encouraging other Windows MR to produce better headsets, which can help drive down the price in the long run. While it does not have as many bells and whistles as some of the bigger names such as Microsoft HoloLens or Magic Leap, it’s tackling the less specialized and more accessible market of Windows entertainment. It’s able to stand out in that market with its specs, which is why I chose it.

The Nintendo Labo VR is a build a simple headset kit for playing a variety of min-games on the Nintendo Switch. It’s very versatile and allows users to create their own mini-games, and is very accessible to beginners while still providing an immersive experience. It does a great job being more than a VR headset just for the sake of VR – it allows people to create novel experiences for themselves. It’s got a low price tag of $80 USD, so it makes a great companion to the Switch, and is able to tackle the large market of family entertainment.