Best VR Headset

The VR Headset is indeed a competitive arena, with many worthy headsets vying to become tops in this area, and features a wide array of headsets catering to different price points and budgets of consumers. After factoring in features, value-for-money and flexibility, the Oculus Quest 2 presented a compelling choice as the best VR Headset.

In terms of flexibility, the Quest 2 can be connected wirelessly, enabling a cable-free experience, which is often valued in gaming VR experiences where the user can utilise the headset without worrying about range of motion or tangling the wires. Should the user desire to use the cable, the flexibility of this option is also available, with the cable being retailed at $79.

At the price point of $299, the Oculus Quest 2 is indeed a reasonably priced VR headset compared to high-end headsets such as the Valve Index whilst packing in features such as 6 Degree of Freedom Tracking, 1832×1920 display resolution and 6GB of RAM that enable good VR experience for users.

The Quest 2 does indeed presents itself as a significant upgrade to its predecessor too, with its internal processor upgraded from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 to the Snapdragon XR2. This has enabled it to deliver smooth graphics, which are so integral to the whole VR experience. In addition, its colours have been refreshed from the original black to a new sleek white body that looks aesthetically inviting. Another key advantage of the Quest 2 is its significantly lighter weight, weighing 10% less than the original Quest, creating a pleasant VR experience for users especially over prolonged periods.

Best MR Headset

In the Mixed Reality Headset Space, the Hololens 2 by Microsoft presents the best Mixed Reality Headset. One of its most impressive features is the ability to display holograms, which facilitates interactive learning through hand tracking and hand gesture controls, enabling rescaling and rotation of virtual objects with ease. During the tech demo, a visual simulation hologram of a solar farm was also demonstrated, and customised knob controls such as controlling windspeed could be adjusted to tweak the simulation. Whilst Hololens 2 empowers online learning through the mixed reality display, a simple lifting of the visor also creates a seamless transition to real life learning, making it a compelling experience for learning as a whole.

Priced at a high price point of north of $3500, the Hololens 2 comes with a full package, incorporating an Intel CPU, 64GB of storage and spatial speakers for the audio experience. In addition, the availability of Wifi and Bluetooth Connectivity creates a wire-free and hassle-free experience for users. Its IMU (inertial measurement unit) also enables the headset movement to be tracked and incorporated into apps, extending the possibilities of what can be achieved through this MR Headset.

Built by Microsoft, it also caters to companies that desire customised app development for their use cases. This is achieved by building applications on the Azure Platform, which opens the freedom to tap on AI and Machine Learning toolkits that have become ubiquitous in applications nowadays. All in all, the Hololens 2 although costly, presents the most compelling case for the Best MR Headset available in the market at the moment.

VR Devices

When comparing the above VR devices, three main criteria spring to mind: technological sophistication, ease of use, and price. In terms of technological sophistication, the Valve Index is at the forefront. Aside from the headset itself, its controllers have the capability to detect the grip strength of individual fingers. This has the potential to allow developers to create an even greater sense of immersion and presence on a tactile level, which is a greater leap forward than merely increasing the resolutions of the headsets’ displays. However, when it comes to ease of use, the Oculus Quest 2 trumps its competitors by being smaller and, more importantly, completely wireless. This makes booting up a VR experience a much faster and less painful experience since it only involves slipping the headset on and grabbing the controllers without having to plug anything else in or untangle any wires. The Oculus Quest 2 also takes the cake in terms of price. It costs US$299, which is far cheaper than the Valve Index’s US$999. The Playstation VR comes close at US$350 but it also requires a Playstation to use, raising the cost by a few hundred. After considering the technological sophistication, ease of use, and prices of the three VR devices, I would personally go with the Oculus Quest 2. Its ease of use and price make it a good entry point into the world of VR (which I have never experienced before). The Valve Index is, unfortunately, prohibitively expensive and thus would only be a good choice for enthusiasts or beginners with serious money to burn. Since I also don’t own a Playstation, the Playstation VR device would not be an optimal choice.

MR Devices

To compare the above MR devices, two main criteria can be used: technical sophistication and price. Of the three, the Microsoft HoloLens 2 is the latest and most technologically advanced mixed reality device. It has a field-of-view of 52 degrees, which is wider than the Magic Leap One’s 40 degrees; while this is much smaller than the Occipital Bridge’s 120 degrees, it is offset by the fact that the Occipital Bridge is a headset for smartphones which makes it less powerful. However, in terms of price, the Occipital Bridge wins hands down at US$399 against the Magic Leap One at US$2,295 and the Microsoft HoloLens 2 at US$3,500.

With the above criteria in consideration, my preferred MR device would be the Occipital Bridge. The price is simply too good, costing nearly 10 times less than the Microsoft HoloLens 2, and as an inexperienced user, I would hesitate to pay so much for a device that I cannot see myself using daily.

The field of AR, VR, and MR is rapidly getting recognisiton and is projected to be a multi-billion dollar industry by 2025 – due to its untapped potential in many diverse areas. With an exciting future ahead, this has spurred many companies to produce and designed their own headsets. In this post, I will be reviewing some of my favourite VR and MR headsets.

VR Headset – Oculus Quest 2

Oculus Quest 2 is the successor of Oculus Quest. The newly upgraded Oculus Quest 2 is lighter, sturdier, and performs way better than its predecessor. It makes for a more accessible VR headset due to it being standalone – meaning you do not have to connect it to a PC to play – and boast a cheaper price compared to its predecessor Oculus Quest (with better specifications too!).

Oculus Quest 2 setup is far easier than most of its peers; having no need to set up additional tracking cameras and able to accept almost all type of cable. Oculus Quest 2 can be used wireless as well, so you no longer have to worry about stepping on the cable when you are fully immersed in your game. Admittedly, using it in wireless mode means you have to give up some of the screen resolution and refresh rate.

Below is the specification for Oculus Quest 2.

Comparison with Oculus Quest

Oculus Quest 2 feels like a direct upgrade on most aspects compared to its predecessor. We will now highlight problems that Oculus Quest 2 has resolved where its predecessor has stumbled – or the other way around!

In terms of hardware, Oculus Quest 2 is vastly superior to Oculus Quest. Oculus Quest 2 boast higher resolution, lighter weight, higher RAM, higher refresh rate, and higher computational power. There is no argument here; Oculus Quest 2’s hardware is simply better than Oculus Quest’s hardware.

Oculus Quest 2 being able to accept most cable type is a life quality improvement that Oculus has introduced in comparison to Oculus Quest that only accepts USB 3 cable. This is a sore point of Oculus Quest as there are complains about user not being able to find high quality USB 3 cable with suitable length.

Another subtle improvement is the battery on the controller of Oculus Quest 2. While both Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2 require the same type and number of battery, Oculus Quest 2 has a clear advantage of simply having a better battery container and longer battery life. Oculus Quest’s battery container often comes loose, in which it could lose contact with the battery during fast movement – thus resulting in the controller not tracking user movement momentarily. For movement intense game such as Beat Saber, this little lapse can cause us to lose! Oculus Quest 2 manages to resolve this issue by having a more sturdy battery container that holds the battery in place.

Notably, Oculus Quest 2 requires mandatory Facebook login whereas Oculus Quest treat Facebook login as optional. Facebook claims that this would allow them to create a more consistent experience for users as well as better data security. Some may treat it as a plus, some may treat it negatively – you decide.

One of Oculus Quest 2’s feature that I personally treat as a downgrade is the head strap. In contrast to the triangle style strap of Oculus Quest, Oculus Quest 2 supports a cross style strap. The triangle strap of Oculus Quest allows the strap to cup the back of the head, allowing for better strapping and counter balance the weight of VR headsets.

Fortunately, Oculus provides an alternative to the head strap, named Oculus Quest 2 Elite Strap. The Oculus Quest 2 Elite Strap provide more stability and better fitting to Oculus Quest 2, making it more comfortable and stable for prolonged use. Admittedly, equipping the Oculus Quest 2 Elite Strap increases the weight of Oculus Quest 2 past 600g. However, the additional weight is situated at the opposite end of the VR headset, allowing it actually counter balance the momentum of the VR headset. The Oculus Quest 2 Elite Strap (without battery) comes at USD $49. When combined with the starting price of Oculus Quest 2 of USD $299, it totals up to USD $348 – which is still below the starting price of Oculus Quest of USD $399.

MR Headset – Nreal Light

Nreal Light is the new contender for MR headsets with affordable price and being lightweight, designed to look like fashionable sunglasses. Nreal Light has two tracking cameras on the side and uses an RGB camera at the centre.

Due to its commitment being light, Nreal Light itself has the drawback of not having its own computational power or battery. Instead, it has USB-C plug that allows it to make use other computational unit such as your phone, laptop, or PC.

Below is the specification of Nreal Light.

Comparison with Microsoft Hololens 2

In terms of pricing, Nreal is a much cheaper alternative to Microsoft Hololens 2. In comparison to Microsoft Hololens 2 price at ~USD$3,500, Nreal Light is marketed to be the budget MR headset at ~USD$500. Nreal Light is targeted for public, everyday use instead for enterprise use that Microsoft Hololens 2 is designed for.

With such price, this begs the question whether Nreal performance would pale in contrast to Microsoft Hololens 2. Surprisingly, Nreal Light display is able to solve the ‘rainbow’ artifact in Microsoft Hololens 2; where models texture would be seemingly overlaid with rainbow pattern. Nreal Light is able to do so using a completely different principle in their display pipeline.

Nreal Light, as the name suggests, comes at a much lighter weight than Microsoft Hololens 2; 106g to 566g. Nreal Light is the lightest MR headset in the market by far. This allows for far, prolonged usage without any discomfort.

Nreal Light provide the same 52 degrees FOV as Microsoft Hololens 2. The smaller FOV compared to other MR headsets (e.g. Dimension DXG Ajna Lens has 95 degrees FOV) means that clipping often occurs when models are viewed from short distance.

Admittedly, Nreal Light falls short in terms of extensive interaction capability and processing power that Microsoft Hololens 2 offer. Nreal Light also falls short in terms of resolution; having 1080x1080p/eye resolution in comparison to 2048x1080p/eye resolution of Microsoft Hololens 2. While this may seem to be a deal breaker, the fact that Nreal Light is priced at 1/7th of the price of its counterpart still makes a pretty good case for casual usage of MR headsets.

A few decades ago, people cannot imagine how they feel in a virtual world. With the development of virtual reality technology, VR, AR and MR are not strange to people. They are used in games, hospitals, education, and so on. More and more devices are invented to improve the experience of virtual reality. In this article, I will briefly introduce the latest VR, AR, and MR devices and their advantages.

VR headsets

HTC Vive:

• Price: $499 for the Vive, $599 for the Vive Focus Plus, and $799 for the Vive Pro headset
• Resolution: 1080*1200 per eye (1440*1600 for Vive pro)
• Base station: 5m*5m
• FOV: 110 degrees
• Pixel density: 455.63 PPI
• Refresh rate: 90 Hz
• Connection: wireless
• Load: heavy, require a powerful computer

Oculus:

• Price: $200 for Oculus Go and $400 for Oculus Rift
• Resolution: 1280*1440
• Refresh rate: 72 Hz for GO and 90 for Rift
• Base station: 2.5m*2.5m
• FOV: 110 degrees
• Pixel density: 455.63 PPI
• Load: Oculus Go doesn’t need a computer and Oculus Rift needs a powerful computer.

Hololens 2:

• Price: $3500
• Resolution: 2048*1080
• Refresh rate: 240Hz
• FOV: 52 degrees
• Pixel density: 47 pixels per degree of sight
• Connection: Wireless

Pimax 5 plus:

• Price: $699
• Resolution: 2560*1440
• FOV: 200 degrees
• Pixel density:
• Refresh rate: 90/120 Hz
• Connection: Wireless

MR headsets:

(Retrieved from https://www.threesixtycameras.com/windows-mixed-reality-comparison-table/)

I never used the VR/MR headsets before. However, the data above have shown that each headset has advantages. By comparing Oculus and HTC Vive, they both required a heavy computer to support their operation. HTC Vive is more expensive but with a twice larger base station and higher refresh rate. Pimax 5 has a similar price with these two, but with a higher resolution and field of view. Hololens 2 is the most expensive one. Although it has a high refresh rate, which reached 240 Hz, I think it is too expensive. Actually, people are not able to tell the difference between 120 Hz and 240 Hz of the refresh rate. Besides that, Hololens 2 has a smaller FOV than others. It may cause less immersive.

There are a lot of great headsets that I haven’t listed out. They are waiting for us to explore.