When I was first exposed to VR games, my friend told me that Beat Saber was absolutely the first choice for experiencing VR games. So my first VR experience was the Beat Saber game based on the Huawei VR Glass 6DoF device. This immersive VR game experience brought me a very memorable and unique experience. After that I also conducted a more in-depth investigation and understanding of VR games and equipment, the following will talk about my feelings and thoughts about the VR game itself and the VR wearable device.
Beat Saber – A Go-to for Introducing Anyone to Virtual Reality Games
Introduction
Beat Saber is a virtual reality music game developed by Beat Games, a Czech independent game developer, in 2018. The game takes place in a surreal neon environment where players use a pair of contrasting colored sabers to cut through squares representing musical beats. It become the highest-rated game on Steam less than a week after its early access release and was awarded Best VR/AR Game in The Game Awards 2019.
Why I like the VR
Unlike the usual games I’ve played, Beat Saber illustrates the appeal of VR technology to the fullest. Using a pair of red and blue lightsabers that appear in my hands, I can cut through oncoming red and blue squares with precision, along with a dynamic rhythm. The process of constantly honing my skills and turning a haphazard action into a precise strike not only gave me a sense of accomplishment, but also gave my body a workout. In this game to have a game of pleasure in the sense of pleasure naturally speaks for itself. When I stepped on the dynamic beat, holding a red and blue lightsaber to precisely turn the square in front of me into two, this is the closest experience I’ve ever felt to Jedi Knight.
Why it is Engaging
First of all, Beat Saber has a very attractive soundtrack. The game’s soundtrack is carefully selected by the production team, and all of the music has a strong sense of motion and rhythm, including snare drum, bass, hip-hop, rock and other styles of music. Players can’t help but shake their bodies when they hear the music and want to carry on to the next song after playing one. Another engaging feature of this game is the tactile feedback. When hitting the block with the lightsaber simulated by the handle, the handle will then send out a subtle sense of vibration, and each player’s action can get the corresponding feedback. This sense of achievement with feedback can bring a great mood of pleasure.
What features are well done
The theme painting style and color tone of the game
Beat Saber is dominated by two main colors, red and blue, and the main scene is in the form of a dark field with deep lines spreading out in front of the player, bringing a sense of space. The entire game has very science fiction elements of cyberpunk painting style, as well as the gorgeous flow of light effects, the entire game screen looks very dynamic. This form of a dark field will allow players to feel a sense of mystery, and the most important thing is not to take up too much rendering space.
A sense of immersion experience
The immersive experience is the most essential and magical part of VR games, and Beat Saber brings players a direct immersive experience through exquisite scene modeling and rhythm pattern changes, along with scene changes such as dodging walls and bombs. The player’s every movement can get the corresponding feedback, and the fixed-point game to avoid players produce motion sickness. For example, if an oncoming obstacle – the wall, you have to avoid direct impact by crouching or dodging, otherwise it will be game over.
How some features can be improved
A single fixed script lacks the uniqueness of the main character
Beat Saber is oriented more toward a leisure and fitness mini-game, so it lacks the completeness and complexity of the screenplay. And as the main character of the game, we can not decide the development of the screenplay based on behavior. Perhaps the future of VR games is to achieve the game of each complete script completed by the player’s personal participation, the game designer just designed a virtual environment and defines some events. How the specific plot development, each player may not be quite the same. Just like in Westworld, it will be up to the players to complete their own stories in the future, and the designers will just create an environment for the players to happen.
Gameplay is relatively simple
In Beat Saber, each time you cut the block there will be laser splashes, bringing very realistic feedback. But in fact, this game is fundamentally a game of cutting blocks, and its gameplay is very single. Players only need to wave their arms and cut the cubes, and did not highlight the uniqueness of VR to the game. It is believed that as VR technology continues to mature, as well as facial recognition, gesture recognition, full-body motion recognition and other technology support, VR games will have a more natural interaction process. The game experience will also move in the direction of more immersive, which are not available before the traditional game. This is also the direction that VR game developers need to work on, and is what players are looking forward to.
Conclusion
Beat Saber as an entry-level VR game, with exquisite game scenes, and high-definition picture quality, combined with innovative red and blue lightsaber chopping cube gameplay. But behind the success of this game is a certain degree of neglect of the uniqueness of VR games. VR games should more focus on unprecedented immersion and natural interaction with reality, which are different from traditional 2D and 3D platform games.
Huawei VR Glass 6DoF
Introduction
Huawei VR glasses 6DoF is Huawei’s product based on the previous 3DoF glasses released in 2021. In addition to the 3 rotation angles, 6DoF VR glasses can also be displaced back and forth, left and right, up and down, so you can really integrate into the virtual world and interact with all kinds of things, as Huawei said at the launch, “more than just watching movies”.
Why I like the VR
This is the first VR glasses I’ve come across, and it’s also the preferred device for HarmonyOS mobile users to experience VR, and it gives me a very unique immersive experience. I can freely explore the universe, immerse myself in the beauty of the world, integrate my body into the virtual world to interact with it, and experience games that I have not experienced before.
Why it is Engaging
Most of the VR devices we have seen are helmet-shaped, while Huawei VR Glass has taken a different approach by separating the battery and computing chip from the headset, thus being able to make the product so thin and light that it looks like a very stylish pair of premium sunglasses.
What features are well done
Lightweight and convenient to bring
The biggest advantage of Huawei VR glasses is that they are lightweight. The phone can be held in your hand or put in your pocket, so there is no cord tied to it. Because the glasses are very light, even if you wear them for a long time, your nose will not hurt (but if you wear them incorrectly for a long time, you will feel pressure on your head, simply adjust them a little).
Good viewing experience
The resolution of Huawei VR glasses is relatively high, although the crystal lattice is perceptible in the process of use, and there is a sense of limited perspective, the 3D film and Huawei VR glasses are very high adaptability. Wearing VR glasses, users can experience the 3D big screen in their own beds. In addition, because of the ability to mobile projection (VR as a cell phone screen), other non-VR video software content, can also be projected into the giant screen mode, and the viewing effect is very good.
How some features can be improved
Resolution of the VR Glass
Huawei VR Glass is more oriented to the market positioning of movie watching and is not as good as the VR all-in-one machine in the VR game experience. Huawei VR Glass with folding characteristics is more suitable for travel or business trips for a long time in a car. In terms of home utility, its game or viewing technology and resolution are lower since the resolution of VR devices should reach 4K or higher to ensure high-definition degrees.
Dizziness during long-time use
The dizziness that can occur during long-time wear and intense gaming is a problem common to most VR glasses currently available. The essence of this problem is that humans are very sensitive to the mismatch between the vestibular and oscular systems. The vestibule corresponds to the IMU in VR devices (sensing acceleration, directional changes, and ensuring our body balance without falling), while the oscular system corresponds to the camera on the device. However, at this moment, VR devices are unable to simulate the human brain to perceive motion such as acceleration and deceleration. Currently, I can think of a solution to sit on my computer chair to play, because the chair is 360 degrees or 720 degrees to turn up very conveniently and smoothly, so that can significantly alleviate the problem of dizziness. But this method does not apply to games like Beat Saber, which must be operated by standing up.
Conclusion
Huawei VR glasses 6DoF, as Huawei’s continued exploration in the VR market, is a significant upgrade from the previous generation of VR glasses. There is a great improvement in the freedom of VR glasses and the experience of the game, but its resolution and the dizziness generated when wearing them still need to be improved and solved.
References:
Cureton, D. (2021) Huawei launches VR Glass 6DOF headset, XR Today. Available at: https://www.xrtoday.com/virtual-reality/huawei-launches-vr-glass-6dof-headset/ (Accessed: January 20, 2023).
Hunt, C. and Sutrich, N. (2020) Beat saber: Everything you need to know about the VR rhythm game, Windows Central. Windows Central. Available at: https://www.windowscentral.com/beat-saber-everything-we-know-about-vr-rhythm-game (Accessed: January 19, 2023).
Jagneaux, D. (2020) Beat saber PSVR review – the most addictive VR game to date, UploadVR. Available at: https://uploadvr.com/beat-saber-psvr-review-the-most-addictive-vr-game-to-date/ (Accessed: January 19, 2023).
Mishra, Y. (2022) Huawei launched Smart Vision VR Glass that could connect to smartphone, Huawei Central. Available at: https://www.huaweicentral.com/huawei-launched-smart-vision-vr-glass-that-could-connect-to-smartphone/ (Accessed: January 20, 2023).
Staff, G.R. (2019) Here’s every winner from this year’s Golden Joystick Awards, including the Ultimate Game of the Year, gamesradar. GamesRadar+. Available at: https://www.gamesradar.com/Golden-Joystick-awards-2019-winners/ (Accessed: January 19, 2023).