Introduction

With the advent and booming of the XR technologies and applications based on them, numerous companies including the big names had launched their advanced XR (AR/VR/MR) devices. In this post, I list several of them and give my personal recommendations on device choosing.

I covered the following devices in this post.

VR	AR	MR
Oculus Quest 2 Oculus Rift S PlayStation VR (PSVR) HTC VIVE(Pro)	Magic Leap One Epson Moverio Google Glass Enterprise Edition Vuzix Blade AR	Hololens 2

VR Devices

Virtual reality (VR) is an artificial environment that is experienced through sensory stimuli (sights and sounds). It is a simulated experience that can be similar to or completely different from the real world and can be applied to most of the scenarios.

Till now, I suppose that the most successful application type on VR is still entertainment, as I am a real zealot of the game experience, thus I focus on the devices that are widely applied in the game scenario. I listed the popular three VR devices with their specs below:

Product:	Oculus Quest 2	Oculus Rift S	PlayStation VR(PSVR)
Hardware	PC optional	PC required	Playstation (PS5, PS4)
Tracking	6 degrees	6 degrees	6 degrees
Controllers	Redesigned Touch Controllers(add thumb rest)	Touch Controllers	PlayStation Move controller, DUALSHOCK 4 wireless controller
HEAD STRAP	Soft Strap	Halo Headband	Headband
OPTICS	Fast-switch LCD Display 1832 x 1920 Resolution Per Eye 60, 72, 90 Hz Refresh Rates Supported Glasses-compatible	LCD Display 2560 x 1440 Resolution 80 Hz Refresh Rate Glasses-compatible	Resolution: 1920 x RGB x 1080 (960 x RGB x 1080) Refresh Rate: 120hz, 90hz
SOUND	Positional Audio(3D)	Positional Audio(3D)	Positional Audio(3D)
Games	Oculus Quest Store	Oculus Rift Store	PlayStation Store
STORAGE	64 GB | 256 GB	N / A	N / A

My Favorite

Previous VR devices all have a good configuration as well as good support for the game service on different platforms. Among them, the PSVR is the newest and may have the best performance on the PS platform. However, I highly recommended the HTC-Vive (Pro), which is the most powerful and professional VR device, which I used to play with before.

First, it has the most powerful screen. With

• 2880 x 1600 615 PPI
• 37% PPI Increase
• 78% Pixel Increase

It also has an Optimized Ergonomics

• Optimal Center of Gravity
• Adjustable Eye Comfort Setting (IPD)
• 24% Increase in Face Gasket Surface Area for Lowered Stress
• Adjustable Headstrap with Soft Padded Foam

Moreover, its available movement space is much larger than the others

UP TO 100 m²

In a word, much more powerful when compared with others.

Comment

I only used Vive before, but it can really perform well in numerous games such as lights saber, half-life Alyx, and fruit ninja. The game experience it brought is quite immersive and charming.

AR Devices

Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information, sometimes across multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory, and olfactory

AR basically is virtual later provides additional information, thus MR devices can also provide the ability of AR, as well as many cellphones. Most of the existing AR-specific devices are glasses, as I illustrated below（source https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/best-augmented-reality-glasses/）:

Headset Name	Magic Leap One	Epson Moverio BT-300	Google Glass Edition 2	Vuzix Blade AR
Resolution (Pixels)	1300 pixels per eye	1280 x 720 pixels	720p video capable	640×360 1
Field of view (degrees)	50	23	80	10
Refresh Rate (Hz)	120	30	–	–
Tracking and control	Eye and hand, with haptics	Eye and hand	Eye and hand	Eye, with haptics
Battery Life (hrs)	3	6	8	2
Others	-Haptics -8GB RAM	-Drone AR -Android	-GPS -Voice command	-Haptics -Mobile OSs
Pricing ($)	2295	699	1167	599

MR Devices

Mixed reality (MR) is the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations, where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real-time

Very few products, or in other words, only the product of Microsoft, Hololens, really produced an integrated hardware device in this field. Now it launched its second version with more powerful functionalities.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/hololens/hardware#

Technical Specs

Display
Optics	See-through holographic lenses (waveguides)
Resolution	2k 3:2 light engines
Holographic density	>2.5k radiants (light points per radian)
Eye-based rendering	Display optimization for 3D eye position

Sensors
Head tracking	4 visible light cameras
Eye-tracking	2 IR cameras
Depth	1-MP time-of-flight (ToF) depth sensor
IMU	Accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer
Camera	8-MP stills, 1080p30 video

Audio and speech
Microphone array	5 channels
Speakers	Built-in spatial sound

Human understanding
Hand tracking	Two-handed fully articulated model, direct manipulation
Eye-tracking	Real-time tracking
Voice	Command and control on-device; natural language with internet connectivity
Windows Hello	Enterprise-grade security with iris recognition

Environment understanding
6DoF tracking	World-scale positional tracking
Spatial Mapping	Real-time environment mesh
Mixed Reality Capture	Mixed hologram and physical environment photos and videos

Compute and connectivity
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 Compute Platform
HPU	The second-generation custom-built holographic processing unit
Memory	4-GB LPDDR4x system DRAM
Storage	64-GB UFS 2.1
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac 2×2)
Bluetooth	5
USB	USB Type-C

Power
Battery life	2–3 hours of active use
Charging	USB-PD for fast charging
Cooling	Passive (no fans)

MyFavorite & Comments

Future, is, Hololens!!!!

For me, Hololens is the only but the most powerful MR device. It can create a workplace in which you can visualize anything you need on-demand, with relevant data available at the jab of a finger.  I used this device before and surprised by the button control without a controller. The immersive experience of the galaxy exploration overwhelmed me.

With the HoloLens 2, Microsoft is looking to build on the handful of enterprise successes it has carved in the last five years, based on customer and user feedback. Specifically, the firm has looked to address ergonomics, immersion, and what it dubs time-to-value’. — ITPRO

Though from my experience of this device, the tracking accuracy of the movement still needs a lot of improvement, this product really demonstrates what the future can be.

It may not be obvious to us, but Augmented Reality (AR) has already taken roots in our daily lives. From face filters to AR games, this wonderful technology has slowly evolved and gained commercial traction. Unfortunately, most of these applications are mostly restricted to our phones. With the availability of smart phones in our modern society, the adoption of AR phone apps far exceed the ones of AR headsets. However, recent developments have brought headsets, such as Microsoft Hololens and Oculus Quest, closer to widespread consumer adoption.

Current Market
The current market for AR devices are quite varied. Here is a brief breakdown of the specifications of some AR capable devices.

	Microsoft Hololens	Magic Leap	Oculus Rift S	HTC Vive
Type	AR	AR	VR (Partial AR)	VR (Partial AR)
Degree of Freedom	6	6	6	6
Field of view	43° × 29°	40°×30°	110°	110°
Resolution (per eye)	2048×1080	1280×960	2560×1440 (single display)	1080×1200
Refresh Rate	120Hz	60Hz	72Hz	90Hz
Target Audience	Professionals	Professionals, previously for consumers	Consumers	Consumers
Price	$3,500	$2,295	$599	$799

My Analysis
For my AR/VR headset analysis, I wish to take a in-depth look at the Magic Leap device. Having worn and played around with the Microsoft Hololens 1, Oculus Rift and Magic Leap, I personally liked the use of Magic Leap the most. Here’s why:

1. Comfort
   Initially aimed at the consumer market, Magic Leap was designed for comfort. Despite having a separate pack for the CPU, this design removed a lot of weight away from the headset itself. The Microsoft Hololens 1 was incredibly chunky and the weight was distributed unevenly. In comparison, the Magic Leap was significantly lighter, removing quite a bit of stress on the neck from long usage.
   
2. Realism
   Unlike the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, Magic leap do not display a virtual version of your surrounding. As such, it is more realistic in terms of its colors and the virtual object placed on screen. Of course, the Magic Leap is disadvantaged with the limited field of vision which restricts its realism.
   
3. Headset Design
   For its design, Magic Leap is the most outstanding, with its smaller build and googles-like appearance, making this headset especially appealing to me.
   

Here’s a short video on the holograms generated by the Magic Leap device!

Written by Giam Ju Xian