IKEA Immerse: XR for Online Shopping in a post-pandemic world

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly changed people’s lives around the world. Despite the real-world inconvenience caused by the coronavirus pandemic, applications utilizing XR technology are booming to create convenience and enhance user experience.

In the post-pandemic world, people are reluctant to walk into crowded stores and rather purchase anything they want online. According to Statista, more than 20% of the sales are bound to take place on the internet by 2022. Brands like IKEA were among the first to realize and jump in on the opportunity. They refined their e-commerce side of things to prove an all-around better experience for their customers.

IKEA has created an entire app from the ground up dedicated to XR. The app, called IKEA Immerse, helps users and customers to create, experience, and share their own configurations in a virtual living and kitchen room set.

Why do I like it?

I like this application because IKEA Immerse invites consumers to experience, design, and create in mixed reality. Instead of choosing from what has been provided, we become part of the designers ourselves. We can feel free to design what we want before purchasing.

Why is it engaging?

Enhancing in-store experience

Thanks to XR technology, IKEA Immerse has made it simpler for customers to view and try different furniture before purchasing. Compared with traditional offline shopping, people can more efficiently try different combinations of colors and styles, and customize their preferred lighting and shading.

Social interaction and sharing

With transferable VR equipment, customers could share their instant feelings with friends more conveniently and at a lower cost. In a virtual environment, people could also interact with furniture items through vision, and obtain instant feedback.

Extending the relationship beyond purchase

XR is still playing its role even after purchasing. After-sale service and support can be far more helpful with XR user manuals, instructions, and feature guidance. Instead of having a user interface directly into these physical products, users could engage with their smart refrigerators or ovens via an XR app on their own digital device.

What features are well done and what can be improved?

I think the following features are well-constructed:

  • Photorealistic representation of the physical world. All the real items are projected into the virtual world in a 3D and highly realistic manner. Textures are rendered so well that you can feel no visual difference between viewing and experiencing virtual reality and the offline store.
  • More adaptable and diversified features than the physical world. You can adjust the lighting and shading freely by virtue of real-time rendering, beyond physical limits. Eg, night mode can be chosen during the daytime and you can add more shading without having to draw the curtain.

Meanwhile, I think there is still room for improvement regarding the following features.

  • Adding a sense of touch. When purchasing furniture, both visual and tactile communications are essential for customers. IKEA Immersive has done quite well on vision, but if customers cannot feel if the bed is soft enough, it would definitely affect their purchase decisions merely based on virtual viewing.
  • Making it more trustworthy. For online shopping and remote experiencing, it is easier for sellers to exaggerate their product effects and attract customers in a dishonest way. If IKEA Immersive could prove the authenticity of products and experience shown in XR devices, I believe it will gain them more advantages compared with similar products.

References

Bring Pokémon to reality, or walk into their world

What is AR?

AR stands for Augmented Reality. It is a technology that superimposes computer-generated images, sounds, or other information over a user’s view of the real world, in order to enhance or augment their perception of it. If we want to catch Pokemons in our real world, we need AR to create those virtual characters. Luckily, Pokémon Go has made this possible for us.

What is Pokemon Go?

Pokemon Go was one of the first mainstream examples of AR technology being used in a mobile game, and helped to popularize the concept of using AR in gaming. The game uses the player’s smartphone camera and GPS location to display Pokemon characters on the screen as if they were in the player’s real-world surroundings. Players can then catch the Pokemon by “throwing” virtual Poke Balls at them.

For me, the story of Pokemon accompanied me throughout my childhood. And The Pokemon Go is the earliest AR technology application I have learned. So let’s go back to 2016 and find out why is this game so engaging?

Why is Pokemon Go engaging?

Pokrmon Go became extremely popular upon its release in 2016, with millions of players worldwide catching Pokemon in their neighborhoods, parks, and other public places. There are many reasons behind its success:

  1. Gamification of reality: The game uses augmented reality technology to superimpose virtual Pokemon characters on the player’s real-world surroundings, which creates a sense of excitement and immersion for players.
  2. Social interaction: The game encourages players to go outside and explore their neighborhoods and communities, providing opportunities for social interaction with other players.
  3. Nostalgia: The game is based on the popular Pokemon franchise which has a large fan base, many of whom grew up playing the original games, watching the anime and collecting the cards. So it brings back childhood memories for many people like me.
  4. Convenience: To catch Pokemon in real life, all you need to do is pick up your phone and use the camera to explore the surrounding scenes
  5. Collecting and Progress: The game has a collecting aspect where players can catch different Pokemon and add them to their collection, this creates a sense of progression and accomplishment for players.
  6. Rewards: The game also rewards players for catching Pokemon, visiting PokeStops, and battling at Gyms, which helps to keep players engaged and motivated to play.

What can be improved?

  1. Gameplay: Some players have complained that the gameplay can become repetitive and lacks depth. Adding more diverse gameplay mechanics and activities could help keep the game interesting for players. We want to see more vivid Pokémon, not Pokémon that only poses with a few fixed actions.
  2. Social features: While the game encourages social interaction, the in-game features that support this are limited. Improving these features, such as the ability to trade Pokemon with other players, would encourage more social play.
  3. Accessibility: Some players have criticized the game for being too physically demanding, as it requires players to walk around to find and catch Pokemon. Improving the accessibility of the game for players with mobility issues, such as providing more PokeStops and Gyms in one area or including more options to play the game from home, could help make the game more inclusive.
  4. AR improvements: Pokemon Go’s AR implementation is not perfect, it can be improved for example by making the Pokemon appear more natural and realistic in the real-world environment, and allowing players to interact with them in more ways.

VR: a way to walk into the game world

Virtual Reality (VR) is a technology that allows users to experience a simulated environment through the use of a headset and other equipment. The user’s movements and actions in the virtual world are tracked and translated into corresponding movements and actions in the simulation. If you have ever imagined entering an exciting game world, like the Pokemon game, then you must not miss the following movie.

What is Ready Player One?

Ready Player One is a science fiction action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, and released in 2018. The film is based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Ernest Cline. The movie is set in a dystopian future where the majority of the population spend their time in the virtual reality world of the OASIS, a place to escape the real world. The plot centers around a virtual treasure hunt set up by the creator of the OASIS, in which the winner will inherit his fortune and control of the virtual world. The movie deals with themes such as escapism, the impact of technology on society, and the power of virtual reality.

Why is Ready Player One engaging?

One of the main reasons is the visually stunning and immersive special effects used to bring the virtual world of the OASIS to life. The movie does a great job of capturing the feeling of immersion and presence in the virtual world, making audiences feel like they are actually inside the OASIS. And that’s one of the goals of future VR technology.

Many familiar game characters appeared in this movie. The protagonist in the movie uses VR equipment to enter one wonderful game world after another. I think no one can refuse the exciting experience of driving Gundam in the game world. For those who grew up with games, this movie fulfills their desire to enter the real game world.

This movie has also changed people’s views on VR to a certain extent, presenting people with a wild possibility of the future VR world. We know that some of the wildest ideas in sci-fi movies and TV shows are now reality. People also look forward to one day being able to enter the game world in this movie.

What can be improved?

Although the movie shows us a beautiful world built with VR technology, there are still some shortcomings in the plot. Some of the characters in the movie use simple glasses and hand devices to enter the VR world, and some use expensive equipment to get a more realistic experience. They use 360-degree treadmills to play games indoors, and people who can’t afford such equipment can only run on the street, which has also caused some traffic accidents. But if you want to complete the magical movements of the VR characters in the movie, it is not enough to have a treadmill. It’s like when you do a backflip or something like that, you don’t feel comfortable wearing these devices. You want the device to be able to recognize these difficult movements, but the reality is that such a sensitive device will become a burden on you. Especially wired hand and leg motion capture, their presence will hinder the movement. VR devices still take a long time to develop and update if we want to get that kind of future VR experience.

AR, The New Driving Force

Eyelights in action

Introduction to EyeLights

Smartphones have brought us convenience and beneficial impacts, but it has also brought about fatal distractions. Research has shown that 1 out of 4 accidents is due to distractions on the phone while driving. Accidents also negatively affect the environment through the up to 75 million tonnes of C02 emitted by car repairs and car manufacturing. Until the introduction of EyeLights, which utilizes AR to display visualizations of information from a smartphone to prevent any unnecessary distractions from the road. Users are able to view information, such as their speed, arrows to signify the direction to take, indicators that notify that they are too close to another car in front of them as well as other features. As a motor enthusiast myself, I look forward to any technological advancements to better the experience of driving, which explains why EyeLights caught my attention. Though the display that EyeLights provide is nothing compared to Iron Man’s helmet, it still signals the start of the futuristic display design that may be used by future vehicles, which I am all for. Additionally, it makes use of commonly known design language to perform different actions to interact with the connected smartphone such as:

  • Turning on EyeLights: Hold button for 2 seconds
  • Pause/Resume music, receive/hang up calls: Press button once

This design would thus allow for a fuss-free onboarding of new users.

EyeLights’ experience

It presents a high level of engagement as users are able to view the extra layer of virtual information to make decisions in real life, such as making the turn when EyeLights display an arrow to turn the corner. On top of that, users are able to interact with supported functions of the connected smartphone device, such as activating the voice assistant or displaying the map.

However, this would mean that the UI design of the visualization layer has to be iconic enough such that users would understand what the different symbols represent. The reason is because different countries might adopt different road signs and symbols that EyeLights might not have considered (EyeLights is based in France). This could lead to the unintended effect of confusing the new user and might cause a fatal accident.

Therefore, an improvement would be to present tooltips for first-time users to understand all the visual icons of EyeLights so that the visual icons would rather help them than be a distraction. An even better improvement would be to support functions based on the location the user is driving in so that visual cues of EyeLights compliments the road system of the location.

Overall, though some improvements can be made to EyeLights for a more enhanced experience for motorists, it still serves as an effective AR application that could disrupt how road information could be visualized to users, which would soon include car drivers too.

Citations

Impact. EyeLights | Affichage tête haute Moto. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://eye-lights.com/en/pages/notre-impact

Mamun. (2022, May 30). Eyelights Eyeride motorcycle helmet user guide. Manuals+. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://manuals.plus/eyelights/eyeride-motorcycle-helmet-manual#axzz7qtvC27l0

XR Gaming’s Finest: The Immersive Experience of Beat Saber and Rumble

XR, or Extended Reality, is a rapidly growing field that encompasses virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) technologies. These technologies have the potential to revolutionize how we interact with the digital world and offer new and exciting ways for people to engage with content. Let us will explore two VR games that I particularly enjoy: Beat Saber (2019) and Rumble (2022).


Beat Saber Trailer

Beat Saber

First, let’s take a look at Beat Saber. Beat Saber was revolutionary for its time, being one of the first games to fully embrace the VR medium, making good use of its interaction types and immersive qualities. Developed by Beat Games, Beat Saber is a VR rhythm game that has players slash through blocks representing musical beats with a pair of glowing swords. The game is set in a futuristic, neon-lit world, and players must slash the blocks in time with the beat of the music, while also avoiding obstacles that fly towards them.

What I like about Beat Saber is the way it immerses players in the game’s world. The neon-lit visuals and electronic music are incredibly engaging, and the sense of motion and physicality created by the VR headset and controllers makes it feel like you’re really in the game. The scoring system rewards long and accurate swings, encouraging players to commit to the satisfying motion of slashing that is unique to this medium. They also borrow the concept of sabers from the lightsabers in Star Wars, which gives players something familiar and intuitive to use, while also letting players live out the fantasy of wielding the sci-fi weapon.

One area where Beat Saber could be improved is in the variety of its content. While the game has a large selection of levels and songs, the gameplay itself does not change much from level to level. Adding more variety in gameplay, such as different types of blocks or obstacles, could make the game feel fresh and keep players engaged for longer. Examples include targets that players need to stab or look at, which are still immersive interactions that the VR medium offers.


Rumble Trailer

Rumble

Now, let us take a look at Rumble. Rumble is one of the up-and-coming VR games that takes gesture controls to a whole new level. Developed by Buckethead Entertainment, Rumble is a VR one-on-one fighting game where players use martial arts-like movements to move the earth around them. Players erect walls and hurl rocks at their opponents, damaging them and knocking them out.

Everything I liked about Beat Saber can be seen implemented in Rumble as well. The act of controlling and dodging objects in the space around you is incredibly immersive. The gesture controls encourage exaggerated and fun movements that make the player feel like they are actually fighting. And of course, the main mechanic borrows itself from earth bending in Avatar: The Last Airbender, again being familiar, intuitive, and fascinating.

On top of that, Rumble goes above and beyond in its polish. The UI is unobtrusive – you look down to see your health in an arc on the ground, and the enemy’s health is displayed above them when you damage them, but other than that there is no UI at all which makes the experience extremely immersive. The particle effects help sell the movement and collision of the earth in the game in a very aesthetic manner. It is also surprisingly realistic, where rocks lift up dust from the ground as they emerge, and explode into a cloud of dust when they collide. This is not only immersive but also a surprising hidden mechanic of the game, obscuring vision in the middle of battle. Lastly, there are also small interactions like the ability to fistbump your opponent after a fight that really puts the cherry on top.

Conclusion

I’m addicted please send help.

Overcome public speaking anxiety with training in VR

Have you ever felt discomfort when it is your turn to speak in a group discussion or when you have to give a speech in school elocution competition? Before giving a speech in front of a large audience, few people practice in-front of a mirror or find a friend to get some feedback in a practice session. Training in virtual reality is likely to be the solution to public speaking anxiety. Studies were done on virtual reality exposure therapy and companies are using VR applications for employee training on public speaking.

Cross reality (XR) which includes virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) provide immersive digital experiences. VR actively uses human sensory capabilities (like sight and sound) to provide understanding and general relations of an experience. This can be used to improve public speaking using immersive and realistic simulations. A study published in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy suggests that VR can be used as a therapeutic tool for public speaking anxiety. [1]

There are multiple VR applications that help with overcoming the fear of public speaking. VIRTUALSPEECH [2] is a company that specialises in professional development training with courses for mastering public speaking. The training contains a wide range of self-paced VR scenarios.

TEDx theatre as VirtualSpeech training scenario

VirtualSpeech application is available on VR headsets like Oculus Quest, VIVE Focus 3 and Pico Neo3. Besides the variety of VR scenarios, the features from VirtualSpeech that stand aside are Real-time feedback, display notes in the room on an autocue, and audio & visual distractions from the avatars to simulate real world experience. The Real-time feedback is given while the speech is being delivered; feedback is provided on eye contact, pace of the speech and volume of delivery.

One feature allows speaker to record and upload questions in advance. These questions are then asked by the virtual audience during the speech. Conversational AI can be used to further enhance this feature to allow real time communication between the speaker and the audience.

Real-time feedback in VirtualSpeech

Ovation [3] is another application in VR that helps overcome public speaking anxiety. It also provides real-time training tools and feedback as one speaks to a realistic, simulated audience. Training is provided for Gaze, Voice and Hands. The category, Gaze refers to where the speaker is looking while delivering a speech. This is detected by the movement of the VR headset. If the headset includes eye tracking, it can determine the exact location in the virtual scenario where the speaker is looking. VR motion controllers can be used for training on mic distance. If the mic is too far from speaker’s mouth, a red pulse is displayed and speaker will experience vibration. The motion controllers can also be used to determine the movement of speaker’s hands.

Ovation Public Speaking training in VR

The recommended VR headsets from Ovation are HP Reverb G2 Omnicept and HTC Vive Pro Eye. Sensors in Omnicept can detect cognitive load in real time, it captures the brain power needed to remember and properly deliver the speech. Both Vive Pro Eye and Omnicept detect the exact location where the speaker’s eyes are looking, this is used by Ovation to provide more accurate analytics and better insights.

The study published in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy [1] concluded that one-session virtual reality therapy can be an effective treatment of public speaking anxiety. In future, we can expect to see more VR applications in public speaking training with enhanced features like automatically generated questions and emotional responses from virtual audience based on sentiment of speaker’s speech.

References:
[1] Philip Lindner, Jesper Dagöö, William Hamilton, Alexander Miloff, Gerhard Andersson, Andreas Schill, and Per Carlbring (Sep 2020). Virtual Reality exposure therapy for public speaking anxiety in routine care: a single-subject effectiveness trial. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.
[2] VirtualSpeech.com
[3] OvationVR.com

An extension of VR Locomotion in Budget Cuts

Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/400940/Budget_Cuts/

Locomotion in Budget Cuts

Teleportation is a very common form of locomotion in VR games that minimises motion sickness, but most of the time it is used solely for that purpose and as such may seem gimmicky, out of place, and takes away from immersion and gameplay. One game that avoids this common pitfall very well is Budget Cuts, in which you lob a physics projectile to a target location, get to preview that location through a small portal, and can choose exactly when you want to teleport to that location by the press of a button (see above trailer). This is especially apt in a stealth game as it allows you to scout the location before teleporting to it, and the physics projectile itself is very fun to play with as well.

Now you’re thinking with portals

To take this concept one step further, we can take inspiration from the classic first-person puzzle platformer Portal. Instead of just a small portal that you can peer through, we can create a portal that is large enough for the player to physically pass through. This opens up a world of possibilities, such as moving objects or even shooting/combat through the portal. The best part is, if done a certain way, we do not have to worry about the bounding box as this will only require the player to move back and forth between 2 points in real life! Although this might not be the aptest form of locomotion for Budget Cuts, this will be a very fun mechanic to see in other genres such as puzzle, platformer, and shooting games.

tldr

walk thru a portal 🌀

VAR devices blog [CS4240]

VR device: Valve Index

Resolution1440 x 1600
Refresh Rate80, 90, 120 or 144 Hz
Field of ViewAdjustable, up to 130 degrees
Face CushionAffixed to removable face interface, foam covered in anti-microbial microfiber cloth
Weight809g
PriceUS$999 (incl. 2 controllers and 2 base stations); US$499 (headset only)
Battery~6 hours

As an avid gamer, the main use I would find for VR headsets would be of course for games. Hence, after looking through the newest headsets, I thought that the Valve index seems to be the best VR headset currently due to its great hardware specs, comfort, long battery life and high tracking quality.

The index offers excellent resolutions at custom refresh rates, and in particular the 144Hz refresh rates makes pictures crystal clear. This is compared to other headsets that often offer limited refresh rate selections, though perhaps at slightly higher resolutions.

Although somewhat on the heavier side at ~800g without cables, users have given good reviews on its comfort. Reviews included how the head straps distributes weight well over a user’s head, and positive comments were made on how the straps were of high build quality.

On top of this, the index offer a great ~6h battery life, which is more than enough for most average users. Constantly having to bother with charging the battery would be annoying, and in my personal experiences with consoles, having to stop a game mid-way due to dead batteries is the worst feeling.

Lastly, the index comes with what many users have reviewed as the ‘best’ tracking technology. The index offers two base stations that track user movement effectively, along with novel controllers that convey a person’s actions effectively into the games. This allows games like Valve’s half-life:Alyx to truly shine, and offering users an experience other headsets cannot emulate.

That all being said, all this comes at a whooping cost of $999, which compared to the competition, is twice the price. This is likely to be a deal breaker for many people, which is a shame, since the hardware and software makes the Index likely the best headset available on the market right now.

MR device: Microsoft HoloLens

As I personally do not have any experiences with AR devices or their applications, I first sought to find what these devices could do and what some user favorite applications were.

Raptor EverySight, and its cycling application

Interestingly, although the market seemed to be rapidly growing, I did not find any of the popular applications to my personal interest. I would personally use AR glasses for purposes you would use a phone for, such as GPS, calorie counting, routing, and so on, but there did not seem to be readily available apps for such things. There were specific AR devices for things like cycling (which I enjoy), such as the Raptor EverySight, but the application itself seemed very lackluster when I saw it on youtube, especially when one considers the hefty price of US$599.

That said, I do find applications using Microsoft’s HoloLens to be the most interesting compared to its competition. It seems that HoloLens has found great success with industrial manufacturing and healthcare, along with healthcare education.

For manufacturers, HoloLens provides greatly improved guidance, allowing workers to be much more productive. The guided workers are able to have accelerated work processes, increasing productivity by decreasing errors.

For healthcare and healthcare education, the HoloLens provide a level of clarity for both patients and students alike that cannot be emulated through conventional means of communication. Patients are able to use the lens to very effectively see what they are suffering from and what the treatments might entail. For students, they are able to interact in situations that are otherwise dangerous or impossible in a conventional setting, allowing improved understanding and ability.

This is very hopeful for AR applications, because it showcases how good applications with good hardware can effectively improve situations. Both the manufacturing, health and education sectors have shown great numbers of improvement through the use of HoloLens, which may translate to other sectors in due time when proper applications are developed.

Nevertheless, despite the benefits, these HoloLens applications are customized for the manufacturing companies, which makes it less accessible to the average user. This might mean a very long wait time before AR applications could be valuable to the average user, which is rather disappointing considering how long many AR devices have been around for.

VR/MR Headsets Review – HW1

Despite not owning any VR devices, I have used some of the popular devices on the market at exhibition demos, or borrowing them from friends, so I have a pretty good idea of what the ideal VR experience would be like.

SpecsOculus Quest 2HTC Vive ProValve IndexOculus Rift S
Starting price (USD)$299$599$999$399
Screen resolution per eye (pixels)1832 x 19201440 x 16001440 x 16001280 x 1440
Field of view (degrees)90110~130110
Max refresh rate (Hz)909012080
Weight (g)503470809500
TrackingInside outLighthouseLighthouseInside out
Playtime (Battery capacity in hrs)2 to 3
GraphicsSnapdragon XR2PCPCPC
GamesOculus Quest Store (Android-based games)Steam VR & ViveportSteam VROculus Store & Steam VR
ControllersOculus TouchVive ControllersValve Index controllersOculus Touch

Favourite VR Device: Oculus Quest 2

One of the best VR headsets that are currently available which I would love to purchase, would be the Oculus Quest 2. It has a clean white design and built-in speakers which makes it good for portable use. This provides an immersive experience, eliminating the need for external speakers or additional peripherals. Another feature that I really enjoy is that you can set up the playing area and boundaries just by drawing it. Its portable design and quality is what makes its price point worth it.

Oculus also has one of the greatest software support behind it with a store full of amazing games that you can play as a standalone device. The developers make constant updates with the graphics improving and getting crispier every version. Its resolution and refresh rate is also one of the best in VR devices with at 1832 x 1920 and 90Hz as well as 6 degrees of freedom allowing for greater freedom of movement. In a nutshell, these amazing features make it one of the best choices available in the market right now as an all-in-one VR headset.

Favourite MR Headset: Microsoft Hololens 2

Although I do not own a MR Headset, I observed that the Microsoft Hololens is one of the best in the market at the moment. It has well designed ergonomics and looks comfortable to use compared to some of the bulkier headsets in the market. Less bulky headsets will allow for longer hours of use and less intrusive to user experience. Moreover, it also has an impressive 2K resolution of 2048 x 1080 pixels. In terms of environment understanding, it has improved spatial mapping capabilities compared to the first Hololens which means it will be able to operate at a faster rate. This, as well as 4 visible light cameras which means that it is able to track more movements, allowing for more interactivity with the environment.

The Hololens 2 is priced at an extremely high price point of $3500 and reasonably so, as it is targetted for business use. It is hopeful that the price point of future MR devices can be lowered to a comfortable consumer price point.

I am excited to see what the industry has to offer in the future and surely we will see leaps and bounds in the development of VR, AR, and MR technologies in the years to come.

VR and MR Headsets

List of headwear (unranked) I think are great 🙂

  1. Valve Index
  2. Oculus Quest
  3. Sony Playstation VR
  4. Microsoft Hololens 2
  5. Varjo XR-3

Virtual Reality (VR) Headsets

Oculus Quest 2 (Fave)

Oculus Quest 2 is my preferred VR device with its affordable price and ease of use. The Oculus Quest 2 comes with a price tag of 299 USD which is 100 cheaper than the earlier Oculus Quest without any skimping on the specs.

Design

What makes this my preferred VR headset is that it does not require any console, external PC, or screen in order for it to work i.e. standalone. This means no cables and a much less restrictive gaming experience as you are no longer tethered to a PC or another device. Furthermore, no wiring means that the set-up is quick and easy.

The headset and controls are also friendlier looking compared to other headsets where most headsets have a ‘gamer’ aesthetic that may be quite intimidating to new VR users.

Oculus Quest 2 Pre-orders Were Five Times Higher than Original Quest
Quest 2
HTC Vive Virtual Reality System: Amazon.sg: Electronics
HTC Vive

VR headsets are known to be clunky and heavy on the head which could dampen the VR experience be it through the loss of immersion (being fully aware you have a heavy contraption on your head) or physical pain. It is essential, for me at least, that a gaming headset should not be heavy and it is one of the reasons why I picked Oculus Quest 2 as my preferred VR Headset. Oculus Quest 2 weighs 503 g and is one of the lightest headsets in the market yet does not compromise on performance or specs. A lighter headset makes it easier to turn and move your head without straining your neck or causing the headset to swing and shift.

It should be noted though that according to reviews, the headset is prone to shifting when turning quickly due to less than desirable straps. Purchasing a better strap is recommended to combat this problem.

Battery

The headset is battery-powered and lasts about 2 to 2.5 hours which may seem short but it is long enough to accommodate multiple gaming sessions. According to a survey (VR/AR headsets average session time in U.S. 2018 by Arne Holst), most VR gaming sessions take about an average of 38 minutes, so the Oculus Quest 2 can fit about 4 sessions before needing to be recharged.

Weight and Fit

Specifications

As mentioned, the Oculus Quest 2 does not sacrifice performance for comfort. With 1832 x 1920 pixels per eye, visuals are much sharper and clearer than other headsets in the market. This lends itself well to rendering games a much more believable and immersive experience.

It has a refresh rate of 72Hz currently, but 90Hz support will come in the future. 90Hz is not outstanding but it is far from terrible. It matches up to most standalone headsets in the market and given its price, already makes it a more worthy buy.

Miscellaneous

The game library for the Oculus Quest 2 is large and includes famous titles like Half-Life: Alyx and Superhot. Since the Oculus Quest 2 can be hooked up to a gaming PC, the headset can be used to play more graphically-intensive games or tethered-exclusive games.

A more controversial feature of the Oculus Quest 2 is that a Facebook account is needed to use the headset and this may be a moral dilemma for those that are more critical of the social media giant.

Augmented Reality (AR) & Mixed Reality (MR) Headsets/Glasses

Given that most MR headsets are way outside the regular consumer’s price range, my choice for most preferred headset is based on specifications.

Varjo-XR3 (Fave)

The Varjo-XR3 is my preferred MR headset based on its interesting set-up for creating high-resolution images and good specs.

Varjo Announces XR-3 and VR-3 Headsets – Specs, Price, Release Date

Design

The Varjo-XR 3 weighs in at 594 g which is one of the heavier MR headsets out there but I feel like that is justified by the impressive specs. In order to counteract the weight, a lot of attention is placed on the design of the straps to properly distribute the weight around the head.

Specifications

The headset specializes in providing one of the best human-eye resolutions in the market. For each eye, there is a screen consisting of two panels. The first panel has 1920 x 1920 display (71 pixels per degree) located in the user’s center of vision and another panel with a 2880 x 2720 display (30 pixels per degree) on the rest of the screen. This means that when looking straight you get a very sharp, crisp image but your peripheral is slightly less so (but still very good resolution). This is to mimic how the eye actually behaves, where the peripheral vision is not as clear as what you are focusing on.

Varjo Announces XR-3 and VR-3 Headsets – Specs, Price, Release Date
HeadsetMegapixels per-eye
Rift S1.8
Index2.3
Quest 23.5
Reverb G24.7
Varjo XR-3/VR-39.7

The headset has a refresh rate of 90Hz which may not be as high as the price seems to warrant but it matches up with most other headsets in the market. It does however have a very impressive field of view of 115 degrees which is one of the highest amongst the MR headsets in the market.

The Varjo XR-3 has very good passthrough fidelity and Varjo has released a demo showing someone threading a needle while wearing the XR-3.

Software

The software that Varjo XR-3 comes with has native support for Unity, Unreal Engine, and various industrial 3D software, like Autodesk VRED. Right now, it is being used for mainly design-related purposes like visualizing 3D models in real-life which helps cut down production costs and allows for remote working.

The Varjo XR-3 is not targeted towards consumers but instead businesses, hence the steep price. That said, the abilities and features the headset has to offer are a worthy investment for companies concerned with design. After successful iterations, perhaps Varjo might produce something for the regular joe.

Latest XR hardware review

COVID-19 had dominated the year 2020 like no other. Most of the countries were forced to go into a full lockdown to prevent the widespread of that horrible virus. A silver lining here is that online communication tools became the sole viable method to communicate and interact with each other. Thanks to that, applications such as VR Chat gained a lot of popularity. Moreover, to substitute the missing physical presence, virtual reality technologies were used to host ceremony and conferences around the world. For example, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay used a virtual reality solution to host a convocation ceremony.

Unlike the traditional media, to consume XR (extended reality) contents, hardware such as head mount displays or glasses are required. Fortunately, based on my research, there are many options available for various platforms with respective price ranges that fit everyone’s needs. To help fellow enthusiasts, who don’t yet own an XR device and want to experience this amazing technology, I have listed down a few latest VR (virtual reality) and MR (mixed reality) devices that are great in my opinion.

Latest VR devices

DevicePrice (USD)ResolutionRefresh RateFOVAudio
HP Reverb G$5992160×216090 Hz114ºOff-ear speakers
Valve Index$4991440×1600120 Hz130ºOff-ear speakers,
audio jack,
microphone
Oculus Quest 2$299 1832×192090 Hz90ºIntegrated stereo speakers, 3.5 mm headphone jack
Oculus Rift S$3991280×144080 Hz110ºIn-line audio speakers
1x 3.5 mm audio jack
HTC Vive Cosmos$6991920×108090 Hz110ºIn-line audio speakers

If I am to buy a VR device right now, I would definitely go for an Oculus Quest 2. Despite being the latest release of the Oculus Quest product line, Oculus Quest 2 is surprisingly affordable with the starting price of only USD 299 for 64GB version, which makes it a no-brainer choice for a starter VR device. On top of that, Occulus Quest 2 is highly portable since it does not have to tether to a VR capable machine to work. It has a high resolution (1832×1920 pixels per eye) and comes with built-in audio speakers. It is also equipped with 2 non-rechargeable touch controllers that provide great comfort for gaming.

Oculus Quest 2

The downsides of Oculus Quest 2 is that you need a Facebook account to use it, and it only has access to a limited number of games on Quest Store right now. However, creating a Facebook account is free and by tethering with a single USB-C cable, Oculus Quest 2 can also function as PCVR which has access to a bigger game library. Although the controllers are not rechargeable, using rechargeable AAA batteries does the trick. All in all, Oculus Quest 2 is a solid choice for both starters and veterans who are looking for an upgrade at the start of 2021.

Latest MR devices

DevicePrice (USD)ResolutionFOV
Magic Leap One$2,2951280×196040º
Microsoft HoloLens 2$3,5002048×108052°
Nreal Light$1,0001920×108052°

Among the listed devices, my perferred choice is Microsoft HoloLens 2. Since it is a successor of the original HoloLens, it has access to the wider range of programs. Having wider field of view than most of the devices, it also support more intuitive gestures that fit around natural interactions used in day-to-day lives; think pinches, pulls and drags, unlike the original HoloLens. Being developed by Microsoft, the developer ecosystem is relatively stronger. Dynamics 365 integrations, just like office 360 integrations, will soon be available too.

Microsoft HoloLens 2

That being said Microsoft HoloLens 2 is very pricy and slightly bulkier than my confort level. It may simply because the target auidence of the devices are industry workers and the benefits for user business seems justify the cost of it. I hope that in the near future more advanced and slimer devices for mixed reality become available.