

Second, the positional-tracking feature is likely only to be used in gaming at the outset, but that may change fairly quickly. For one, you’ll need to keep all these headsets physically tethered to a computer or console in order to use them. Sold separately, the headset, console, camera, and Move controller add up to an $850 investment, about half the price of the complete Rift and Vive systems.ĭo you want other important things to think about? Good. Sony will offer a PlayStation VR bundle that includes the headset, camera, and motion controller, but the price hasn’t been announced just yet.
#CHEAPEST VR HEADSET FULL#
The PlayStation VR headset itself will cost $400, but it needs the console ($350), camera unit ($50), and motion or normal controllers ($50/$15) to get the full experience. While you’ll need to wait a bit longer for Sony’s PlayStation VR, you’ll also pay considerably less-especially if you already have a PlayStation 4, the PlayStation Camera add-on, and PlayStation Move or DualShock controllers. In other words, expect a total package in the vicinity of $1,800 to $2,000-not that the price is causing people to shy away, because HTC apparently sold 15,000 units in the first 10 minutes of preorders. You’ll still need to splurge on a compatible computer, which must have specs similar to Oculus’s list of minimum requirements. The HTC Vive headset will cost $800, but that includes two wireless handheld controllers similar to the separately sold Oculus controllers. If you want the company’s VR-optimized Touch controllers, you’ll have to buy them separately, later this year, for an unspecified price. The Oculus Rift headset costs $600, and the high-powered “Oculus Ready” computers you’ll need to actually use it will start at $950.

The headsets themselves are not cheap, and they’ll all require extra non-cheap hardware, too. Of course, there are major tradeoffs with these next-generation headsets. And the wait really isn’t that long: The Oculus Rift will begin shipping on March 28, the HTC Vive will ship on April 5, and the Sony PlayStation VR will be available in October. With that in mind, setup will be a bit more complicated than just strapping on a phone-driven headset, but it’s what will make the next wave of VR devices even more mind-boggling. The secret sauce is called positional tracking, and in the case of the Rift and the Vive, you’ll need to place small hardware components around a gaming space to track your movements. High-powered headsets such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Sony PlayStation VR will let you move around in your virtual surroundings, and objects in your virtual surroundings will adapt to your viewing perspective. Here’s what to keep in mind if you plan on taking the VR plunge, from the price of admission to the capabilities of each headset to what you should do with them. But that doesn’t mean you should wait: Today’s VR options are affordable, impressive, fun, and phone-powered. So fast, in fact, that the VR systems available today will seem adorably primitive by year’s end. And to spur the next wave of immersive entertainment, VR directors and developers are creating the language of a new medium on the fly.


Tack-sharp displays, powerful processors, and versatile sensors are in everyone’s pockets. These days, VR-capable hardware is everywhere. Interactive Google Street View-like experiences? Those, of course, were around in the late 1970s.īut that stuff could only be found in research labs and in prototype form. In 1961, we had a motion-tracking headset. Back in the 1960s, there were immersive stereoscopic videos. While that seems like an overnight phenomenon, it’s far from it.
