How HTC Vive is Outpacing Oculus Rift
The VR headset field might not be very crowded, but competition in fierce. At the front of the pack, it's clearly a two-horse contest between Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. But Vive is surging ahead, and quality determines the winner, it'll be Vive.
Vive outpaces Oculus due to three chief factors: its all-important room scale for better navigation; its excellent controllers; and its big collection of gaming content.
Room Scale for Full Immersion
Let's start with Vive's Room Scale technology. In short, Room Scale provides the user with the opportunity to walk around his or her room and thus traverse a digital world. For all the immersion of other VR experiences, they leave the user stationery. They're 3D, sure, with the illusion of moving forward, but without the ability to actually wander.
The technology is driven by two base stations, which are infrared Lighthouse cameras, set in opposite corners of the room. These interact with the Vive's sensors, allowing for the user's movement. The effects of this are profound, because so much of gaming--or another key use of VR, horror—thrives on the user feeling threatened from all sides. There's a pre-programmed and safe feel to standard VR—a horror movie using the technology might be scary, but not like it is with Room Scale. Walking through the chill-scape of A Chair in a Room: Greenwater, for instance, provides maximum adrenaline. The user can wield a flashlight to navigate the shadowy space, bodily walking through the experience, rather than using a controller's buttons. If something jumps out at you from behind, it goes to where you've navigated to—it's really jumping at you.
The only downside of room scale is of course, the initial setup which can be quite intimidating even when using tripods to set up the HTC Vive.
Superior Control
The issue of the controllers also gives Vive a big edge over Oculus. As you probably know, the Rift ships with a bundled X-Box controller. On the other hand, the Vive comes with two controllers, one for each hand. They're shaped like skinny TV remotes with a single trackpad in the center.
The dual-control concept is devilishly obvious. It allows you to use your hands and arms as usual, and this, of course fuels the realism of the experience. This is where real reaching and picking up come in, and considering that the controllers use haptic feedback to actually stimulate the skin, it's a very realistic experience.
The controllers are wireless and battery-run.
Games and More Games
Just before its launch, HTC Vive added more than thirty games, giving it a serious advantage over Oculus. Vanishing Realms, Hover Junkers, Final Approach, and Selfie Tennis are all pretty good examples of Vive content.
Not only is the quantity there, but quality too. Now, that's subjective, but one thing HTC Vive has on its front burner is the importance of the social experience. Playing along with your friends in a multi-player environment, with Hover Junkers being one example, is a big part of the gaming experience. Chet Faliszek, writer for Valve, told Fortune that the company feels multi-player to be a natural fit for VR, something they're just scratching the surface on.
The advantage of more content is self-explanatory. But besides the pragmatic reasons that availability of more games is a boost, there's also the benefit of building a reputation for being first and for being aggressive. Vive was actually behind in the battle to bring forth content, and pulled out its thirty-plus-game surprise just before launch. We all know that in gaming and any entertainment content, the will to outpace one's opponent builds confidence in users.
The most recent blow is the recent launch of Trials on Tatooine, free for Vive users. It's hard to find a better showcase for those thin rectangular controllers than turning them into the grips of a lightsaber. HTC has been winning recent battles, and the fight to join forces with The Force had to have been extra sweet.
The Coke vs. Pepsi-like debates surrounding Vive vs. Rift will continue to rage. We're sure Rift has a few things up its sleeve. But it's clear Vive has pulled ahead at this juncture, due to the reasons above. Right now, the brand is charging $200 more than Rift, but we feel users will know where the extra money went.
