Can Someone Explain Oculus or Other VR Options to Me

jollster101 on 10/02/2022 - 21:39

Hi all

Recently I took my son and daughter to a professional VR experience and they loved it. This was one where they had the backpack which I think was a laptop of some sort, goggles, gun etc etc and the games we played were great. So I then started looking around and have been seeing a variety of deals for Oculus VR headsets. I am new to this whole area and so I am trying to get my head around, no pun intended, how it all works and what would be needed to have a decent enough gaming experience. It would primarily be gaming I expect but maybe it could extend to something else.

Can any one give me a simplistic view as to how this area of technology works and what would be needed to get a decent enough start.

Is it a mobile phone, laptop, PC etc etc?

Cheers

Electrical & Electronics Virtual Reality Headset

Comments

  • CrispyChrispy on 10/02/2022 - 21:51
    +2

    Watch this and this, should give you the basic info as to what exactly VR is.

    Very expansive and somewhat expensive field; so many options, too hard to share all the options and info in a single paragraph. You can have VR headsets that are wireless, headsets that hook up to your PC, and so forth.

    • jollster101 on 10/02/2022 - 22:00

      Thanks, I will have a look.

  • poboy on 10/02/2022 - 22:05
    +2

    You buy the oculus. Then best to buy an adjustable head strap as the original head strap sucks. Games vary between free and $40.

    You need to connect your Facebook account to the Oculus. You can have multiple Facebook accounts attached to your Oculus and they can all share the same games without paying again.

    That's really it. Good luck.

  • Switchblade88 on 10/02/2022 - 22:11
    +4

    Oculus Quest 2 would be an excellent starting point if you want to get into the ecosystem.

    It's self-contained, unlike most other headsets - it doesn't need a separate PC, or infrared base stations like other models. It's fundamentally an Android phone with apps (although it can also be connected to a beefy PC as well for PC VR games).

    You don't have to buy anything else for it to work. I would recommend an aftermarket headset strap, but that's optional and you can always get that later.

  • jollster101 on 10/02/2022 - 22:20

    Looking at the videos from @CrispyChrispy and the other comments the Quest are the self contained units. I think I like the look of that although not sure if that means they cost more than a unit that can connect to a PC.

    I have a spare Optiplex 9020 with an i5 CPU that I could throw a cheap GPU into but not sure that would be powerful enough to use as a PC platform.

    • fenric on 10/02/2022 - 23:49
      +2

      Sadly, these days, there is no such thing as a "cheap GPU." Prices are horrific for even low end cards.

    • grrrr on 13/02/2022 - 16:59

      A Meta (Oculus) Quest 2 with the extra storage is $640.

      A video card good enough to run PC VR decently is much more expensive. An RTX 3080 is $1800.
      A VR headset to connect to your PC with cables (yuck!*) like a reverb g2 is $950.

      *Even using my Q2 wired is so lame i prefer to wait until it is charged. Im my house putting it to charge is can be risky as my wife will get it before I do. She likes to get her sweat on with beat sabre, or audio trip…

  • jollster101 on 10/02/2022 - 22:28

    Is it fair to assume that if you were to purchase a second headset (thinking Oculus Quest here), that you could pair that with the first one in order to play 2 player games?

  • 0FoxGiven on 11/02/2022 - 00:54

    I'd wait for the new PlayStation VR systems.

  • toniyellow on 11/02/2022 - 08:47
    +1

    Reading the comments on past deals should give you a good overview of what the prices of the headsets and games are like, how often they go on sale and what people think of them

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/tag/virtual-reality-headset
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/tag/vr-game

    I have an oculus, and am a big fan. Everything in the oculus store will work with just the headset. If you want to play something from a PC (and have one that will run VR) you can connect it to a PC using a USB C cable, oculus airlink, or the virtual desktop app (the second two need really good wifi).

    Most of those VR places charge close to $50/hr? So it is not hard to get your money's worth of entertainment pretty quick, and if you don't use it as much as you thought you might the second-hand market is pretty robust so you can sell it.

    Admin accounts and app-sharing might suit you if you are thinking of buying more than one for kids- https://support.oculus.com/articles/accounts/multiple-accoun… Not all apps will support it though.

    • jollster101 on 11/02/2022 - 08:49

      Thanks for the info. I will have a look at those posts.

  • ELH05 on 11/02/2022 - 12:48
    +2

    I bought the kids Oculus VR's for Christmas. I think I play on it more than one of kids - I LOVE IT and I am 42 haha

  • GreyChris on 11/02/2022 - 14:46

    Oculus quest 2 is an amazing entry point to VR. I love being able to use it both hands-free with games from the oculus store using only the headset but also able to connect it to my PC for other games and better graphics via a link cable. Even if the first option was your only one there are free games to play which are a lot of fun. I also love the guardian system whereby you map out the room and it doesn't require sensors installed in each corner, it uses the 4 camera on the front to map out where you are in space and warm if you if you're getting outside of your boundaries. Couldn't be happier and no need to ever go back to a VR centre. If you get a PC a lot of the games are often on sale on humble bundle too.

  • jollster101 on 12/02/2022 - 07:40
    +1

    Thanks to all for the replies and and insights. Looks like the quest 2 is the way to go.

    Will be looking out for upcoming deals.

    Cheers

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