Want to Try VR on phone before buying Rift/Vive

[Scoorpio]

Hi,

I'm Jason and I'm new to the forum here.

( I've had a quick search, but can't really find what I'm looking for, but if I've missed something, please forward me to the correct section, thanks)

I've just updated my pc with a GTX 1070 OC and wanted to try the VR on ED, but was wondering what would be the best VR headset to use that isn't a Rift or Vive (just don't have the spare cash atm but it is something that I would like to consider in the future)

So, I thought that maybe the Smartphone VR headsets might be at least usable to give me some idea of what it's like

I have a Sony Xperia Z5 Premium, have already downloaded Moonlight, but if there is a better app out there I'll download that instead

Is there a link or website that can explain how best to set it up as well please?

Thanks very much for any help or advice

Jason

 

[CylonSurfer]

Hi,

I'm Jason and I'm new to the forum here.

( I've had a quick search, but can't really find what I'm looking for, but if I've missed something, please forward me to the correct section, thanks)

I've just updated my pc with a GTX 1070 OC and wanted to try the VR on ED, but was wondering what would be the best VR headset to use that isn't a Rift or Vive (just don't have the spare cash atm but it is something that I would like to consider in the future)

So, I thought that maybe the Smartphone VR headsets might be at least usable to give me some idea of what it's like

I have a Sony Xperia Z5 Premium, have already downloaded Moonlight, but if there is a better app out there I'll download that instead

Is there a link or website that can explain how best to set it up as well please?

Thanks very much for any help or advice

Jason

My advice, stay away from cheap smart phone HMDs, particularly if you want to use them in conjunction with PC gaming. The experience will not be comparable to the Rift or the Vive - if anything it will put you off VR for life. Low latency head tracking is paramount to a good VR experience and you will not get that with Moonlight, tracking lag over wifi and the fact your phones gyro likely isn't cut out for VR will make you feel ill.

I'd honestly recommend that you sit on your cash for a few more months, who knows you may find the Rift comes down in price.

 

[jevens]

The rift/vive are expensive, so it's a good idea to try it out before you part with that much cash.
If you're on a low budget and want to try it out, then may I suggest a used DK2 off eBay? try it out, it will work great with a 1070 and you'll be able to sell it again,
I actually earned a few quid doing that!, best and cheapest way to get into VR in your own time, and the experience will be far far far superior any mobile phone solution, (at this point at least)

I tried ED with Trinus streaming via USB to a LG G3 in a plastic vr headset, picture was ok, quite clear infact, but terrible FOV/Framrate/Tracking, not playable, not fun.

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

You don't say where you are but there are now quite a few retailers that offer demos of either the Vive or the Rift or both:

http://locator.vive.com/
https://live.oculus.com/search

 

[Y2K]

As said above, id stay away from cheap phone hmd's - theyre simply nowhere near what you get with the rift/vive. Best advice is to try and sample one, either a friend or shop. If you want VR mainly for seated, sims such as racing and Elite then the rift is 100% the better option. The HMD is cheaper to buy alone and is far more suited to sims. You can always buy the addon controls later if you want them. Once you have the cash, invest!! Well worth it, as others have said its impossible to explain - seeing is believing!

 

[CptXabaras]

My advice, stay away from cheap smart phone HMDs, particularly if you want to use them in conjunction with PC gaming. The experience will not be comparable to the Rift or the Vive - if anything it will put you off VR for life. Low latency head tracking is paramount to a good VR experience and you will not get that with Moonlight, tracking lag over wifi and the fact your phones gyro likely isn't cut out for VR will make you feel ill.

I'd honestly recommend that you sit on your cash for a few more months, who knows you may find the Rift comes down in price.

This is a sound advice to be followed

 

[Spam]

Overclockers do a VR demo

 

[TheChafing]

If what you're wanting is PC-style VR gaming, don't even bother with the GearVR and lesser clones. Go try on a Rift or Vive at a retail store.

If you're in the US, many Best Buy stores have a Rift demo unit, but they only let you use it under the supervision of an Oculus sales rep, so you have to figure out when that person is going to be there. The last one I went to actually implied you had to set up an appointment or something. I ended up just buying one without trying it on, figuring if I really hated it that much, I could just craigslist it or something. Turns out, I like it a lot.

If you happen to be lucky enough to live near a Fry's Electronics, they seem to have Vive demo units on hand, that you can just walk up to and play around with; just don't think about how much face sweat that particular one has been exposed to.

Subjectively, I like the image quality in my Rift better than the Vive I tried on, and the fact that I primarily wanted it for playing games where you sit in a vehicle of some sort, and thus don't need the motion controllers. That's $200 I can spend on something else, like beer, or a HOTAS setup.

 

[6xes]

Hi,

I'm Jason and I'm new to the forum here.

( I've had a quick search, but can't really find what I'm looking for, but if I've missed something, please forward me to the correct section, thanks)

I've just updated my pc with a GTX 1070 OC and wanted to try the VR on ED, but was wondering what would be the best VR headset to use that isn't a Rift or Vive (just don't have the spare cash atm but it is something that I would like to consider in the future)

So, I thought that maybe the Smartphone VR headsets might be at least usable to give me some idea of what it's like

I have a Sony Xperia Z5 Premium, have already downloaded Moonlight, but if there is a better app out there I'll download that instead

Is there a link or website that can explain how best to set it up as well please?

Thanks very much for any help or advice

Jason

I dont believe some of these people realise how good the resolution is on the Sony Xperia premium ( bit expensive )
effectively giving you a true 1080p per eye resolution.

the great thing about elite dangerous is you dont need Trinus or Tridef3d for this to work... Moonlight app is all you need becos you have a gtx highend card already

Latency is not a problem if running the minimum of a Wireless-N dualband
(still works for Wireless-N 2.4ghz without much trouble)

E.D already has a SBS converter in the options which makes the process of 3D simple

as far as HMD for mobiles go... the three best options are
1 wearailty sky
2 z4 bobo
3 fiit 2s

find the reviews on youtube...

headtracking is another consideration, ive settled for a Edtracker(wired).. but a wireless version is to be released soon.
there are many options with headtracking.. but your setup will determine your choice


given VR is still very much growing and updating.. before we know it.. a new item has come on the market.. and buying such expensive VR systems such as VIVE or Occulus will leave you with a expensive unused toy given the nature of technology and marketting practices coupled with corporate interests..

Mobile VR HMD displays is a sure way to protect yourself from a changing tech.

edit: streaming with moonlight use the C:\windows\system32\mstsc.exe (as shown on https://youtu.be/LsXZhag1SQE )

 

[CylonSurfer]

I dont believe some of these people realise how good the resolution is on the Sony Xperia premium ( bit expensive )
effectively giving you a true 1080p per eye resolution.

the great thing about elite dangerous is you dont need Trinus or Tridef3d for this to work... Moonlight app is all you need becos you have a gtx highend card already

Latency is not a problem if running the minimum of a Wireless-N dualband
(still works for Wireless-N 2.4ghz without much trouble)

E.D already has a SBS converter in the options which makes the process of 3D simple

as far as HMD for mobiles go... the three best options are
1 wearailty sky
2 z4 bobo
3 fiit 2s

find the reviews on youtube...

headtracking is another consideration, ive settled for a Edtracker(wired).. but a wireless version is to be released soon.
there are many options with headtracking.. but your setup will determine your choice


given VR is still very much growing and updating.. before we know it.. a new item has come on the market.. and buying such expensive VR systems such as VIVE or Occulus will leave you with a expensive unused toy given the nature of technology and marketting practices coupled with corporate interests..

Mobile VR HMD displays is a sure way to protect yourself from a changing tech.

edit: streaming with moonlight use the C:\windows\system32\mstsc.exe (as shown on https://youtu.be/LsXZhag1SQE )

I would highly recommend that you discard this advice. Moonlight or any other app for playing VR via a mobile phone based HMD is not comparative to the Rift, Vive or any consumer grade VR HMD. Mobile VR HMDs are a sure way to put you off the tech entirely - I would highly recommend against there use, particularly as ones first introduction to the technology. They cannot be used as a base for comparison and do not have the feature sets of consumer level VR HMD's. Best thing to do is get your self a demo of a proper device and take things from there. MS have some interesting cheaper alternatives on the way - likely best to wait and see how they stack up against the big two.

No offense meant 6xes.

 

[6xes]

I would highly recommend that you discard this advice. Moonlight or any other app for playing VR via a mobile phone based HMD is not comparative to the Rift, Vive or any consumer grade VR HMD. Mobile VR HMDs are a sure way to put you off the tech entirely - I would highly recommend against there use, particularly as ones first introduction to the technology. They cannot be used as a base for comparison and do not have the feature sets of consumer level VR HMD's. Best thing to do is get your self a demo of a proper device and take things from there. MS have some interesting cheaper alternatives on the way - likely best to wait and see how they stack up against the big two.

No offense meant 6xes.

No offense taken

given the nature of highspec machines required to run a Rift or Vive and cost factor, i have to completely disagree with your view toward NOT going for a Mobile HMD..

my specs:
Athlon ii x4 2.6ghz 630 CPU
8 Gb Ram
gtx 750ti

the costs of a mobile-HMD setup
$230 LG G3 2nd hand
$45 VR Headset - VR Fiit 2S
$80 ED Tracker
Free Moonlight App (nvidia streaming)
Total = $355

for a complete working 3D VR headtracking setup
compared to
$1200 used HTC Vive
or
$1000 used Occulus Rift

This puts the VR elements into Elite Dangerous and other Directx games at a affordable price

The Vive and Rift is well beyond the reach of many people, myself included given my low end Spec'd PC

Setup is very simple for Elite Dangerous, and with my LG G3 i get a better than 720p resolution per eye
Admittedly there are graphical diffuculties when navigating in the Galaxy Map.

this cost effective method of VR makes more sense.. for people simply wishing to add the element of feeling immersed.

I had asked a friend who has never experienced VR to test it out in Elite and other Steam Games... and his reaction was constantly wow!!

The beauty of this setup... is when your finished Gaming.. you can unplug your phone and ring your friends (try doing that with the Rift / Vive)

 

[CylonSurfer]

No offense taken

given the nature of highspec machines required to run a Rift or Vive and cost factor, i have to completely disagree with your view toward NOT going for a Mobile HMD..

my specs:
Athlon ii x4 2.6ghz 630 CPU
8 Gb Ram
gtx 750ti

the costs of a mobile-HMD setup
$230 LG G3 2nd hand
$45 VR Headset - VR Fiit 2S
$80 ED Tracker
Free Moonlight App (nvidia streaming)
Total = $355

for a complete working 3D VR headtracking setup
compared to
$1200 used HTC Vive
or
$1000 used Occulus Rift

This puts the VR elements into Elite Dangerous and other Directx games at a affordable price

The Vive and Rift is well beyond the reach of many people, myself included given my low end Spec'd PC

Setup is very simple for Elite Dangerous, and with my LG G3 i get a better than 720p resolution per eye
Admittedly there are graphical diffuculties when navigating in the Galaxy Map.

this cost effective method of VR makes more sense.. for people simply wishing to add the element of feeling immersed.

I had asked a friend who has never experienced VR to test it out in Elite and other Steam Games... and his reaction was constantly wow!!

The beauty of this setup... is when your finished Gaming.. you can unplug your phone and ring your friends (try doing that with the Rift / Vive)

Price aside I still couldn't and would not recommend it as a solution or alternative to consumer VR. The latency, frame rate and lack of positional tracking is enough to make people sick.

A Rift is $599, not $1000. A second hand DK2 $250ish. Not as cheap as a mobile phone VR shim if you have a capable phone I grant you but nowhere near the VR experience any of the consumer VR devices will provide you.

I can ring anyone I like with a VR headset on... No need to wait until I've finished playing. Not sure why I would mind you.

 

[shadragon]

given the nature of highspec machines required to run a Rift or Vive and cost factor, i have to completely disagree with your view toward NOT going for a Mobile HMD.

I would say try the Rift/Vive first, then the phone. If you are going to compare them, see what is possible, then see what is lacking. My Samsung does VR and it is a mere shadow of my Vive.

 

[6xes]

I would say try the Rift/Vive first, then the phone. If you are going to compare them, see what is possible, then see what is lacking. My Samsung does VR and it is a mere shadow of my Vive.

Yes, i'd like to see the comparative differences with the Vive and Occulus vs MobileVR, one day!!
i have tried the PSVR and ill admit... the demo's were quite good especially the underwater ride/shark.. and i was somewhat curious if that video was reproduced in SBS to get some sort of comparison..

The shark gave quite a unique view concerning Size/scale... which is somewhat missing from mobileVR

 

[6xes]

A Rift is $599, not $1000. A second hand DK2 $250ish. Not as cheap as a mobile phone VR shim if you have a capable phone I grant you but nowhere near the VR experience any of the consumer VR devices will provide you.

New Zealand dollars here, and CV1 version and Htc Vive range in the $1000 range
DK2 is relatively cheap 2nd hand.. about $350-400 in Nz however GPU and CPU minimums make it somewhat inaccessible for myself.
The cost effective alternative for me at least for now

 

[Spam]

The beauty of this setup... is when your finished Gaming.. you can unplug your phone and ring your friends

Also, the beauty of this setup is you can experience the perception and eyeball jarring effect of having that nice SBS view ripped away and be replaced with unintelligible images in each eye 'coz your friends decided to ring you first [big grin]