Oculus, HTC Vive and ED

[Annoluce]

Hi commanders. Installed my new Rift today and I have issues as I wear glasses. Basically the vision is blurred and the only way to get crisp focus is to move the rift away from my face. Unfortunately the rift does not have eye-lenses distance adjustment. I know the Vive has, and I think it could be much more comfortable with my glasses.
Though I have concerns regarding the Vive and ED. I bought a VR headset basically just to play elite dangerous (and DCS simulator). I don't know how Vive performs with ED. What is more, the controllers of the rift seem better they have the stick and a lot more buttons so I think the overall VR experience with other games would be better.
Though, if I can't get rid of the oculus problem with focusing wearing glasses I'm thinking of returning the Rift and get a Vive instead, provided that the experience with my fav games and in particular ED proves to be comparable.
What is your experience?
Thanks
Max

 

[KevinMillican]

Hi commanders. Installed my new Rift today and I have issues as I wear glasses. Basically the vision is blurred and the only way to get crisp focus is to move the rift away from my face. Unfortunately the rift does not have eye-lenses distance adjustment. I know the Vive has, and I think it could be much more comfortable with my glasses.
Though I have concerns regarding the Vive and ED. I bought a VR headset basically just to play elite dangerous (and DCS simulator). I don't know how Vive performs with ED. What is more, the controllers of the rift seem better they have the stick and a lot more buttons so I think the overall VR experience with other games would be better.
Though, if I can't get rid of the oculus problem with focusing wearing glasses I'm thinking of returning the Rift and get a Vive instead, provided that the experience with my fav games and in particular ED proves to be comparable.
What is your experience?
Thanks
Max

If you are short-sighted, these work well :-
http://vr-lens-lab.com/product/oculus-rift-lens-inserts/

 

[Annoluce]

Thanks but I need customised glasses. I'm short sighted but also astigmatic. I was rather thinking about a face adapter replacement, with increased thickness.

My question though remains: how does HTC Vive perform with ED?

 

[lenna]

I have a VIVE and wear glasses (metal frames with medium size eye pieces c/f 3 AA batteries for size) - no problems here.

The choice between the VIVE and the Rift is largely subjective and IMO moot.

 

[KevinMillican]

Thanks but I need customised glasses. I'm short sighted but also astigmatic. I was rather thinking about a face adapter replacement, with increased thickness.

They make them up from your prescription.

 

[Annoluce]

They make them up from your prescription.

I have read all the FAQ on their website and watched the videos. Look very promising indeed. My fear is that they mistake the prescription. It already happened with my optician. I have a strong astigmatism and my lenses need very careful work. People around say positive comments about this manufacturer anyway.

 

[Faded Glory]

You could also try WidmoVR.
I got my prescription from them, and since then it's all good. Very comfortable, they got the prescription spot on. I usually wear varifocals, and did use them in the rift for a while, but with the rift you want just the distance part of your prescription.

The info they ask for is what you get off your opticians 'prescription', so it's totally reliable. They are based in Poland, and it did take a while for my lenses to get to me, but they were very helpful when the tracking messed up, and they did arrive, and now my rift experience is as crystal clear as you can get.

 

[znôrt]

I have read all the FAQ on their website and watched the videos. Look very promising indeed. My fear is that they mistake the prescription. It already happened with my optician. I have a strong astigmatism and my lenses need very careful work. People around say positive comments about this manufacturer anyway.

i think they could help you with the rift. explain your case to them. the only drawback i see with their service is that their lenses are headset specific.

i have a very similar problem to yours, but by sheer luck it doesn't affect me. i'll explain as it may be useful to you. i have astigmatism, plus shortsightedness specially strong on the left eye, and nowadays even presbyopia. for this reason a couple of years ago i got me new prescription glasses with progressive lenses, since i was having trouble with short distances. now, progressive lenses are great but a no go for a headset since your viewing angle is locked. not good. i can't use them in the rift.

luckily i kept my old glasses around, just in case. turns out i can see perfectly with them in the rift, near and far, and i think it's because i can see well with them at a distance of roughly 1.5m. i remember reading somewhere that that's the common focal point of vr headsets. i tried a friends htc vive and gear vr and same thing. also, the lenses and mount are very small so fit perfectly into both.

so another option is to get the cheapest prescription glasses that work for you at that distance, with the smallest possible glass and mount so they are likely to fit in most future headsets, just for gaming.

finally, if you play mostly elite i would recommend the rift over the vive for now. however, vr headsets are evolving quick, specially in terms of resolution which is quite a deal. so having a solution that allows you to change to a new headset in a near/medium future is a plus.

 

[A D]

Thanks but I need customised glasses. I'm short sighted but also astigmatic. I was rather thinking about a face adapter replacement, with increased thickness.

My question though remains: how does HTC Vive perform with ED?

My eyesight is the pretty much same as yours i.e. well and truly short sighted and astigmatic. However, I generally wear soft contact lenses (including with the Rift) rather than glasses with no problems at all. So if you haven't tried contacts, I recommend you visit the optometrist and get tested. They will give you a free sample set of contacts to test. You can then try them out for a couple weeks in general use and with your Vive as well. If you find them comfortable, then no more glasses and you can use your Vive

 

[Remus]

I have a similar problem, not only I have astigmatism, but I also have strabismus, you know, when your eyes can't align correctly and you end up seeing double ?

Because of that I still haven't jumped on the VR train yet, I need a set in which I can use glasses comfortably.

The VIVE seems a good candidate, but I need more input.

[video=youtube_share;Pj-qBUWOYfE]https://youtu.be/Pj-qBUWOYfE[/video]

 

[Annoluce]

Guys thanks for all the replies. After many trials I decided that the oculus is getting back home. I just can't get proper focus and with glasses it's a nightmare. I will go for a Vive. Maybe it will not give as quality as the Rift, but at least I will not go crazy with glasses and focus management.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

because of the distance of the lenses some people with eye problems (nearsightedness) can actually see perfectly fine without glasses since the screen is only a few inches from their eyes. however if you wear reading glasses try those instead of "regular" ones.


the vive does have a bit of distance adjustment but its a few millimeters and if you adjust all the way out it looks like tunnel vision, at least without glasses.

 

[Pville_Piper]

It's really hard to recommend them right now but the Windows Mixed Reality headsets (except the Samsung, which does work but they say not too) work well with glasses. I would definitely try them out before buying if possible as they are a bit flakey with steamvr right now. Some people are reporting no issues and others considerable issues.

My main issue with the Lenovo was the colors didn't seem to be very bright and I felt you had to look through the center of the lenses as the sides were a bit blurry. They are worth checking out though.

 

[DragonIV]

because of the distance of the lenses some people with eye problems (nearsightedness) can actually see perfectly fine without glasses since the screen is only a few inches from their eyes. however if you wear reading glasses try those instead of "regular" ones.


the vive does have a bit of distance adjustment but its a few millimeters and if you adjust all the way out it looks like tunnel vision, at least without glasses.

That would be me--I'm shortsighted, astigmatismatic (that may be a word I made up), and I found that I could see better with no glasses and the short lenses with the unit as far from my face as it will go (I have a DK2). That works pretty well for me, until I take off the rift.

Wear bifocals today--and those *really* don't work in VR.

 

[Annoluce]

It is really a pity because I like so much oculus controllers. And also the tracking works really well. The headset is light and comfortable. But no way of getting the crisp image I want. If I move the headset away from my face about 1 cm everything goes in focus and very crisp but I don't know how to keep the rift in that position. And even if I knew, it feels quite awkward and the fov gets even more narrow which is something I want to avoid since it is already quite narrow. Said simply, oculus made a great product but it is not customisable to the face. If only they added adjustable eye lens distance and put a better face pod, what a wonder product it could be.

 

[jojon]

Hmm... I was almost certain vrcover.com had a deeper replacement facial interface, but I guess I was wrong... If you really can't use any of the lenslab or widmo products (EDIT: ...or contacts, which do not rob you of any FOV, on account of not pushing you away from the HMD lenses), I guess you *could* try to cut your own extender pads out of foam, and maybe go so far as to glueing them onto the regular, or stuff them into one of the cotton vrcovers...

 

[Alec Turner]

Hmm... I was almost certain vrcover.com had a deeper replacement facial interface, but I guess I was wrong

They did. They withdrew some of their products a few months back. I asked them about it and they replied ...

"Hi Alec, Unfortunately the Standard and Pro Sets are now out of stock. We're working on new designs but these are still a month or two away. For now, you can't go wrong with the Basic Set. We are looking at selling foam replacements separately in the future so if you wanted to upgrade your set at a later date, this would be possible. Regards, Ryan."

When I looked today I noticed that the $49 foam cover replacement set I originally wanted (https://vrcover.com/product/oculus-rift-facial-interface-foam-replacement-standard-set-2/) is now available again. No sign of the deeper interface units tho.

Incidentally, the reason I originally wanted the thicker foam was because of drkaii's favourable review ...

[video=youtube_share;WjHl-0gDlAw]https://youtu.be/WjHl-0gDlAw[/video]

 

[Annoluce]

Hi guys before giving up, I ordered a standard set from vr cover. I'll tell you what I think when I receive it.