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For most of my adult life, I thought virtual reality wasn't something I'd ever get to experience. I figured maybe I'd get to try it in an amusement park or something like that, a very expensive one time event, and only then if I was lucky. VR is the thing I wanted to try most in my life, and I thought there would be no chance.
Then, during an online conversation, the Oculus system was brought up. Even though I figured it must cost many thousands of dollars, I googled it.
$400.
Still I hesitated. For weeks I thought about it. $400 is so much money for what is essentially a toy.
But then I discovered it could be used as an exercise system. Through a company like Supernatural, you could sword fight on the top of a mountain, wrestle a sea monster at the bottom of an ocean... If that sort of thing won't get me exercising, nothing will.
But still, I hesitated. My money is tight, and $400 is a lot. But then I realized how silly I was being: This technology that I thought I'd die without being able to try, I could get it for only $400.
So I decided to get it. Oh you think the story ends there? Well thanks to the quarantine, it was sold out everywhere. (Everyone is bored at home...) It took weeks before I could finally buy it, and it just arrived today. Oculus Quest: Wireless, you can run it completely without a PC (setup through your smartphone).
So how is it? Short answer: Pretty darned amazing! Very realistic, very immersive. Not 100% the same as reality, but very good.
You are supposed to ramp up your time using it (so your eyes, brain, and body adjust). You're supposed to only use it 15 minutes the first day, but I did an hour. Because of that, I've had an odd headache (hard to describe, not exactly pain, but like my eyes are disconnected from my brain sort of), and I've been quite nauseous for hours. Tomorrow I'll use it less.
The tutorial was SO COOL. I threw paper airplanes, bounced balls, and all sorts of other easy toy games.
After that I did a virtual tour of a Monterey Bay exhibit (with a couple dozen other users, there was voice chat, but I muted my end).
After that I demoed a game, but it was horrible. Hard to play, zero instructions, the graphics were AWFUL, and worse there was no exit button that I could find in any menu, so I had to turn the whole system off to get out of it. I have no idea who would pay for it.
Once done, I set the headset carefully on a table to charge. I had thought the risk was it being knocked off, but I was wrong. Sunlight is very, very, very dangerous to the headset (it can destroy the lenses in less than a minute). When I put it down to charge, there was no sun, but of course the light moved... I glanced over to check on it and my stomach fell: It was directly in the sunlight.
I put it on to see if it was okay (and boy that made me so much more nauseous), but happily it seems fine. WHEW. I was worried I broke it on the very first day!
Other side note, which likely means something only to me: You must have a Facebook account to connect up to your Oculus account. It's a required step. Why? I have no idea. I'm not a Facebook person, so that made me a little frowny.
Setup was really easy. First off, the packaging was AMAZING. Just touching the box... I don't know what they made it out of, but it felt so wonderful to slide your fingers over it. The box (coated cardboard?) was so well made, so heavy, so expensive. It was like Apple packaging times a thousand. Unpacking it was such a pleasure. Every little part, piece, and strap couldn't have been more perfect.
The only trouble I had with setup was opening the battery case on the controllers (because I overthought it) and then I put the batteries in backwards. Other than that, it was cake.
Is it worth $400? It's too early to tell for sure, but probably. I'm really looking forward to playing some actual games on it to test it out!
Then, during an online conversation, the Oculus system was brought up. Even though I figured it must cost many thousands of dollars, I googled it.
$400.
Still I hesitated. For weeks I thought about it. $400 is so much money for what is essentially a toy.
But then I discovered it could be used as an exercise system. Through a company like Supernatural, you could sword fight on the top of a mountain, wrestle a sea monster at the bottom of an ocean... If that sort of thing won't get me exercising, nothing will.
But still, I hesitated. My money is tight, and $400 is a lot. But then I realized how silly I was being: This technology that I thought I'd die without being able to try, I could get it for only $400.
So I decided to get it. Oh you think the story ends there? Well thanks to the quarantine, it was sold out everywhere. (Everyone is bored at home...) It took weeks before I could finally buy it, and it just arrived today. Oculus Quest: Wireless, you can run it completely without a PC (setup through your smartphone).
So how is it? Short answer: Pretty darned amazing! Very realistic, very immersive. Not 100% the same as reality, but very good.
You are supposed to ramp up your time using it (so your eyes, brain, and body adjust). You're supposed to only use it 15 minutes the first day, but I did an hour. Because of that, I've had an odd headache (hard to describe, not exactly pain, but like my eyes are disconnected from my brain sort of), and I've been quite nauseous for hours. Tomorrow I'll use it less.
The tutorial was SO COOL. I threw paper airplanes, bounced balls, and all sorts of other easy toy games.
After that I did a virtual tour of a Monterey Bay exhibit (with a couple dozen other users, there was voice chat, but I muted my end).
After that I demoed a game, but it was horrible. Hard to play, zero instructions, the graphics were AWFUL, and worse there was no exit button that I could find in any menu, so I had to turn the whole system off to get out of it. I have no idea who would pay for it.
Once done, I set the headset carefully on a table to charge. I had thought the risk was it being knocked off, but I was wrong. Sunlight is very, very, very dangerous to the headset (it can destroy the lenses in less than a minute). When I put it down to charge, there was no sun, but of course the light moved... I glanced over to check on it and my stomach fell: It was directly in the sunlight.
I put it on to see if it was okay (and boy that made me so much more nauseous), but happily it seems fine. WHEW. I was worried I broke it on the very first day!
Other side note, which likely means something only to me: You must have a Facebook account to connect up to your Oculus account. It's a required step. Why? I have no idea. I'm not a Facebook person, so that made me a little frowny.
Setup was really easy. First off, the packaging was AMAZING. Just touching the box... I don't know what they made it out of, but it felt so wonderful to slide your fingers over it. The box (coated cardboard?) was so well made, so heavy, so expensive. It was like Apple packaging times a thousand. Unpacking it was such a pleasure. Every little part, piece, and strap couldn't have been more perfect.
The only trouble I had with setup was opening the battery case on the controllers (because I overthought it) and then I put the batteries in backwards. Other than that, it was cake.
Is it worth $400? It's too early to tell for sure, but probably. I'm really looking forward to playing some actual games on it to test it out!
