Buyers Guide: VR Headsets 2018

While the Oculus, Vive and Playstation VR all watch to your attention, there’s a more straightforward virtual reality choice. Using a smartphone and VR headset, you can play games, watch videos and view 360 pictures. The options range very expensively to very very affordable. So what do you need to purchase and what features are essential?

VR does not have to be complicated to succeed – only watching 360 videos or viewing pictures is sufficient to wow someone new to virtual reality.

YouTube and Facebook support 360 videos, while the latter only updated also to manage 360 images. There are also currently a range of 360-degree consumer cameras out there. All you need is a smartphone, a VR headset, and internet access. There are also VR games out there. There are tons of cheap headsets available, but not all give the identical experience. Other more expensive options like the Samsung Gear VR are more expensive but provide more opportunities.

In our experience, having an adjustable focus is vital to get a sharp picture, and we wouldn’t purchase a VR viewer without. There are two primary choices – adjustable pupil width, and adjustable focus. Most economical plastic VR headsets have adjustable student width, which is required to guarantee each eye is seeing the picture straight on. Without student adjustment, you generally see a double image.

Cardboard VR headsets can have the lens set the ideal space, but are not usually accessible to fix. The focal length adjustment ensures that the lens and display are the perfect distance from each other, and your eyes. With no focus adjustment, the picture is typically somewhat soft.

Glasses, If you wear glasses, many VR viewers do not fit over the top very well, or can be uncomfortable for extended use. Search for models that specifically advertise that they utilize glasses. Focus can also be a problem – though, for many users, the focal adjustment can be sufficient to eliminate the glasses. VR headsets will need to hold the smartphone set up really, and there are a couple of various arrangements.

Most common is car mount design adjustable gripper, which can manage a selection of sizes, and provide precise placement. These work reasonably well with a variety of telephones, but can not always accommodate cases. Cheaper headsets often eliminate this and utilize an array of suction cups. It works reasonably well with the ideal phone, but many won’t remain in place. A cheap, smooth, supported polycarbonate phone can help. Other methods include specific slot loading mounts, or for the very cheap ones, secure cardboard flaps or rubber bands. Just about any telephone released in the past few years is perfectly capable of displaying 360-degree video and photographs.

For gambling, a more effective model may be required, but even then you may be surprised at how well older phones operate. A higher resolution display is best, in addition to a 5 inch or larger size. For very large telephones, double check it will fit within your audience of choice. VR headsets are made of cardboard or brushed plastic which mimics cardboard, or real full moulded plastic construction.

The inexpensive cardboard alternatives are great to mess around with, but for prolonged use, a suitable passed plastic version is best. Avoid the plastic versions of the cardboard audiences – they are not worth the cost increase compared to merely buying a moulded plastic version. Some VR headsets have a simple interface, like a single magnet’ button’. A better choice is to purchase a Bluetooth controller. Cheap versions start from about $10 and make a significant difference in using different programs.

VR Headsets, For those just starting out in VR, it can be well worth purchasing an el cheapo cardboard model to experiment with. If VR catches your attention (it will), upgrade to a better headset. The least expensive option available, Google Cardboard can be gotten for about $2.50 (including delivery) on eBay International.

With restricted to no focal point adjustment, the image will not be as sharp as more sophisticated headsets. Expect to pay a bit more if you want things like head straps. While Google Cardboard works reasonably well, it isn’t exactly comfortable to use for extended periods. Preferably, it is better suited to displaying the technology to new users. Another option is to get the real lenses (for as little as $1) and build your variants. Jumping online, there are tons of plastic VR audiences, with all kinds of bizarre unknown brand names.

The thing is, the majority of them have just rebranded versions of the identical thing. As always, search for models that have both student and focal adjustments. A fantastic model to start with is your VR BOX 2.0. The headset has both student and focal alterations and is often shipped with a control.

Just in case you were eager to order your own VR headset

When Shapeways designer Masaharu Ono began conceiving of his elaborate, 3D printed virtual reality (VR) headset, chances are that he didn’t find much inspiration on the web. An image search of “VR headset” reveals some pretty definitively un-sexy set-ups that have a great deal more to do with function (like the incredible and affordable Samsung Gear VR headset) than form.

Oculus powers the Samsung Gear VR. Form-wise, not bad. Function? Nothing short of amazing!
Possibly reeling from a lack of inspiration and admiration, Ono sat down with a sketch pad-first real, then digital-and determined to inject some glamour into VR viewing. According to a brief Shapeways blog calling attention to Ono’s way-out-there design, the real-world designer found his inspiration not in the tech world, but in nature.

There’s very little about the finished piece that is suggestive of nature aside from the curvilinearity of the design, which is perhaps the first and most overt contrast between Ono’s VR goggles and those we’ve seen on the web. Printed in white nylon plastic with a matte finish, the headset must be relatively lightweight despite its volume, which could potentially be awkward if it weren’t so, well, glamorously Giger-esque. It’s as though one of Giger’s gorgeous alien heads met a stereoscope and, perhaps, a basket weaver.

Ono’s sketches reveal his aspirations for an end result that might have retained the more organic qualities of his vision. There’s something of a disconnect between the fascinating cup-like nodes and the reptilian-looking, tentacle-like feature of the viewing portion of the headset on the sketched version and the more standardized patterning of the 3D printed end result. Indeed, the sketches, are beautiful in and of themselves and perhaps will be fully realized via 3D printing at some future date.

Ono uses Rhinoceros and Grasshopper in his design process and, as far as we can ascertain from his Shapeways site, the VR headset is by far the most massive object he has designed and 3D printed. His offerings in the Shapeways store are primarily jewellery pieces, all of which are quite reasonably priced and visually striking.

Just in case you were eager to order your own VR headset, which Ono calls “Bloom,” note that he is asking $10,000 for the piece. Also note that, despite its designation as a VR headset, the section is a model, suggesting it might be taken up as, if not the basis for a more aesthetically appealing VR headset, a kind of post-manufacturing adornment something like an elaborate smartphone case (which is technically what it is).

After all, what’s the point in looking like you’ve strapped a glorified stereoscope to your head when stepping into the high-tech world of VR when you can watch as though you’ve dressed for the occasion?

If the $10,000 price tag is beyond your means, check out the less expensive “TakotsuboX” VR viewer, also for a smartphone. Also, 3D printed in white nylon, this headset has more in common with the VR headsets I found on my image search. It is actually quite effectively realized. It’s also $500, which might be far more within the price range of most shoppers.

Price tags aside, Ono’s VR headset designs make one thing clear: With 3D printing, we have the tools we need and thus the capacity to not only invent, innovate, and iterate, but to beautify. Leaving the technology and mechanics to the experts, Ono moved forward to aesthetics, to form, which is hardly separate from a function in a competitive consumer market.