Browse & Compare Virtual Reality Headsets

While you’re here we might as well run through the basics of choosing an initial Virtual Reality Headsets. From the several different Virtual reality companies out there all competing for your money, it can be very daunting to make the right decision. The three main contenders start with the Oculus Rift, HTC vive and Sony Playstation VR.

Immediately you can rule out any headsets that are only console based, the compare tool is your best friend as it will enable you to have a side by side comparison of each headset. However if your mind is set on the virtual reality headset you want then feel free to directly head towards your match made in heaven. On the product page you’ll eventually be able to see everything you need including the best price available.

As the world of VR continues to expand our database of virtual reality head mounted displays will no doubt continue to grow too. It’s our goal to give you all the information and facts you need to know to make the best informed decisions possible.

How can Virtual Reality Glasses be used?

Virtual Reality glasses, goggles or headsets (however you like to refer to them) can be used for a plethora of reasons. Some teachers have used the Google Cardboard VR viewers to take their students on field trips that would otherwise be impossible, like to deep parts of the sea or even outer space. Virtual Reality Goggles can also be used to become fully immersed in a gaming world.

Popular animated shows like Sword Art Online and .hack have become more real than anyone could have imagined now that Virtual Reality Headsets exist. The ability to buy Virtual Reality Headsets has opened up a world of opportunity for both the world of education and the world of entertainment.

When playing a video game while using a one of these imersive devices, a controller will still be used to be able to control your character’s actions and movement. The controller is used like normal but someone playing a game and seeing it the way their character would see the world around them truly connects them to the game.

There are many types of Virtual Reality Headsets

The Oculus Rift

The Oculus Rift is one of the most well-known VR headsets on the market right now. The Rift plugs into PCs and tracks your motions to show you a 3D image of a virtual world. This headset is the one that started the VR headset craze and has a 90Hz refresh rate and works at 233 million pixels per second.

HTC Vive

The HTC Vive is the Steam VR headset. It was also made in collaboration with Valve, who made the Half Life series. It plugs into PCs and has 70 sensors in total including the HTC Vive wand controllers to pick up your movement.

It has the full 360-degree tracking so you can get full rotation while wearing it. It has a 90Hz refresh rate to keep its users from becoming motion sick while using it. The tracking feature is called Lighthouse which allows the wearer to move while wearing it. To use this, sensors will need to be mounted around your home but you will have a lot more free-range motion.

Sony PlayStation VR

The Sony PlayStation VR will be released October 2016. The newest version has a 5.7-inch OLED display to lessen any possible motion blue. It also has a pretty high refresh rate of 120 Hz which means gaming in 120fps should be possible.

FOVE VR

The FOVE VR headset is unique in the way that it actually has interactive eye-tracking by way of an infrared sensor inside of the headset. This offers a new way to control the point of view and lets the user have even greater realistic control of their character. Because of the eye-tracking, depth-of-field is possible because the headset can see exactly where your eyes are looking instead of just using the position of your head to move around the screen. FOVE also claims they will be using HTC’s Lighthouse tracking sensors to create the full room tracking experience.

Microsoft HoloLens

The Microsoft HoloLens is a mixture of both virtual reality and half augmented reality also sometimes referred to as mixed reality.

It blends actual, real elements with “holographic” VR images. This means you would be able to see your game on a surface of your house or actually “walk” on the surface of the world while in your bedroom.

The childhood game of “the floor is lava” just became possible. It incorporates elements of the Kinect to understand vocal commands and recognize gestures. The Microsoft HoloLens has a 120-degree range of vision on each axis. While the visuals are capable of being high definition, it doesn’t always compare to VR headsets like the Oculus Rift. However, it does not have to be connected to anything as it runs off of batteries and has a full Windows 10 system built right into the headset.

Samsung Gear VR

Given the collaboration between Oculus Rift and Samsung, the Samsung Gear VR could almost be called the Oculus Rift lite. It is a VR viewer that will turn a Samsung Galaxy smartphone into the headset’s processor and display. It is a much simpler and cheaper version to many of the more expensive VR headsets out there, this makes it a great entry device if you own one of the compatible Samsung smartphones.

Google Cardboard

The Google Cardboard VR viewer is a low-cost and pretty efficient way to experience VR. It uses a smartphone in a cardboard container to show the user a virtual world. It sounds quite simple, and is a great cost efficient headset for those who cannot afford the much more expensive headsets, or need a bunch of virtual reality viewers for mass displays. For example the Google Cardboard headset has been used by teachers in their classes for a complete new learning experience, giving them the opportunity to travel without having to leave their classrooms.

What can we expect from future VR Headsets?

As Virtual reality headsets continue to evolve we can only really expect things to get even better. Right now we’re at a stage where headsets are being taken up in mass by consumers all over the world. As time goes on we can largely expect wireless headsets, more imersrive graphics and real life like experiences for the top of the range headsets.

The gap between “cheap” and “expensive” headsets will likely decrease as we see costs climb down and more manufacturers take up the opportunity to enter the market.