Stimulated by Google Glass and Google Cardboard, VR related products suddenly became popular. Although there is still a long way to go to achieve the virtual game experience like Sword Paradise, manufacturers at home and abroad have been struggling in recent years. The products launched include Oculus Rift Gear VR、 Sony HMZ series, Air VR, etc.
However, they all have a high threshold for cutting hands. The cheapest Air VR also costs 300 soft coins, and they all have to be sold overseas. It has no practical significance for ordinary users, so we focus on domestic and Dahua's strong products, and will focus on the appearance APP、 Use experience and other aspects for horizontal evaluation.
The objects of this horizontal review are: Storm Magic Mirror, Small House Magic Mirror, True Magic Mirror, and Spiritual Realm. Their prices are very close. The price of the Storm Mirror is 99 yuan (Bluetooth remote control is included with the machine). The price of the other several on Xbo is between 70-80 yuan, but without remote control. The price with remote control is about 110 yuan.
Principle and Application
"Virtual reality" is a device that simulates/reproduces various human feelings, including but not limited to vision, listening, smelling, touch, temperature, etc., of which vision is the most important and feasible.
Before the rapid development of brain wave technology, there were only two ways to provide "immersive" visual experience: make the screen larger, or shorten the distance between the eyes and the screen. It is obvious that the virtual display glasses use the latter. While making the screen larger, they isolate the external light, which will create an illusion of immersion in another space.
With the help of position sensors such as three-axis gyroscopes and gravity sensors, the images can respond to the movement of the wearer's head and generate realistic visual feedback. The rest is sound and touch, but due to technology limitations, the current touch feedback is only vibration
In terms of hardware principle, the current virtual reality glasses are just glasses/helmets used to fix mobile phones. Their focus is on supporting apps and joysticks, which allow visual content to make corresponding feedback based on the user's head movement, and provide real-time manipulation methods.
In terms of use, in addition to conventional 3D movie watching, there are many sensory extension uses, such as machine control, first person perspective games (similar to sword realm), virtual experience (street view, virtual exhibition, etc.).
Appearance and workmanship
The following entire chapter is a detailed unpacking and appearance introduction of the product. Readers with limited time can directly skip to the appearance comparison below.
The four pairs of virtual glasses are all packed in paper boxes. The largest package size is Storm, followed by small houses and real and unreal. The package of the Holy Land is really a bit too small, even without the location of cushioning materials.
Storm Mirror
In addition to the remote control and manual, there are other three companies that don't have a warranty in the Storm Mirror
Although the black glossy shell is beautiful, it is still an excellent dust/fingerprint collector.
The mobile phone cabin is fixed by magnetic force, and the contact position with the mobile phone is provided with a thick sponge pad.
The lens is single-sided convex lens, and there is also a thick sponge pad on the edge of the eyepiece. The fixed headband is very wide, and the length of the top and side can be customized.
True magic mirror
Glasses and remote control each have a manual.
The true magic mirror is still black and smooth, and its shape and appearance design are a little more restrained and flat than the storm. The back cover is a simple plastic snap, and the design of fixing the phone with a suction cup is very novel.
The suction cup has strong suction, and the frosted back shell can also absorb stably. But when you want to take it down, you know your hands are cheap. The fixing force of the suction cup is obviously higher than the demand. It takes a little effort to take it down.
The lens is not large, but the pupillary distance is large, and the sponge pad is relatively thin. The top side head strap is fixed with velcro, and the length can be adjusted. The side strap can also be adjusted within a certain range.
Spiritual realm
For the thinnest product, there is only one mirror wiping cloth inside. Yes, there is no manual.
There is no fixed cover in front of the spirit state.
The side and top of the front "mouthpiece" can be opened at different angles to clamp mobile phones of different sizes. However, the fixed clamping position is very tight, which is difficult to adjust, And the inner cushion is very thin.
The eyepiece washer is also different from other products, which uses soft rubber. Although it is easier to take care of, it is really not as comfortable as a sponge pad.
The spirit state supports the adjustment of eyepiece pupil distance (i.e., the distance between the left and right eyes) and focal length (i.e., the distance between the lens and the mobile phone screen).
The head strap design is the same as that of the magic mirror. The top is a Velcro, and the side is a belt type buckle. The connection between the top and side can also be adjusted to move left and right.
Small house magic mirror
The magic mirror of the small house was carefully packed.
Xiaozhai Magic Mirror is the only one of the four products with frosted shell, which is easy to take care of. The back cover is fixed with a spring clip, while the back cover is fixed with a movable clip.
The eyepiece sponge pad is even thicker than the Storm Mirror.
The eyepiece supports the adjustment of focal length (the distance between the lens and the screen) and pupil distance. However, like the Storm Mirror, the head strap can only change the length of the side strap, and the top strap cannot be adjusted.
Remote control
The Storm Mirror comes with a 5-button remote control. The remote control has a good feel and shape, and is powered by dual AAA batteries.
The other three glasses can only be controlled with a third-party Bluetooth remote control, but there is no official remote control, and users need to buy them by themselves. Interestingly, all three of them use the above link. The individual purchase price is 49 yuan, and the purchase price with glasses is between 29-38 yuan.
The remote control is very small. There are four game buttons at the bottom, a translational direction button at the top, a mode switch at the side, and a mirco USB charging port at the bottom.
The remote control of Storm is better than the appearance and feel, but it can only be used in the official app. The third-party remote control is superior to the lithium battery and machine compatibility (it can be used for iOS and PC). It can even be used on mobile phones in the form of a Bluetooth mouse.
Appearance comparison
Workmanship: Although they all look cheap, the plastic and mold level of Storm is obviously higher than that of the others, followed by the small houses and the real and unreal, while the plastic and rubber mats of the Holy Land are really relatively made.
Size contrast : The storm magic mirror is the largest, and the smallest is the spirit realm without back cover. The size of the real and unreal is similar to that of the small house. Although the size is different, they can actually hold 4-5.5 inch mobile phones.
Supported phone size : It should be noted that the real magic mirror fixed with suction cup cannot fix the large pattern rear cover model (imitation cow leather of note series, brushed rear cover of LG G3, etc.). In addition, if the screen share is 5.5 inch lower than that of Xiaomi 3, it is likely that it will not fit into the small house and the magic mirror (Xiaomi 3 can barely get in).
Focal length/height: Storm Mirror>Reality>Small House>Spirit State. The larger this parameter is, the more comfortable the glasses look, but they will appear heavier when worn (the lever arm is longer), and larger mobile phone screens are required to output the same visual effect.
Lens area : Storm Mirror>Small House>Spiritual Realm>Reality. The larger the lens, the larger the clear field of vision and the less deformation.
Pupil distance (distance between eyes): Storm>Reality>Small House>Spiritual Realm. What's more wonderful is that the smallest lens has the second largest pupil distance, which directly causes it to adapt to the crowd much smaller, and users with smaller pupil distance will be uncomfortable.
The shape of the mobile phone in the glasses is as follows. The shape is similar to that in the cinema, and the picture is almost full of the whole field of vision (the test model is Xiaomi4 with a 5-inch 1080P). The 16:9 screen with 1920 * 1080 resolution needs to be divided into two screens with 960 * 1080 resolution. But because the output content is 16:9, in fact, only 960 * 540 resolution can be seen with a single eye, and pixels can be seen with the naked eye.
App and usage
Virtual reality glasses can work normally only with app or left and right 3D film source. But except that the small house and Storm Mirror have their own apps, the real world and the spiritual realm "borrow" the apps of Storm Mirror.
However, after opening the app of Xiaozhai Magic Mirror, the author also knelt down. The app of Xiaozhai is actually a web app, which only provides download links of relevant games and applications. Although there are many content classifications, there are only 7 app recommendations in it... So it is recommended to use the app of Storm Mirror directly
Functionally, the app of Storm Mirror provides four functions: "live, picture, local/online/fly screen video, and game":
The scene is actually some 360 degree holographic films, and users can "look around by themselves" in the playing video;
The picture is a 360 degree map street view picture, which is very suitable for virtual experience of the scene;
Video supports online, local playback and computer fly screen (video on the computer can be played directly on the mobile phone), which can convert ordinary video into binocular perspective;
The games are some 3D first person games. There are 9 games available. The characters in the games can control and interact through head tilt or remote control. Some of the games have good picture quality, but the first person shooter game that we most expect has not yet appeared, and the game itself is more about experience than entertainment.
The application has a built-in resource center, which can download pictures, live games and other resources by itself.
Comparison of wearing comfort
The hardware structure and principle of the four VR glasses are almost the same, and even the app and remote control can be used universally. However, their experience gap is almost focused on wearing comfort.
The parameters that most affect the wearing comfort are weight, center of gravity position (the longer the lens body is, the heavier it will be), cushion thickness and width (whether it can be used with glasses), etc.
Lightness of the mirror body: true fantasy>spiritual realm>small house>storm. From top to bottom, there are 226g storm, 193g small house, 179g spirit realm, and 139g true illusion. The weight of the storm is almost twice that of the real and the unreal, and even the comparison between the small house and the real and the unreal is a gear heavier.
Rationality of center of gravity: small house>true fantasy>spiritual realm>storm. The center of gravity of the small house and the real and unreal with the adjustment of focus and pupil distance is inclined to the eyepiece side. Under the condition of the same weight, it will be more comfortable to wear than the storm and spirit realm whose center of gravity is far away.
Cushion effect: storm>small house>true fantasy>spiritual realm. The cushioning effect is proportional to the thickness and area of the cushion, and the sponge cushion of the storm and the small house is made of sufficient materials. However, the cushioning effect of the rubber material in the Holy Land is poor, and the eye socket is stressed when wearing it, so it can only be used with head up
Comprehensive wearing comfort: small house>storm>true fantasy>spiritual realm. With its center of gravity and thick sponge cushion, the house has the smallest pressure on the lower edge of the eye socket, followed by the heaviest storm with the thickest cushion. Experiments have proved that the thickness of the cushion affects the wearing comfort more than the weight of the mirror body, especially when the mobile phone you use is heavy.
Optical properties include lens quality, lens size, focal length and pupillary distance adjustment ability. Except for the concentric circular lines on the lenses of Storm Magic Mirror, which are used to reduce the graininess, the others are simple resin lenses, with little difference in optical quality.
The only fine adjustment that supports focus (the distance between the screen and the lens) and pupil distance (the distance between two eyes) is the small house and the spiritual realm. The former is used to adapt to the degree of myopia/hyperopia of different users, and the latter is used to match the pupillary distance of human eyes. Because of individual differences, this kind of self-regulation is the right way in theory.
But the experience in actual use is that adding adjustable focus and pupil distance is better than using larger lenses directly. Because the focusing ring is on the eyepiece and cannot be adjusted after being brought on, it has to be removed to fine tune, and the adjustable distance is very small, so the focus adjustment is of little significance.
The pupillary distance adjustment can gain a clearer central vision, but the entire adjustment range of the small house/spirit realm is not as large as the lens of the Storm Mirror itself, obviously the setting of the latter is more simple, rough and effective (thought-provoking, the Storm Mirror II has also added the focusing function, which may lead to experience regression).
The result of optical performance comparison is Storm>Small House>Reality>Spirit.
send Convenience
In fact, the convenience of use means that it is not convenient to put the mobile phone in, and whether the "posture" of the mobile phone can be adjusted. The comparison result here is that none of the four is convenient... Before purchasing, you should pay attention to whether they can be used with your own mobile phone. From top to bottom, there are windstorm, small house, spiritual realm, truth and illusion.
In the middle, Storm just held the phone with a sponge pad and could not change the position. The others could adjust the position by themselves;
The fixing clip of the small house is very tight and safe, but it will press the volume/power button of some models, which makes it impossible to put it;
The real sucker is easy to move up and down, which makes adjustment very painful. Some models with concave and convex rear covers cannot be fixed;
The position adjustment of the spirit realm is the simplest, but its detent mechanism is really too tight, so you have to worry about the mobile phone flying down when you adjust it.
In addition, there is a problem of "glasses compatibility" for short-sighted users. Whether they can use without glasses or can use with glasses has a considerable impact on the use experience. The test result is that Storm=Small House>True Fantasy>Spiritual Realm
Because the focus of Storm Magic Mirror is the largest (the distance between the lens and the screen), the author cannot see the screen clearly without glasses (myopia is 450 degrees). Fortunately, its cushion is very wide, which is the only one of the four that can be worn with glasses.
The focus/sight distance of the small house is very close. With the same mobile phone, it has the largest "screen area" among the four, and can clearly see the screen content even without glasses. But the price is that glasses are quite close to the screen, which makes it easier to get tired.
True and unreal can also be used without glasses, but the sight distance is a little farther than the small house, so the vision is not as clear as the small house (of course, this is the result of deep myopia)
The smallest size of the spiritual realm does make the farthest sight distance (lens problem?), and the author can't see the screen without glasses.
Problems and purchase considerations
The biggest problems of realistic glasses are as follows:
Processor: the display device needs to process two-way images at the same time, and 3D processing is also required for some content, which requires high processor and optimization.
Heating and endurance: During the use, the glasses need to call multiple sensors at the same time, and the display device is almost working at full capacity, so the heating and power loss are very considerable, and the power consumption is far higher than that of ordinary large games, so it cannot be opened often. The official recommended use time is not more than 30min, while the continuous use time of Samsung's Gear VR is only 25min.
Clarity: because the distance between the naked eye and the screen is set very close, and it is necessary to provide binocular perspective at the same time, the resolution must be halved, so it requires a very high PPI to eliminate the graininess of the screen. After testing, the 5.5 inch 2K mobile phone screen of LG G3 performs well, but the 1080P resolution model is a bit weak (I didn't expect that 2K screen could play an advantage in VR glasses).
Image distortion: The 1080P screen at 16:9 will become 920 * 1080 resolution at 8:9 on top of them because of the need to provide a binocular perspective, which directly leads to two results: the screen you see is square, and the image is flattened... In order to avoid image distortion, the app of Storm Mirror has chosen the strategy of retaining a large black edge at the top and bottom, and the resolution is not enough.
The problem of 3D movie source: 3D movie source has always been a pain for 3D devices. In addition, not every 3D movie can display well, otherwise Avatar will not become a legend.
Mobile phone storage: the half resolution also brings another problem. In glasses, 1080P movies cannot meet the definition requirements, and 2K movie sources are too large and too few
summary
In terms of comprehensive use experience, the storm magic mirror and the small house magic mirror are the best. However, the performance of the true fantasy and spiritual realm with the same price can only be described as ken die. In the face of competitors of the same kind, Storm Mirror has obvious cost performance advantages. The 99 yuan soft sister coin also has a Bluetooth remote control. However, like Xiaomi, it needs to be grabbed on the official website, and its price on Xbao is about 130
The wearing comfort and operation fluency of VR glasses are good, although the games in them are not very practical for the time being, and 3D film sources are also quite lacking. Even so, it is an alternative way for mobile phones to provide large screen enjoyment, and the effect of watching a movie is always better than holding a mobile phone.
The final purchase suggestion is that it does have practical use value, and it also leaves a sufficiently low threshold for impulse shopping for the shopper. It is worth buying if you want to experience virtual reality or treat it as a "3D cinema". You can go to the official website of Stormwind to grab it first. If you can't wait, it's also good to have a magic mirror on Taobao.
Accessories, recommendation of similar products
The most famous is Oculus Rift, with a binocular resolution of 1280 * 800. It directly uses two displays instead of optical lenses (Samsung's AMOLED screen). It weighs 453g and sells for 350 dollars (about 2170 yuan). However, it is still a product for developers, which is troublesome to use.
Sony HMZ series has three consecutive generations of products, mainly for 3D viewing. The latest HMZ T3 uses two 720P OlED monitors, which can provide viewing effect of watching 750 inch 3D giant screen at 20 meters. However, the domestic price is a little less sincere, Shenghui 7999 yuan.
Samsung's Gear VR VR virtual reality eye mask needs a mobile phone as a display module, and the price is about 187 dollars (about 1122 yuan). It is only compatible with Samsung's mobile phones for the time being
The oldest is Nintendo's Virtual Boy, which is intended to be used as a game console. The most amazing thing is that it has been on sale since 1995. But at that time, the price was 179 dollars (about 1074 yuan). The 384x224 resolution display could only provide four colors and 32 levels of grayscale. The processor's main frequency was 20Mhz. Well, I'm sure it was 20Mhz
The most frightening thing is the Air VR, whose display device is the iPad mini... The price is $49 (about 300 yuan), and the weight of the upgraded version is 150g. Fortunately, the iPad mini is only 308g, and the weight is OK, but the effect is a bit strange.
Of course, the most Geek is Google Cardboard. Its deadweight is no more than 50g, the lowest price is $20 (120 yuan), and it can also be made by hand. If you don't mind that it can't be fixed on the head, it's pretty cool.
