In MWC 2015, HTC and Valve, two seemingly unrelated companies, formed an alliance and released a virtual reality (VR) device called HTC Vive. This device needs to be connected to a computer to provide users with an immersive gaming experience. After having the honor to experience it, I have to say that it is great.
Vive is an integral part of HTC's new diversified product line, which includes fitness, smart home and VR. By the end of 2015, HTC should launch a series of products, of which Vive itself and HTC's cooperation with Valve are the most unexpected.
HTC Vive, like Oculus Rift, can provide users with immersive virtual reality experience when combined with game PCs, which is fundamentally different from Samsung Gear VR based on mobile phones. The reason for this is that HTC has always been in everyone's mind as a smartphone manufacturer, while Vive is not a smartphone accessory. In addition, HTC also claims that Vive can provide "high-quality image quality, maximum support of 90 frames per second of dynamic video and incredible audio restore".
HTC is still secretive about Vive's specific hardware specifications, The experience of Vive was carried out in an empty room. The room was square, with a side length of several meters, HTC staff put on earphones for me. When DEMO started, another staff took out two controllers. From the view inside the headset, we could see that these two controllers were projected on the screen inside the headset. At present, both the controller and the headset unit are wired, After asking the field staff, we learned that the ultimate goal of HTC Vive is to realize the design of wireless connection, and the final version of the headwear component will only have a Mini HDMI interface for receiving video and audio signals.
For the current VR devices, user input is a challenge. The currently launched VR systems use a variety of user input methods, but there is still no accurate conclusion on the advantages and disadvantages, Vive The input mode used is a pair of VR controllers, which allow users to explore the virtual environment and can also be used as game controllers. It feels similar to Sony's Morpheus VR PlayStation Move controller based on the PS4 game console, but it is a bit like Valve's Steam controller - it has a touchpad on the top and supports click and touch control, It also has a trigger button.
The first scene of the experience is used to explain the control method of the controller. Press the trigger button, a balloon will appear in the field of vision. After the button is released, the balloon will float freely. Wave any controller to hit the balloons that have already appeared. After several balloons are produced, the main Demo will start to run.
The first scene of the main demo is a very basic white screen, explaining the settings of the whole kit. At this time, I can rotate my head, or walk about two meters in any direction of the room (if I walk more, I will hit the wall), or squat down to see the ground from a relatively close distance. There are various columns moving up and down in the scene for my reference.
In the next scene, there are more interactive parts. This scene simulates the kitchen. The experimenter, that is, I stand in front of a chopping board with vegetables on it, a basin on the right shelf, and a virtual mechanical assistant in front. The experimenter can use the controller and trigger button to pick up the objects in the scene, So I put some bread into the nearby basin, and then handed the mixer to the mechanical assistant right in front (it will also say thank you). In this scene, I accidentally dropped a piece of steak on the ground, so I naturally bent down to pick it up, and then casually threw it to the other end of the room (I often do this in real life). There is also a refrigerator on my left. When I walked to it, it automatically opened, filled with various ingredients, and I took out another piece of steak, Then turn left, use another controller to press a button on the microwave oven, and the door of the microwave oven will open automatically. I will put in the steak, and then I will put in the wine beside the microwave oven, and then turn off the microwave oven. There were knives and onions on the chopping board beside the microwave oven. When I picked up the knife to cut onions, the knife broke. I always failed when trying to pick up the pieces of the knife. Later, the staff told me that this was a safety protection setting. Finally, I put onions on a plate, press a bell, and then the plate with onions was taken away.
The next scene is on the deck of a sunken ship. I am surrounded by rotten wood and swarms of fish. When I move around, I can clearly see the size of the whole ship. When a fish swims straight towards my face, I subconsciously wave my hand to block it. At this time, the controller in my hand directly hits the headwear component. After a while, a whale swam over. The details of the fish were very clear and the picture was smooth. The frame rate should be between 60 and 90.
The third scene in the main demo shows how hardware and software work together to give play to the artist's creativity. This scene is essentially a painting application, but this application uses 3D controls to paint. The right hand controls the brush, and the left hand has various controls, which looks like a color palette, I can set the brush as an ordinary monochrome or a rainbow brush, and I can walk around while painting. Vive can identify the brush with a maximum accuracy of about 15mm. Such software should still be aimed at designers, so that designers can directly experience what they create.
The last Demo is actually the highlight. After the launch, I was in the world of Valve's famous game Portal, GLaDOS (Gene Life and Disk Operating System) gives orders to me through a big speaker, and the whole world is a scene in the Portal from the inside out. At this time, GLaDOS sends an order to ask me to open the drawer. After opening the correct drawer, there is a small world inside, and then GLaDOS tells me that if I keep looking into the drawer, The residents of this small world will worship me as a god, so I have to close this drawer. After closing the drawer, there is a sound of burning things. So I go to the other side of the room, pull the door handle according to the instructions to open a door. When the door opens, a badly damaged robot in Portal 2 stumbles into the room, GLaDOS instructed me to repair a robot. In fact, the repair was nothing more than removing several parts and installing several parts. But because the instructions were too difficult to understand, the robot was finally disassembled by me, the scattered parts disappeared, and the entire Demo ended.
In the various interactions with Demo, I felt very good. The input of various actions was very natural. In addition to the guidance of the HTC staff nearby, I can say that I was completely immersed in the world created by Vive. As for the PC hardware used to drive Vive, the staff called it the standard single video card setting (it should be the current high-end video card), And the staff claimed that currently driving Vive does not require the use of crazy hardware such as three SLI.
But to be honest, the pictures Vive currently provides are naturally not perfect. Some scenes are slightly blurred, which is the same as other VR products. Generally, the pictures are excellent, but the details are occasionally imperfect.
The working principle of HTC Vive is to bring an entire room into the range of VR through a function called Room Scale Experience, so that VR lovers can wear it to walk around at home, which is similar to the experience provided by Oculus Rift Crescent Bay, but Vive's VR range is larger than that of Crescent Bay, Vive will emit a laser to locate itself, so that users can know where they are in the room when wearing it (by the end of the year, the new version of Vive will use infrared for ranging and positioning).
Of course, in addition to the ontology, There is also a box filled with various sensors inside the Vive package. HTC recommends that users put it on the bookshelf in the room like high-end speakers. When taking Vive to move in the room, we need to avoid the 5m long cable that connects your PC and the Vive package. How HTC solves the problem of this cable still needs us to wait.
And for users, a completely empty room without any obstacles on the floor is a luxury (of course, this is not a problem for the tyrant level VR enthusiasts). For this, Valve and HTC said that when running the game on Vive, the size of the entire space will be adjusted according to the size of the room.
Vive currently supports two software platforms. One is Steam VR, which is operated by Valve and provides VR experience scenes and games. There are quite a few content partners on this platform, including HBO Lion’s Gate、 Google, Valve, as the parent company, naturally also ranks among content providers, while the other platform is developed by HTC and is determined to provide a new VR experience. Although Vive can only be driven by PC so far, HTC claims that Vive will eventually be able to work with mobile phones to receive notifications and messages, so that users can directly process them in the virtual reality world.
In fact, in the final analysis, what determines the life or death of a VR device is the content. Chet Faliszek, one of the authors of Half Life and Portal from Valve, also admitted that Vive does not have any killer applications at present: "We transplanted Half Life 2 and Legion Fortress 2 to Vive, and their experience may be the worst in the VR world. ”Valve also hopes to develop new forms of content, rather than blindly transplanting existing works. In the process of new game development, it is designed specifically for VR, and thus the Portal 3 developed will likely become a killer application on Vive.
Looking at the whole market, it is not difficult to find that the VR industry has suddenly expanded in recent years. At present, it is unknown whether the VR industry will not be crowded out when many manufacturers are swarming in. For users, what really needs to be concerned is which VR platform has the most games, movies or apps, Or whether cross platform content will be launched, and finally we can't afford it. VR may have a bright future, but now there are so many manufacturers, the battle for the bright will be very fierce.
As far as Vive is concerned, its unique controller design and the use of distance sensors to calculate the working mode of the room, together with the rich content in the current Steam VR store and the subsequent development, make Vive look promising among the existing VR devices. Compared with other VR devices, it also has unique advantages. After this simple experience, This developer's version of Vive has reached a new level of VR device experience.
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