Ahead of the launch of Oculus Touch, the company has finally detailed its ‘experimental’ camera arrangements for 360 degree and ‘roomscale’ tracking, allowing us to take a look at how those tracking volumes compare with the HTC Vive.

oculus-touch-2
The front-facing setup aims for 180-degree focused experiences. Road to VR contributor Nate Kozak coined this ‘rug-scale’.

The Vive was the first consumer VR headset out the door with ‘roomscale’ tracking, giving players the ability to stride across a roughly room-sized space while partaking in a VR experience with motion controllers. Though Oculus was at once focused only on front-facing (180 degree) ‘standing’ experiences, the company finally announced back in October that they would in fact support both roomscale and 360 degree standing VR through two different camera orientations.

For roomscale, the company recommends three cameras (which means you’d need to buy one additional), two up front like the normal front-facing setup, and one in either of the rear corners of the play area. For 360 degree standing, they recommended two relatively close cameras at opposite corners. The company published a setup guide for each, including the specific dimensions of the play area that’s possible with both layouts. It should be noted that Oculus is still calling these camera configurations “experimental”.

Oculus Touch vs. HTC Vive Roomscale Dimensions

We laid out the play area dimensions of both recommended configurations to get a sense of how they compared with the HTC Vive’s larger roomscale tracking area.

vive-and-oculus-roomscale-comparison
Click here for metric.

All of the data here comes from official documentation. The HTC Vive setup guide recommends base stations are placed up to 16.3 ft diagonally, which makes a square play area that’s 11.5 ft on each side. You can see it in above in yellow.

In the 3-camera roomscale setup guide, Oculus defined a ‘room’ as being 10.5 ft on all sides (14.6 ft diagonally), which you can see above in grey. The actual play area within that room is 8.2 ft on all sides and 11.6 ft diagonally, above in pink.

For the 2-camera 360 standing setup, with two cameras placed in opposite corners just beyond the play area, the play area is 5 ft on each side and 7 ft diagonally, above in blue.

SEE ALSO
Oculus: Touch is "Fully Capable" of Roomscale Tracking, But Skeptical It's "Absolutely Necessary for VR"

How well will Touch work within these volumes, and to what extent can the boundaries be pushed? With Touch launching this week, we’ll be able to answer those questions soon.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • visual

    I’m going with a 5-sensor setup on my Touch room scale setup. One sensor per corner and one front-center. Pre-ordered the sensors awhile ago. The original CV1 sensor, the second one from the Touch purchase and 3 other individual sensor purchases. The main issue is going to be all the USB cabling, but we have Monoprice for that. I have two of the Inateck KTU3FR-5O2I 5-port USB3 expansion cards in my machine. That USB3 card is certified for CV1 use.

    • Lukimator

      I would wait for software support for the 5th sensor before buying it though

      • Sponge Bob

        why stop there ?

        give us more sensors and more wires, pleease

    • Me

      Wow, that’s some serious commitment to the platform… and a pretty expensive setup too. May I ask why not just buy a Vive instead ? I mean, with all the cameras, cables, usb cards… you’re almost there for the same result.

      • Get Schwifty!

        Not everyone cares for the Vive design, particularly the wands.. for many the use of Touch right now is a large factor in their decision and the adoption of a long term platform that they feel has better potential. The other factor is that a number of people bought them before the Vive was released and simply dont feel the need to sell it at a loss and switch. Price and convenience are not the only factors in making decisions ;)

        As for cost, if one factors in the better controllers the cost you are at the same cost of the Vive; the USB card (which not everyone needs) and the additional camera amount to about $100.00 more. If RealityCheck videos are any guide the 3rd sensor is effectively optional depending on how fine a tracking you want, then it’s really not all that different.

        • sirlance

          The wands are pretty damn good

          • Get Schwifty!

            The wands work, didn’t say they didn’t, but as a design they pale next to the Touch controllers, and is the reason HTC is working to develop new ones. The wands (and I suspect in time Lighthouse as well) are interim technologies.

          • Durante

            Why would lighthouse be “interim” when it is by far the best tracking technology currently implemented in terms of:
            – range
            – FoV
            – setup convenience
            – accuracy
            – and computational cost
            ?

          • Sponge Bob

            Actually, none of your points are true, but please continue…

          • Durante

            Are they not?
            – range: clearly documented in both official documentation and consumer experimentation
            – FoV: 120° at minimum for lighthouse vs. 70° minimum for the constellation cameras
            – setup convenience: plug things which are far from your PC into a power outlet vs. plugging them into your PC
            – accuracy: perhaps the least well studied, also depends on distance
            – computational cost: lighthouse-tracked devices report their own position. Camera-based tracking requires image analysis

            What’s your argument?

          • Bumper Signal

            is there anything currently that leverages the touch controllers advantage?

          • tillusB

            hand presence. The whole top with all buttons and stick is capacitive, so it registers when your fingers are resting and when they are lifted. that way you can point, thumbs up or do other gestures.
            Havent tried it myself but it seems convenient yet not necessary

        • Sponge Bob

          “..the adoption of a long term platform ..”

          Dude,

          this is the funniest thing I read on this blog

          By next Christmas this “long term platform” might be gone..

          Well, one of them will be gone for sure – Rift or Vive

          Which one will you bet your money on ?

          (Clue: doesn’t matter cause most likely both of them will be gone:)

          Merry Christmas

          • cefizelj gnom

            Why would any of them be gone (hint: they 100% won’t).

    • sirlance

      $$$$$$

    • sirlance

      USB wiring nightmare

    • Doctor Bambi

      Hmm, perhaps you know something I don’t, but doesn’t the Rift currently support up to 4 sensors connected at once?

      • Jeremiah

        Not only that but 3vs4 has been tested and there’s no noticeable difference between the two setups, 3 is all you need for roomscale, I’m getting a Vive though as I have a big room and want to use all of it ;)

    • Foreign Devil

      money to burn

  • Jeff Recobs

    Edit: Sorry I should learn to read.

  • alxslr

    Am I still sleeping or these numbers are wrong? For the VIVE, for
    instance, 11.5 ft^2 = 3.39ft x 3.39 ft, which would be a room with a
    lenght of about a meter. It should be (11.5)^2 ft^2, or 126.5 ft^2.
    The same with the rest of the mesures.

    • badmungo

      Or just write 11.5ft x 11.5ft, which it says in the article

    • Mexor

      Yes, except 11.5^2 equals 132.25, not 126.5.

      • alxslr

        Of course. I wonder where that number came from :-D

  • Luis Mok

    no banana for sizing… i cant really tell how large is the area

  • Get Schwifty!

    I would think that given Oculus tendency towards conservative estimates on everything in the VR experience that these guidelines are as well. Like Vive, I suspect the average player with a decent sized room and little outside interference can go higher, like 15’x15′ with either system, with the edge going to Vive for distance.

    EDIT: There’s also the distance/area impact that adding a fourth camera would add, an option that is not discussed in the article. Not sure it would a lot to distance if anything, but it certainly aids in tracking in that space and surely increase area somewhat.

    I also find the use of color and placement here a bit telling; the smaller areas for Oculus are showing bright colors then the outer ring in bright colors for Vive, all in a row drawing the eye, while the largest recommended area by Oculus is in dark grey, and set off almost hiding it from view, which I could see some people actually missing and thinking the maximum room scale was 8.2′. Intentional or not, it appears designed to put Oculus at a disadvantage in the discussion.

    • Firestorm185

      Yeah, by everything RealtiyCheckVR has shown, there’re a lot more options for camera placement than just the 3 we’ve seen (at least right now)

    • Rogue_Transfer

      Without a doubt it will mostly work beyond these measurements – but
      there will be unreliable edge/corner zones where Oculus Constellation
      will lose the controller tracking when you’re facing outwards.

      If your room has furniture along all four edges, it won’t be an issue. But, if you want to maximise your play area for your room (as many do with smaller rooms), it’s going to be frustrating for those with only 2m~3m room dimensions getting much less of that space tracked 100% reliably during play.

      In VR room scale, all possible space use is highly desirable. Still, for those with bigger rooms, it should be good enough, if restrictive/annoying feeling in more energetic games. Although, at least people will be less likely to hit the walls if they set up the Guardian boundaries to less than their real walls are. :)

      • Get Schwifty!

        Let me clarify: I believe barring outside interference a 15′ x 15′ with three cameras with good tracking is possible because I believe Oculus is typically very conservative in their VR estimates; beyond that I think we will start to see issues with tracking in the sense you mean. A fourth camera will only enhance that.

        As for tracking 100%, none of the systems achieve that even in tight spaces, but like Vive there will be unreliable tracking for the system at the edges.

        • Bryan Ischo

          Vive is not unreliable at the edges. That’s a fact.

          It’s also not meant to imply that the Rift is inaccurate, so please de-bundle your panties. Thank you.

          • mm

            works on the edges and past them just fine for me… Your talking from what you’ve heard not from actual experience obviously.

        • Rogue_Transfer

          On the last part, you’re incorrect. The Vive’s two Lighthouses copes right up to the walls, from ceiling-to-floor. It doesn’t need spare room left around the edges.

        • chtan

          Read the article again. They did mentioned that Touch tracking drop sharply once over the recommended range.

    • Bryan Ischo

      Yes, you’ve made your “conservative estimates” point about 15 times in this thread already. You really, really need to stop caring so much what other people think about the Rift.

      • Matt R

        He is also wrong according to the full review.

  • paul mason

    If you wanted to play in a very large area, it’s also possible to use more then 3 cameras with the Rift, if necessary.

    • sirlance

      $$$$ why bother when you get more out of the box with the vive for less money

      • Get Schwifty!

        Because not everyone likes Vive ;)

        Decisions are more than cost and convenience.

        • Bumper Signal

          that’s true sometimes it’s just based on pure fanatacism

    • Durante

      Is this actually a configuration which is supported in the software distributed to consumers?

    • Bumper Signal

      it’s also possible to drive your car underwater but not practical

  • RationalThought

    This has to be extremely conservative or the Oculus touch has stringent requirements. With my current sensor my rift headset is perfectly detected 10 ft away. (issues with detecting back of the headset but 180 of front is perfect.). 5 by 5 seems really really conservative with just my ONE sensor.

    • Get Schwifty!

      No doubt it is, this was my point earlier in the thread, Oculus is always very conservative.

      • Matt R

        According to the reviews. You are completely wrong. I will find out when mine arrives.

        • Get Schwifty!

          I have always qualified that I believe that traditionally Oculus is conservative in their estimates, even if we are talking 6″ or foot one way or the other. I wouldn’t say “completely wrong” in that context. If it makes you feel better to say I was wrong if the tracking is exactly what Oculus says then fine with me :)

    • Crate – A – Day

      Probably the largest they know for a fact should work 100% of the time. I have a Vive and it told me the “maximum supported distance between base stations is 16 feet”. They work completely fine at 25 feet from each other diagonally.

      I just think it is safer for them to use the lowest number

      EDIT Should have added that my original post was in regards to wireless sync between the two stations. I think the physical sync cable can reach beyond 25′ but I don’t have enough space to find out…

  • sirlance

    Touch controllers plus 2 additional cameras and you still have a smaller play area than the vive.. you have to order separately and it costs more..”.Oculus less for more is our motto”….so glad I chose the vive months ago

    • wowgivemeabreak

      Everything isn’t about the play area so the less is more thing is all relative.

      • Torben Bojer Christensen

        Or rather, individual ;-)

      • sirlance

        I loved my dk2….until I got the Vive, you never miss something you never had…until you try that other thing and realize just exactly what you’ve been missing….room scale is a game changer….

    • Get Schwifty!

      Those are minimum published specs and Oculus is always very conservative… clearly the system supports more space, particularly if you add a 4th camera.

      As for cost, let’s see….

      Oculus = 599 + 199 + 79 = 877 for effective “room scale” with an HMD that is a few degrees better ergonomically and controllers which clearly are a much better design than the Vive wands….

      Vive = 799+ 199 = 998 for the same thing if you calculate the replacement controllers from HTC coming…. even at say 150 for the new controllers you are looking at 948…

      • Bryan Ischo

        It gets a little hard reading your constant Oculus apologies, but this is now a step too far. Do you really think it’s worth anyone’s time to read your blatant misrepresentation of the cost of these devices? You are adding $199 in to the Vive “if you calculate the replacement controllers coming from HTC soon”. How in the world does that even make any sense? You don’t have to buy any replacement controllers, the cost of which is just a guess by you at this point, to have room scale with Vive.

        Here’s another comparison:

        Oculus = 599 + 199 + 79 + 699 = 1576 if you calculate the replacement headset without awful god rays from Oculus coming

        Vive = 799 for the same thing

        I mean that is an absolutely RIDICULOUS way to compare these devices, but it’s basically the same thing you are doing.

        I have nothing against the Rift, I hope that you and everyone who bought one has great experiences and is happy with their purchase.

        But I really resent the way you are clogging up these threads with your constant apologies for Oculus that have now entered into complete ridiculousness.

        You probably don’t care, but you are one more blatant misrep post away from being blocked by me.

      • Bumper Signal

        Same goes for Vive. It’s minimum specs for them too.

    • Bumper Signal

      but but you get separate finger tracking? Which is great for… no idea.

    • mm

      Me too!

  • Mike McLin

    Unless I’m mistaken, the biggest issue is that the cameras have to be attached to the computer. I decided not to buy the 3rd camera because I don’t want to have to snake a wire around my room to get a camera in the rear. It just seems that Lightboxes were the smarter technology.

    • Get Schwifty!

      in the short term Lighthouse is easier; Oculus opted for the camera approach because down the road they will scale easier and allow for bringing in information from the scene. If the wire bothers you get a wireless USB extender.

      • Durante

        Are you serious? You are recommending a wireless USB extender to connect a high-bandwidth device with stringent latency requirements?

        • Matt R

          He comes out with some real gems sometimes lol.

        • Morawk

          not that high bandwidth, it runs over usb 2.0 although it’s not officially supported.

          i find it funny you think that there is some physics problem that prevents high bandwidth and low latency wireless. its a matter of frequency selection. Microwave or higher can do this.

          • Get Schwifty!

            Thank you…. unfortunately many folks here are prosumers with little understanding of technology. The bandwidth requirements are nowhere as bad as people seem to think, and wireless is quite good over relatively short distances.

          • The Moose

            Way to hide behind someone who actually understands the technology at hand. None of your responses have a smidgen of technical knowledge.

          • Get Schwifty!

            Please – enlighten me. So far you have critiqued the idea but not offered any evidence that as an approach that the tracking data will overwhelm a wireless USB setup for a camera or two.. Do you really believe that the cameras and tracking take up the full bandwidth on the ports? If you have data to back it up I’m all ears.

          • local guy

            get schwifty, i always love your comments and always seem to find you on these comment boards, keep up the good fight against the uninformed

          • Durante

            The suggestion was very clearly formulated to imply that you can just go out and get an off-the-shelf consumer wireless USB extender, plug the camera in, and away you go.

            Do you believe this to be accurate?

          • The Moose

            Bandwidth isnt the problem with adding more wireless dependencies. It’s the inherent added latency.

      • Nein

        Schwifty you are really shilling hard for Oculus right about now with nonsense. Your argument that that a camera approach “will scale easier and allow for bringing information from the scene” clearly tells us that you have no idea what you are talking about. They aren’t actual cameras. And nobody in their right minds thinks having multiple 10 foot long cameras hooked up to yet more USB slots is a good investment for VR in the long term. Let alone buy multiple expensive USB to wireless stations. Lighthouse is superior in this regard short term and long term.

        • Bumper Signal

          *edit* sorry replied to wrong person.

        • Buddydudeguy

          Gimme a break. What else are you doing with your USB ports? I bet they’re mostly empty. Fill em up with Oculus sensors and you guys hate on Oculus. It’s such a silly qualm to have. If you dont have at least 4 USB3 ports on the back not to mention 2 in front of your case, you might want to upgrade. It’s a non issue.

          • dSpect

            It’s not a dealbreaker for everyone but it’s not a non-issue. If I had a Rift for instance I would need to buy an extra USB3 card for Touch as my MB only has 2. With Vive I only use 1 of them and attach the lighthouses to shelves on opposite sides of the room.

            I run the sync cable along the wall anyway so the cable mess wouldn’t bother me as much if I did upgrade, but with a 3-camera setup it’d be pushing it. The passive, untethered laser boxes are just less intrusive.

          • Buddydudeguy

            Your MOBO is old as all heck then. It’s not at all surprising compromises may have to be made when you stay on old hardware. I have a ITX board with more USB ports than you. That says something.

          • Liquid Aurum

            but wireless USB extender…

          • Get Schwifty!

            Please, what evidence do you have they are insufficient?

          • Liquid Aurum

            a wireless USB extender??? Do you not realize the amount of data going on in VR to strap a wireless usb extender to that? I mean people have problems using a wireless mouse because that sometimes has input lag, let alone for a vr setup

          • tillusB

            Thats easy to just assume, though almost all my rear ports and 3 out of 4 front ports are permanently taken.
            1 mouse, 2 for keyboard, 1 audio interface, 1 controller dongle, 1 bluetooth dongle, 1 webcam, 1 synth.
            So i have 2-3 free ports front and back combined. I havent bought into vr yet but my choice would be clear

        • Get Schwifty!

          I know what Oculus is thinking down the road, if you read enough about it you will also come across the discussions. This is the plan and why the cameras were selected over Lighthouse as part of a long term development path. I’m sorry if you are ignorant on the subject and have bought into the “only Lighthouse works” line of thinking without considering the long term (and I mean a number of years down the road) technologies.

          The “cameras” today are an interim step, but Oculus has stated that their decision on cameras in general as an approach was that as computing continues to increase and all the development on camera tech continues to drive down costs, the ultimate play IS a combined VR/AR approach where camera tech is used to bring in the environment as needed, and to ultimately put the user to a large extent in a share VR experience. Think of the advances in facial recognition using cameras in public areas for surveillance for instance, not compare that to Lighthouse…

          I never stated or implied that the current IR “cameras” were meant to do this *rolls eyes*.

          • bschuler

            LOL, That’s it! The new slogan: Rift, designed crappily for today.. but wait for it.. it will get better someday.

          • GunnyNinja

            That seems to be Vive’s approach to the HMD. How else do you get such a poor comparison to Rift with the same resolution?

          • Nein

            Again, you are treating the Oculus cameras as if they can be/are cameras. They won’t ever be able to track facial features. Wishful AR has nothing to do with this either.

          • Get Schwifty!

            lol I’m not talking about the cameras in use today.

          • GunnyNinja

            IR cameras only need to see IR.

        • GunnyNinja

          They ARE cameras, with an infrared pass through filter. Vive comes with a 50′ sync cable. So what was the argument again?

      • Bumper Signal

        wtf wireless usb extender? lol i guarantee nobody will remotely support that configuration. What fantasy do you live in? You officially have zero credibility now.

      • Liquid Aurum

        was honestly taking your word for it till the last line lol

        • Get Schwifty!

          LOL how so? Because I didn’t say today’s cameras were part of the plan?

      • beestee

        I find it interesting that the discussion of a wireless future stays pretty upbeat / positive / hopeful from both ‘sides’ when talking about the TPCAST and Vive, but as soon as the discussion turns over to the Oculus Rift all of this negativity comes out.

  • Torben Bojer Christensen

    A shame the PSVR play area is not in there, just for meassure and getting a clear demonstrative picture of the relativity of all the sets recommended spaces together at once.

    • sirlance

      It’s a chair….

      • RationalThought

        LOL! ok…that got me

        • sirlance

          It’s true, once a psvr player turns their back to the camera the controllers will drift off into lala land…..lol

          • MrLonghair

            I don’t need to turn my back to the camera to make the DS4 controller tracking break completely in PlayRoom VR etc, but the Move controllers are supported with internal tracking in at least one game (Brookhaven) so it will continue to track no matter your position to the camera, unless you block too much of the headset.

            Good tracking lies in software when it comes to PSVR, you gotta figure out the camera’s strengths and weaknesses, it seems. Really weird.

          • sirlance

            Good to know…trust me all humor aside I want all VR headsets to win…

          • Jeremiah

            Even reaching your arms to the left and right causes the PS4’s camera start to losing DS4 tracking I’m afraid and the move controllers are even worse than that.

            The Brookhaven Experiment looks nice on the PSVR but it’s almost unplayable with it’s lack of accuracy (it shakes like you have Parkinson’s), I’ll take the Vive’s worse screen door effect and better accuracy anytime.

    • MrLonghair

      Yeah. When the PSVR camera is placed properly which is high and angled dow slightlyn, it is larger than that rug-scale by far (counting headset tracking only because Move controllers are stupidly rare). Got no measurements other than the software claiming I’m out of tracking area, but with my setup it is far larger than Sony’s own “playable area” illustrations mainly in depth.

      • Jeremiah

        The Move tracking is really poor mate, my bro is already trying to sell his psvr to get a Vive when he realised how bad the tracking is, the headset itself is the best of the big three though.

  • Torben Bojer Christensen

    I am very saddened by the retrogressive focus on front facing 180 degrees ‘rugscale’ titles from Oculus. Any chance they could reconsider now they have a room scale recommended play area? As a Vive owner who enjoys full-blown VR room scale titles very much – here is certainly hoping, as it would make room scale title development even more attractive for the developers to the benefit of all of us :-)

    We don’t have the large PSVR platform going that way for us. But at least it would certainly be better if we had both VR offerings on the PC pointing developsers towards room-scale title development.

    • Get Schwifty!

      Considering they have implemented the Guardian system for room scale, opened up for up to four cameras and are publishing standards for room scale what is it about room scale Oculus is failing to do except put out constant room scale titles? They see the market in several tiers: Front-facing, rug-scale play and full on room scale and are supporting it. Oculus is very concerned about a false impression in the more casual buyer about VR being a “room scale” only experience which actually would inhibit adoption so they are creating options for the users. Admittedly they focused IMNSHO too much on not emphasizing the fact they support room scale.

      The cold reality is the market for front-facing/rug-scale far exceeds that of room scale. So, Oculus is putting out a system that will appeal to quite a few folks, more than room scale at this stage but they acknowledge it is part of the market and are supporting it. I expect over time the vast majority of titles will be capable of room scale but can be played “rug scale”. Let’s also not forget, the majority of “room scale” Vive titles might as well be rug-scale, this point of “room scale” is way overblown but it shows the marketing prowess of HTC that people keep focusing on it and Oculus lack of marketing prowess that they don’t emphasize their clear capabilities enough.

      • Zaaps

        Oculus made a mistake in segmenting their market by not releasing with at least two sensors and a tracked controller of some sort. Now in developing for the rift, you have to look at adoption rates for second sensors and touch controllers then make the decision as to whether you want to put in the effort to take advantage of features that will limit your potential audience. With the Vive, you know you can just pop out a product that works with at least the minimum room scale area and know that pretty much everyone with the Vive will be able to play.

        • Get Schwifty!

          Ah the “market segmentation” bogeyman… the market is already segmented, release of Touch or not concurrent with the Rift. it’s called Vive, Rift, Rift+Touch, Gear, PSVR on down the line… VR will always be a segmented market. It’s (primarly) not about room-scale for the larger market.

          • Zaaps

            I think you missed my point. Having competition isn’t what I’m talking about. I’m saying that Oculus divided their own platform unnecessarily. They wanted to release before and at a lower price point than the Vive, but in doing so they’ve put developers, especially small indie ones, in a tough spot.

            Not everyone that has a rift is going to get the Touch. I will concede that overall people who own a Rift or Vive are the enthusiast crowd, even so, adoption rates for “add-ons” are notoriously low.

            If you’re a small developer and want to put out a game for the Rift that uses the Touch your total potential market is smaller because oculus decided to release with an Xbox gamepad and not everyone will upgrade to the touch.

          • Patrick Bradley

            Well you wouldn’t make an Oculus exclusave anymore really if you are small time. Makes more sense to just make it in OpenVR and it will probably work on both. The choice is then do I make a game with motion in mind or controler.

          • Get Schwifty!

            Good point.

          • Get Schwifty!

            This is a bit like saying not every Vive owner is going to use the wands…. will a small percentage not get Touch? In the short term maybe, but you do realize they already offer a bundle and have more or less indicated that the HMD with pad and separate Touch are most likely a temporary situation. I would suspect by v2.0 it will always be a bundle as the software is going to be focused on HMD and Touch. The market is still in such an early infancy that this issue of “fracturing” is vastly overstated.

            Your point about add-ons I do not believe applies to the relatively low number of VR early adopter enthusiasts; I seriously doubt that the number of folks with a Rift are not going to buy a Touch controller set, and I mean maybe, maybe like 3% or something. The people who were aware enough and went to the trouble knew about Touch and were waiting on it.

          • Zaaps

            If you think there will be a 97% adoption rate of ANY peripheral, you either no nothing about tech markets, or are deluding yourself. You’ve been shilling pretty hard for Oculus all through these comments. Maybe take a step back and look at this from an objective point of view.

            Unfortunately the closest analogue we have for this would be console peripherals, which admittedly won’t be an apples to apples comparison because as I’ve said, vr early adopters are probably more likely than the average console gamer to get an upgrade like the touch.

            However, over the years, consoles have released “updates” to expand the functionality of their systems. Let me ask you, do you think 97% of people got a Sega cd? The ram expansion for the N64? Move controls for the PS3?

            They’ll be lucky to break 80% adoption. Even if they do, developers will be forced to make games front facing, because even those with the touch controllers may not go out and buy yet another sensor.

            The whole point is that Oculus wanted to beat HTC to the market and release a less expensive product, when they could have just released a complete product for a similar price.

      • Torben Bojer Christensen

        From what i understand Oculus are actively encouraging developers to make retrogressive frontfacing ‘rug-scale’ titles.

        “Oculus has encouraged its developers to build Touch experiences that keep the user facing forward, and within a ‘standing’ playspace ” – RoadtoVR Aug 20, 2016

        That is what i was hoping would change (or at least stop) now, to the benefit of even more widespread room scale title development, as i really prefer the more engaging 360 degree experiences to the more narrow and limiting front facing experiences. I have the right to hope at least, right?

        • Ghosty

          It’s the unlimited potential to create new world’s in VR that attracts so many developers… Forcing / encouraging them to limit what they can create just pushes more developers into full roomscale and the Vive… Thanks Oculus for missing the point once again! Get a clue… Open up… Stop with the bs exclusives… Take your walled garden, console style and shove it where the sun dont shine… Lol

          • Get Schwifty!

            Wow the hate is strong with this one… devs doing anything is VR is liberating… this belief that the room-scale crowd has that everyone demands that is an illusion I believe. In fact, room scale introduces all kinds of problems and questions for developers, I would imagine they find the VR aspect appealing but not necessarily the full move to room scale titles. But this will not assuage your doubts… I have finally realized that for a vocal contingent everything is about room scale and there is little you can do to convince them the major market is not quite as interested.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          As I said earlier, the reason Oculus is promoting the ‘standing’ playspace’ is because that’s what the larger group of gamers will have, full roomscale is only for the few who actually have the space for it.. Consider yourself lucky if you have more than 3×3 actualy free space (without having to move furniture all the time), but most regular people don’t.
          And just with regular games, if you want to get a decend income, you’ll have to cater for the larger group, but might keep the smaller (more enthousiastic) group in mind..

          • Torben Bojer Christensen

            I just feel the developers optimally should be free to – and would be fully capable to – figure their market segments vs their ambitions to create more unlimited VR worlds out all by them self, without Oculus or anybody else pushing them in a retrogressive direction at least. (e.g. Will they get funded on a room-scale title vs a rug-scale title?)

      • Ghosty

        Only an idiot or technological troglodyte would think a roomscale capable system isn’t capable of doing the easier job of front facing seated gaming… Just saying…

        Anyone sprouting concerns like that will be quickly corrected so having concerns about that impression having any negative effect is a waste of time…

        There is a place for seated and roomscale and they will both be supported by developers in the years to come… In fact we will probably see games that mix the two down the road.

        • Get Schwifty!

          I think you missed the point entirely… clearly room-scale oriented systems support front seated/standing play…. the point is that for COST it makes sense to offer to more people who don’t THINK that they must buy into a full on room-scale system. You think they will “just get” that it’s capable, even if that is so, many people will prefer a $200 (or more) less price point when they don’t want or need a room-scale experience. To you or I, $200 is not much money, but for some folks that difference is everything believe it or not in making buying decisions when you are talking mass market retail. The problem is that the initial wave of VR enthusiasts are tech heads and don’t really understand how marketing has to work to people who are not gamers or PC-enthusiasts.

          • Ghosty

            But there is no price difference between the rift and Vive after you buy touch they are priced exactly the same.

          • Patrick Bradley

            Actually the Rift might cost more in some circumstances.

          • Get Schwifty!

            Yes, and the point is there is an option for people who dont want Touch to get in on a lower price point, with the expectation that if they like VR, they will jump up in short order to add the controllers. Also, the separate HMD and controller packages are temporary, they already sell a bundle with Rift+Touch and wI believe will cease to sell them separately once they go through existing stock as software development is almost certainly focused on Rift + Touch judging by the software release. I personally believe the pads will stop being part of the package and be replaced no later than CV2’s release with the 3rd camera.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Problem is, roomscale is nice and all if you have the actual space, but regular consumers (which is the large part you want to target) don’t have much space. having a clear 3m by 3m area is a luxery, and IMHO the minimum for ‘roomscale VR’. I myself have got the room(s) for it, but I know a lot of my friends and family don’t.. So targeting real roomscale is nice and all, but it will only be a small group of consumers who can actually enjoy it, the rest will have a problem and so you’ll need to keep those (the larger group) consumers in mind when you develop VR.
      Yes you can be closeminded and hardheaded to just ignore the large group, but it will lower your income. So be smart and cater for both groups if you want, but just keep in mind the larger group is only capable of doing 180 degrees due to small room.

      • tillusB

        honestly its not as hard as people think. We managed to set it up in our office so one can play/test in the center while several people are working on the sides. We are just on the minimum space (considering safety buffer for coworkers) but it still works.
        Its not like youre going to jump around limbs flailing most of the time, but rather take a step or two or lean to get to an object.

        Standing front facing is just ridiculously restricting. I mean any non-stationary gameplay will be a pain as you cant just turn around when something is behind you.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          serious? “We managed to set it up in our office”, now try that at a regular home.

          • tillusB

            that office is smaller and more crammed than my last room in a shared flat. that room was 17m² had a bed, desk, couch, several shelves/wardrobes and a small table. If i managed to put it in a ~10m² office it should work for most people when pushing a coffeetable aside

          • Andrew Jakobs

            then there is NO WAY you can have a save and decent space available for AND you workers to sit AND be able to play with the vive, or maybe you’re schizo and there is only one person in the room but you count all your personalities as more persons ;)

          • tillusB
      • Ivan Fojan

        This sums my vr space up to a tee, I’m stuck in a small alcove in the bedroom. I can just about do standing vr if necessary, but have no room behind my chair and next to none on either side.
        This is the reason I went for the rift over the vive, roomscale is no good for me and never will be.
        To be honest all this stupid, fanboy, trash talking gets on my nerves and reminds me why I traded in my ps4 and put the money towards upgrading my pc 2 years ago.
        No matter which system you have they are both good, get over it and move on!

    • cefizelj gnom

      I have about a thousand square feet (yay foots as measuring units) and still can’t figure out where to do room scale in my apt. without some serious redecorating. And I’m not into moving furniture everytime I want to user VR. :

  • Mexor

    11.5 feet on each side is not “11.5 ft^2”, it’s 132.25 ft^2.

    • cefizelj gnom

      It’s 11,5 feet squared, AND it’s 132.25 square feet. So it was correct (^2 means squared).

      • Mexor

        Where are you getting “11.5 feet squared” from? Written in the article is “11.5 ft^2” exactly as I wrote. By the conventions of math and mathematical writing that unambiguously means that the unit is squared feet and the quantity of squared feet is 11.5. To mean something else is wrong. To get what you want it to mean one would have to write “(11.5 ft)^2”, which is rather agrammatical.

        You are getting confused by pronouncing the written “11.5 ft^2” as “11.5 feet squared” in your head, and then adding in nonexistent parentheses to make it “(11.5 feet) squared”. If you just call it “square feet” in your head I don’t think you’ll have that confusion.

  • Ghosty

    I would argue that front facing 180 degrees gaming isn’t true VR!

    • mm

      I know, I have a Vive and I’m spinng and moving around everywhere. Glad I made the right choice this sounds horrible. lol

    • Torben Bojer Christensen

      Personally a have always felt the limiting 180 degrees experience to be- and as such called it “quasi-VR”. (like I have coined Gamepad controlled character movement WITHOUT any tracked controller interaction at all as “semi-VR”)

      This article have made me adopt the term rug-scale as it both is very telling about the limiting fixation you experience on the spot and also scales nicely compared to the term room-scale.

    • Get Schwifty!

      LOL – you do realize that some people also think that the puny room scale VR that Rift and Vive offer is laughed off as not true VR? For some it can mean ONLY a Matrix or Holodeck like experience where reality can not be discerned. I’m serious. The reality (no pun intended) is that VR is a term that encompasses a whole range of experiences … about the only major factor is a sense of presence, and that certainly doesn’t require 360 or room scale.

  • Milosx

    Since when does 5m diagonal result in 3.5m^2 ?!?! (Talking about Vive Room Setup)
    That is 3.5 m x 3.5 m = 12.25 m^2 (Square Meter)
    HEY USA, switch from those ancient units already. You are the only one in the world left (not counting Myanmar and one more tiny country) refusing to switch.
    Unity 3D also uses meters, so imperial units have absolutely no place even in the VR world

    • ummm…

      so we use imperial, big deal. the world still turns. metric makes sense for sure. but, what difference does it make to you? The vr world was created by american tech. we decide what goes there, if you want to start the nationalist chest thumping.

      • Mike Handles

        As a mechanical engineer/designer (US based) I can guarantee the Vive and Rift were built using metric units… Not to mention HTC is a Taiwanese company

        • ummm…

          ha! so where is your complaint now? i may be misread you. is your complaint re: the image used? is that it? you are upset by the image chosen by the author? ok. have at it. Dont like that the US uses imperial? I hear ya. But we must all deal with it i suppose, until you get to decide.

          • Mike Handles

            Are you asking me? I have no complaints.. Milosx seems to though

      • Milosx

        My complaint is on journalism which is supposed to do a research and report correct information. Even the people form USA involved in any science field use metric, not to mention the rest of the world. Report correct information.
        @disqus_FYMBCMuLU7:disqus Nationalism is something else; ask half of the people in USA that chose Trump.

  • James Friedman

    What is it with these arrogant Vive people today? You’re seriously the worst part of the VR industry.

    All I hear:
    “I can walk 3.3ft further than you dude!” “see that cool little pack of playing cards over there? Guess what, I can go pick that up! Can you??” ” CAN YOU??”

    • mm

      lol the Vive is so much funner… Who wants to VR in one place. When I bought my Vive I had lik6e 6 by 6 and ended up moving furniture because the more space it’s even funner. I couldnt even imagin doing VR in rug scale..

      • beestee

        Why stop there? Warehouse setups are where it is at! Knock down some walls and kick out the family I say.

      • cefizelj gnom

        I’m not sure where this rug scale thing is coming from, but I can play room scale Vive titles on my Rift easily. What’s the issue?

    • ummm…

      James. you are insultingly biased. You dont care about vr, u just care about justifying your purchase. like what you like. thats great. but, developers, consumers, tech reviewers etc. all can’t be wrong.

      • James Friedman

        I’m insultingly biased? I’m just happy that everyone can play and Vive owners seem to want to knock people down a few pegs. Like haha you wasted your money, guess what I can do and you can’t! It’s gross but I guess people get off on that shit.

        • ummm…

          you are in pain. im sorry for that. i do like my vive.

          think about what you are doing. what are you trying to achieve. and fyi, the vive is favored for a reason. however the rift is super awesome too, especially with those new touch controllers. ill be jealous until i can get my hands on one of those new vive controllers they teased or a third party peripheral.

          peace and love man. dont weigh yourself down with that poo poo.

  • end_terror_now

    I hear so much about room scale and how great it is. Ask any Vive owner why they purchased a Vive and you get the same old response, room scale is superior, I love being able to traverse my entire gargantuous room, blah blah blah. Ok tell me this Vive owners, what software are you playing in your big huge gigantic rooms? If this is really why you bought a Vive name some “must have” titles that really take advantage of your holy grail room scale? I can tell you why I purchased a Rift, and I demoed both before purchase.
    1. Yes, hand presence in VR is not optional, and even though Vive had it out of the gate I did not find the wands to be comfortable and button placement in my opinion blows. I’m sure you get sorta used to it but damn! I believe Touch will be superior. Its been a long wait but I’m glad Oculus took the time to get this right!
    2. Headset on Rift is lighter, way more comfortable and better balanced. After 10 min in Vive I was really feeling the tug of that massive snake of wires coming out the back and after 30 min I was ready for it to come off!
    3. The sensors for the rift are much easier to set up and move if you need to. No mounting necessary.
    4. This one’s a no-brainer. Oculus founder is a Trump supporter. Ok, I admit, number 4 had no bearing on my decision but it really seems to get a rise out of Vive owners for some reason lol!
    Bottom line, I think both are great, heck even psvr is great for what it is, and it’s a good time to be a gamer. I just want to hear something that justifies the Vive purchase for room scale, since that’s all I seem to hear as its main selling point. Peace

    • Sponge Bob

      1. Yes, hand presence in VR is not optional

      only for gamers .. other people like real-estate buyers and sellers could not care less

      4. This one’s a no-brainer. Oculus founder is a Trump supporter.

      still both Rift and Vive are made in China so who cares ?

    • JustNiz

      Roomscale is great. deal with it. What roomscale software? well there’s literally tons, but The Lab alone is worth it.

      Others just off the top of my head are:
      Tilt Brush
      Job simulator
      Raw Data
      Vanishing Realms
      Onward
      A Chair in a Room
      The Brookhaven Experiment
      Rec Room
      Hover Junkers
      and on and on and on…

      your points:

      1) Well you’re the odd one out because no-one else complains about the Vive controllers being uncomfortable. I for one find they fit my hand nicely and the buttons are in very intuitive positions. Actually it sounds like you either have freak hands or are just blatantly oculus-fanboi trolling.
      2) Weight: rift is 470g vive is 555g. The difference is haerdly noticable oin the real world. Agreed the wires are inconvenient, but so will it be equally for the rift doing roomscale. Anyway the vive already has a wireless option about to come out. (tpcast). As for headset comfort… its largely subjective but I agree the rift probably has the edge here for comfort. That said it suffers with god rays, smaller sweetspot and more obvious screendoor, and dimmer panels. Id much rather have better graphics than a slightly lighter headset thanks.

      3) complete bullshit.How are 3 cameras that each need USB connections to the PC easier to set up than 2 lighthouses that are completely self-contained other than needing a power plug? That is a definate troll right there.
      4) is clearly pointless/ridiculous.
      ….Now lets talk about the walled garden that being an oculus owner locks you into, or your personal data they are inappropriately collecting via the always-on software.

      • beestee

        Last I checked, steam supports my Rift. What walled garden am I locked into? You mean Oculus Home? It is pretty great, and I do actually spend the vast majority of my VR time and money in Oculus Home, the only reason being that I find it to be a pleasant and simple experience when I compare it to steam.

        I will certainly give SteamVR another go once I have Touch, since it has been very tightly focused on tracked controllers, perhaps that is where most of my bias is coming from.

  • Darrell Griffin

    I have been trying to decide between the Vive and Rift + Touch, and it’s difficult to get an unbiased review.

    What I gather is that, to date, the Vive is the better equipment with the Rift having the one up on games and apps.

    • end_terror_now

      This was my unbiased opinion after 30 min in each

      Hand presence in VR is not optional, and even though Vive had it out of the gate I did not find the wands to be comfortable and button placement in my opinion blows. I’m sure you get sorta used to it but damn! I believe Touch will be superior. Its been a long wait but I’m glad Oculus took the time to get this right!
      Headset on Rift is lighter, way more comfortable and better balanced. After 10 min in Vive I was really feeling the tug of that massive snake of wires coming out the back and after 30 min I was ready for it to come off!
      The sensors for the rift are much easier to set up and move if you need to. No mounting necessary.

    • ummm…

      darrell, trust your gut. dont listen to others too much. you will be happy with both products. however, i think oculus is going to be the “apple/ios” and vive is going to be the “MS/android”. I’ve had many macbook pros and ios devices. I’ve gone back to ms and android a long time ago. Thats my opinion. I dont think you can get it wrong tho. both are worthy – im just firmly in the vive camp. make your own decision. it will be the only thing that keeps you sane. look at the specs and the games. Please please please DONT listen to other people because then you are going to get dragged into a knife fight.

      try to look at where the companies are going to. I like the vive – and i wont tell you why. like i said, you cant go wrong, you can only go less right. in the end you can sell it if you dont like and buy the other. also if you can swing it get a 1080.

      i really happy you are gonna jump in. fyi, they both are early builds with software solutions that are just realizing potential. there will be dissapointments with both.

      • Darrell Griffin

        My gut says go with the Vive, or wind up with another Sega Saturn situation (like I did back in the day).

        If I knew that some of the good titles available on Rift were Vive compatible, I would cease my waffling. I’ve read about “Revive” and the comparisons between the Touch and the Wands. Too bad I couldn’t spend the $200 and just swap the controllers out.

        I already have 300 some games in my Steam library, some are Rift compatible. Nobody has to sell me on that platform or the developers vs. Facebook. No brainer there.

        There is also the “free” stuff that currently comes with the Rift/ Touch combo vs. Vive. Almost hoping Vive will put out a competing market “bundle” so I can justify pulling the trigger.

        • ummm…

          I think both will be around for a bit more. I dont think Facebook is going to go down easy, and i think they will continue to improve on their product. Their closed system is troublesome – and may indicate that you wont have as much choice as far as hardware and software. Vive on the other hand is welcoming rift hardware and software openly. Could it mean that getting a rift allows you access to both stores? yes, already does. But, what will you lose if you dont have the vive. there are a lot of room scale experiences that are vive only for obvious reasons. maybe this changes with the touch launching. maybe other constraints will induce developers to only develop for the platform of choice.

          I have not looked at the rift titles recently, but I have nearly 100 vr games on my vive. Some are very basic – some are fuller. I think we have yet to have a satisfying catalog of vr native games and productivity tools (on either platform). However, there are some you can really take a bite out of. I’m sure you have seen them on steam. Its mainly the room scale stuff, but i love my perpar3d, fsx, elite dangerous, euro truck simulator etc – that are not roomscale experiences. I wish I could help you with the software comparison more.

          The vive has an open peripheral universe and they are going to start coming fast, as well as a new official vive controller teased that moves towards the touch, but also gives the additional functionality of having an open palm (meaning its a touch in many ways, but you dont even need to hold them as it wraps around your hand without the need to grab it).

          I’d say that the rift may have a software advantage as far as polish (but what does polish really mean – gameplay matters), but when the ball really starts rolling for both platforms the vive is going to benefit from their developer first open principles and larger user base. Additionally, oculus insists that they will not have exclusives, maybe just timed exclusives. So if oculus sticks to their promises (which they have been want to do) then you will be able to use the vive anyhow. There is a real wealth of information out there about this, but the feeling i get from developers etc. is that its gonna be the vive. There is no multi tiered fracturing of the vive consumer base. You get the vive, you get everything. developers have a common hardware platform to develop for. The peripherals market will be open. THe marketplace is robust etc. etc. Rifters have to decide what they want to buy, when they want to buy it, and the developers have to, or dont have to, cater to all of the possible permutations.

          If you want to complain about wires or ergonomics – its no comparison. weight is negligible. There are more adjustments on the vive headset. Clarity is a wash IMO until gen 2 4k. Wireless peripherals are about to be shipped for the vive, at least in china. And stateside should follow sooner than later. Playspace is larger. lighttowers are more powerful and wireless. there is a cable from the headset either way. It is just more elegant in more important ways to me. But, like i said – i dont want to bias you. You need to be happy with what you decide on. If i had to make the purchase again, id go for the vive – and i think the majority opinion is that many still would. There is no nickel and diming. THere is no wall. There are no facebook only hardware options. etc. etc.

          are the games that are on the rift platform the only impediment to a decision, for you? Thats a tricky thing to hinge a hardware purchase on. THe hardware can’t change, but the game universe can, and will; and at the moment they are both wanting.

          But if you go for that rift, there are alot of happy people. I think in the end it actually costs more and you get LESS functionality.

          edit: actually the hardware universe for the vive will change. they are actively courting ideas for third party peripherals and investing int them – openly and without contraint.

        • ummm…

          their review: http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-touch-review-reach-rift/

          vive is gonna have the same controller with new functionality sooner than later. basically leap froggin again. I do like those touch controllers NOW tho. however, playing golf club vr, a fantastic game feels better with oculus wands. options options options.

          • Darrell Griffin

            That’s solid info. Thank you.

            Going with the Vive and I’ll probably return the Rift + Touch I picked up at BestBuy today. (Last Touch in Richmond area)

          • ummm…

            now, i dont want to be to blame if i led you down a path that wasn’t good for you. the rift is pretty solid too. and the facebook control leaves a polish that is not without value. i did the vive, so you know where i stand. there may be a vive demo location near richmond. check it out, you may be able to demo it before you go through all the trouble.

            anyhow, i hope you have a lot of fun. next gen, which will prob be sooner than we think, is going to force us to do the same calculations.

          • Darrell Griffin

            Not at all. Was leaning that way anyways. I picked up the kit today in case I changed my mind. Instead of scrambling on 24 December and probably getting gouged, I have that contingency covered.

            The more i I have researched, the more everything comes back to a common denominator. I was looking for independent confirmation of the conclusions I had already formed, absent the fanboy nonsense.

            I appreciate you giving me sound feedback, and providing links to back it up. The former is important, but the latter is critical.

          • ummm…

            cool. glad to have been a sound board. roadtovr has some great articles in the archives about all this jazz. just downloaded arizona sunshine. if you haven’t done lots of vr, thats a good zombie game to start with. that and brookdale experiment, or whatever it is called. if you want a friend on steam you can get me at nycpcgamer

          • ummm…

            http://www.roadtovr.com/comparing-oculus-touch-htc-vive-technology-ecosystems/

            dude dude dude check it out. i didnt listen to it yet, but am about to. this may be the thing that you really need. its their podcast.

          • Darrell Griffin

            That podcast really brings it home.

            Oculus needs to stop trying to dictate to the market what the market wants, or they WILL go the way of Sega Saturn eventually, despite FB backing. The third camera is a half hazard attempt to calm the masses. It’s a band-aid on a bullet wound.

            VR ideas have been around for decades, and it was never really envisioned as a “strap a monitor to your head to basically have a free look” concept. Which is basically what Oculus is at this point. Touch gives you a more natural feeling controller in your hands, but mostly a controller nonetheless (aside from finger pointing gimmicks).

            I’ll admit, the Touch Controllers are nice. Really nice. They do feel like an extension of my hand. If I could hook them up to the Vive in lieu of the wands, I would spend the extra $200 and do exactly that.They should put out a pair for the XBox IMHO.

            That said. I experimented with them briefly in my office today and lost tracking any time I turned more than 40-45 degrees from the desktop or dropped them below knee level. This is in a 15×18 home office with plenty of line of sight, a wide open floor (rug) area, and 9′ ceilings. Set the sensors up per specs with a tape measure and laser level. (I am a Mechanical Engineer/ Commercial General Contractor-HVAC). I KNOW that the Vive will perform vastly better, and that even getting a third Oculus camera won’t “fix” it.

            I’m also comparing apples to apples in the app stores and finding that Oculus really doesn’t have the monopoly of great titles I initially thought. Still better than a lot of low end “experiences” on Steam, but I also think that gap will close in mere months.

            Again, Oculus needs to adjust to the market. Not the other way around.

          • ummm…

            im turning it on now, havent heard it yet. people have been in and out of my office all freakin day.

            im excited to hear the final 1 to 1 comparison now with the touch – but for some reason I feel like i can be victim to confirmation bias. What may be the case here is that it may just be that clear. Oculus just needs to get their gen 2 right, and i have every reason to believe they will. Anyway, if i’ve got thoughts ill send em after i hear it.

          • ummm…

            almost done listening. this is awful. This isn’t what the rift user deserves. I took my gamble, but thought it would be much closer. Im sure rifters in good faith as well. It is terrible now that they are put in this position. FB made a huge mistake, and it was obvious to avoid. SOSOSOSOSOSO easy to avoid. We didnt need an enhanced track IR.

            I bought Arizona Sunshine yesterday. When the zombies are running at me i shoot off lots of bullets and clips are all over the ground. When im running low on bullets i pick up the clips and check for bullets i didnt’ use. Now, if i can’t pick up those clips because of the tracking well………….. ; this is an awful development. I WANT oculus to get this right, and fast. If it continues like this, then VR is going to be worse off. Oculus can be seen to be doing damage by offering sub par solutions just to grab cash and stay alive.

          • Darrell Griffin

            I really wanted to like the Oculus, and don’t get me wrong, I do. Were I a consumer who had done no research and wanted a cool toy, the Oculus would fit the bill.

            I’m not. I’ve been gaming since the Atari 2600 and Apple IIc C64 days. I’m not hard to please as long as the product works and lasts. I’ve looked forward to VR since I was a kid.

            One of the main reasons I picked it up the other day was as a counter to confirmation bias. To see for myself. Well, I saw for myself.

            The reviews are mostly accurate, arguably with many trying to give Oculus a break and go easy on them.

            I hate price gougers on Ebay, so I won’t upsell the kit I got 2 days ago and will just return it. Besides, for the same $$$$ as the Vive, the Oculus end user is already getting ripped off.

            That really is my final conclusion. The Oculus is over priced by about $100 as compared to the Vive. It is NOT on the same level.

          • ummm…

            please just get the vive. im so angry right now. im angry because oculus can’t say the truth because of their shareholders. if they were honest they’d say the messed up. gen 2 maybe they can get me to buy one. gen 1 is over and done with. im sick of arguing with ppl that have the rift. what is the point? they are happy. let them be – it still has great value, just not the value they assign to it. i just dont want the toxic rift ecosystem to affect vr as a whole. oculus either needs to get with it or get lost.

            i dont now why i feel so personally invested or slighted when a rifter tries to explain away the differences, but i do. and i need a therapist to deal.

            edit: when you get the vive hit me up and let me know how you feel about it here or at nycpcgamer on steam.

          • Get Schwifty!

            OMG the tracking for floor level is easily ovecome with camera placement… move them to the edge of the desk or better yet mount them higher facing down. “Drive” Bye did a good number in his OP-ED… it’s not a real comparison, its an opinion piece posing as journalism… I believe he hates FB particularly and vents on Oculus as a result.

          • ummm…

            its not that easy. watch the tested review. im not saying it is terrible, but it causes real problems. if i have to stand several feet from the cameras to limit blind spots, then i NEED that space. i dont only need the space for the playspace, but to place that playspace in an area without a blind spot.

            dude i dont hate facebook. the rift is inferior, slightly or massively. whatever you choose. you can’t just keep telling people that have thought this through, objectively, that they are wrong.

            enjoy the rift man. im a happy man if you do. but if we want to compare then we have to do so in good will. we have to be realistic. we have to be honest.

  • cefizelj gnom

    So weird to read about feet in a tech article. Use metric, please :)

    • Mexor

      What does choice of units have to do with the legitimacy of a tech article? Feet is a perfectly reasonable unit to be using.

  • ummm…

    and the debate begins again. im such a bad person. i can’t read these articles, or most anything about vr, because it turns into a ween measuring contest. In reality every ween makes its owner feel good, if appreciated.

    Ive got a vive. dont feel that i need an oculus. i like the larger playspace, i like the store structure, i like the openvr platform, i like so much of it. I like the open peripheral development that will basically close the controller gap. i like the new wireless possibilities. i will buy a vive 2.0. If the differences are as miniscule in the future (and in my opinion in favor of the vive) then i dont see myself moving. oculus people do your thing. but stop tossing doodoo. Vive people, dont feel like you need to talk down. Most agreed the vive has won thus far. If the gap is closed then great for your oculus brothers.

    JUST LET IT GO PEOPLE. You are ruining the site for me. I have no right to tell you guys what to do, but what exactly do we gain? Android and Ios, ps4 vs xboxone, pc vs mac. CMOOOONNNNN just get along with what you have. you got it for YOUR OWN RIGHT REASONS.

    fyi – oculus sucks, but i love that you guys love your oculus. now leave me alone to my bitter existence you trolls.

    • end_terror_now

      I’ve seen plenty of doodoo coming from vive users, don’t pretend otherwise, and you still dodged my main question. I still haven’t seen anything that the vive does better. Room scale shmoom scale

      • ummm…

        lol. ok. you are not a genuine person. peace out son!

  • Nik

    What about 4 camera setup ?

  • stefan neyman

    ft2 = square foot. You’re using the wrong notation in the image which can be confusing because it implies a 1 square meter area. That would not really be room scale would it.

  • jump jack

    “11.5 ft on each side” does not mean “11.5 ft^2”!!! It’s 11.5×11.5 = 132 ft^2

    In International units:
    Oculus with 2 cameras 360: 1.5*1.5 m = 2.25 m2
    Oculus with 3 cameras, roomscale: 2.4*2.4 m = 5.76 m2
    Oculus with 3 cameras, room definition: 3.2*3.2 m = 10.6 m2
    HTC Vive: 3.5×3.5 m = 12 m2

  • Artur

    I’m not sure if it is correct in ft system, but it looks wrong for me. In meters: 11 m^2 isn’t equal 11m x 11m space but 121 m^2! :D So if same logic apply to ft then you say that recommended space for 2 camera is 5ft^2 which is square of 2.23 ft :D Well I see that you are explaining it in text correctly but picture has wrong numbers :D it should be: 25ft^2, 67.24ft^2, 110.25ft^2 and 132.25ft^2, or just “5 x 5”, “8.2 x 8.2” etc.

  • Иван Иванов

    A one USB 3.0 hub will not be sufficient to connect all 3 sensor to only one port on your computer? I do not understand how anyone can have so many things on the USB ports. The bigger problem is the distance between the sensors. Only two meters may be more than 2 meters apart and at 3 if I do not lie 2.7 meters so I do not see how they can be placed in the corners if the room is not small. The bigger problem is the distance between the sensors. Only two meters may be more than 2 meters apart and at 3 if I do not lie 2.7 meters so I do not see how they can be placed in the corners if the room is not small. My is about 3.5×3.5 meters. Is there no program with which you can test the sensors and their coverage, but without using the Calibration program of the Oculus?

  • max soloviev

    for anyone trying to actually figure out the proper setup
    square feet does not match the square meters in this articles
    so I am guessing the dude just pull numbers out of his ass
    just ignore this article

  • impurekind

    Dude’s, I have a two camera setup on my Rift and get about 15 feet horizontally when I’m playing the game I’m currently working on. I think they’re generally a lot better than most people give them credit for.