Microsoft’s Newest Headset Advert Focuses in on Portability, Ease of Use & Travel

By
Scott Hayden
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5

Microsoft’s special Windows “Mixed Reality” event today saw the unveiling of its latest addition to the VR family, the Samsung HMD Odyssey, and also announced that all VR headsets slated to ship before holiday season are currently in pre-order. With a fresh advert, the company is delineating just how portable and easy to use their new class of VR headsets are in comparison to competing room-scale PC VR headsets like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

Topping out at $500, the same price as the Oculus Rift, Microsoft is drawing a pretty specific picture with their new Windows VR headset spot, and there’s really no subtext about it: Open up your laptop (almost any modern laptop will do for basic programs), turn on the wireless motion controllers, plug it the headset, and put it on.

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While Rift and Vive require their own room calibration setup process, making you mark your playspace so you don’t smack straight into a wall, Microsoft’s line of headsets use inside-out positional tracking thanks to a set of wide-angle cameras on the front. This also allows the headset to track the motion controllers, making it truly a plug and play experience without the need of external sensors or basestations of any kind.

Noticeably, the new advert emphasizes travel and experiences instead of gaming, something that ought to attract non-gamers to the newest VR ecosytem.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • oserus99

    These actually look interesting, but I’ll wait to see how they do in the wild. Especially with Steam games.

  • Duane Aakre

    I sure hope the joint between the ring on top of the motion controllers and the handgrip part is more stout than it looks. I have a low ceiling in the room where I use my Vive and I’ve smacked the controllers into the ceiling so hard the tops are all chewed up. It looks like if you hit the ring hard on these new controllers, it might snap in the middle.

    • oserus99

      You have a point. I am so paranoid hitting anything with my Touch controllers that it probably hinders my free gameplay.

      • Miqa

        The touch controllers are really durable though.

        • oserus99

          I’m still paranoid. Even at the sale price, the Oculus was a pretty big stretch of the wallet. =)