Received Virtuix Omni, strange turn of events as Oculus died same day so purchased Vive.
March 10th I received my Virtuix Omni I had Kickstarted nearly 4 YEARS AGO! Assembled it, tested it, worked fine and planned on doing in depth reviews the following day after work. Next day turn it on, Oculus says not connected and has orange light inside. trouble shot for next few days, tried every remedy there is, cannot get rift to display an image. So I pondered my dilemma of waiting weeks to get a new Rift from Oculus and stare at my Omni that I waited years for, or go to the Microsoft store and purchase am HTC Vive which they had in stock. Obviously I threw down the $850 on the Vive and ran home to test Omni.
Now I have used Oculus for years from all the dev kits to the CV1 since release day, over 6 months now. I was very pleased with my Oculus and the performance of the touch controllers as they blew me away. I was anxious to done a Vive on my face however, as I had never tried one. Everyone in the house had these exact same reactions:
1.) The vive is a little bit brighter, maybe 10% but noticeable.
2.) Oculus has a better image, screen is wider, clearer on edges, and I will gladly take the occasional god rays to get the clarity the rift has, it is hard to read on Vive unless you are looking right at the the word you are reading.
3.) Vive is heavy and unnatural, moving your head causes it to shift and move you out of the sweet spot and everything is blurry.
4.) The tracking....OMG.... I loved my touch controllers, they tracked well in a play area over 15 square feet. But the Vive light house tracking is a new level. I didn't realize the touch tracking was a problem till I used the vive, it tracks perfect all the time.
5.) Touch controllers however, way easier to use, way more comfortable and way more immersive. Vive wands are awkward at best to hold.
Conclusion:
The Oculus has WAAAAYYY better optics hands down. Oculus Touch controllers WAAAYYY more immersive and comfortable in design. Oculus' lighter headset is WAAAAYYY better than Vive, I really miss how comfortable it was. But....
The lighthouse tracking is so much better than Oculus optical is it insane. It feels like your hands are moving 20 FPS in Oculus and 120 in Vive. My brain really knows the Vive wands are my hands, where the touch controllers were a best guess by a computer where my hands were. An issue I didn't even realize until I used the Vive.
I was having issues running 3.0 extensions to pc from Oculus cameras in a room 18x18, but the Vive lightboxes need no connection to pc and solved all these issues. Overall the future of VR is in the lightbox design, Optical tracking needs to be dropped. That being said, Oculus has beaten Vive in every other aspect no question. I really miss my Oculus and hope I get a replacement soon, cause the Vive is killing the Bridge of my nose. Will be interesting to see where these companies chose to go for next generation, but if they each combine strengths from the other we will all win.. Overall I am glad I purchased both and feel excited for the future of VR.
As for the Omni.... I need more time to give an accurate review. It is a thousand times better than moving with a joystick, but is nothing like actually running and has a steep learning curve. Am having several friends over tomorrow to try it and get all their feedback and suggestions and then will do a formal review. I must say though, running full speed, when you hit the corner right, shooting behind you, while looking for next target, is the most exhilarating thing I have ever done in VR.
Now I have used Oculus for years from all the dev kits to the CV1 since release day, over 6 months now. I was very pleased with my Oculus and the performance of the touch controllers as they blew me away. I was anxious to done a Vive on my face however, as I had never tried one. Everyone in the house had these exact same reactions:
1.) The vive is a little bit brighter, maybe 10% but noticeable.
2.) Oculus has a better image, screen is wider, clearer on edges, and I will gladly take the occasional god rays to get the clarity the rift has, it is hard to read on Vive unless you are looking right at the the word you are reading.
3.) Vive is heavy and unnatural, moving your head causes it to shift and move you out of the sweet spot and everything is blurry.
4.) The tracking....OMG.... I loved my touch controllers, they tracked well in a play area over 15 square feet. But the Vive light house tracking is a new level. I didn't realize the touch tracking was a problem till I used the vive, it tracks perfect all the time.
5.) Touch controllers however, way easier to use, way more comfortable and way more immersive. Vive wands are awkward at best to hold.
Conclusion:
The Oculus has WAAAAYYY better optics hands down. Oculus Touch controllers WAAAYYY more immersive and comfortable in design. Oculus' lighter headset is WAAAAYYY better than Vive, I really miss how comfortable it was. But....
The lighthouse tracking is so much better than Oculus optical is it insane. It feels like your hands are moving 20 FPS in Oculus and 120 in Vive. My brain really knows the Vive wands are my hands, where the touch controllers were a best guess by a computer where my hands were. An issue I didn't even realize until I used the Vive.
I was having issues running 3.0 extensions to pc from Oculus cameras in a room 18x18, but the Vive lightboxes need no connection to pc and solved all these issues. Overall the future of VR is in the lightbox design, Optical tracking needs to be dropped. That being said, Oculus has beaten Vive in every other aspect no question. I really miss my Oculus and hope I get a replacement soon, cause the Vive is killing the Bridge of my nose. Will be interesting to see where these companies chose to go for next generation, but if they each combine strengths from the other we will all win.. Overall I am glad I purchased both and feel excited for the future of VR.
As for the Omni.... I need more time to give an accurate review. It is a thousand times better than moving with a joystick, but is nothing like actually running and has a steep learning curve. Am having several friends over tomorrow to try it and get all their feedback and suggestions and then will do a formal review. I must say though, running full speed, when you hit the corner right, shooting behind you, while looking for next target, is the most exhilarating thing I have ever done in VR.
