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Up and Coming
March 16, 2017
Question

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.

    38 replies

    Inspiring
    March 21, 2017
    @TheWombatCave thanks. I guess I'll have to wait until next March since I'm #2000 something. Since they didn't ship overseas I asked for an update since they lost a lot of backers but they wouldn't provide one. I thought I'd at least move up in the list. Like I said before, this will be the last tech-related Kickstarter I back. I don't want to relive the stress of wondering when or if the product will ship. 
    nalex66
    Honored Contributor
    March 21, 2017

    Zoomie said:

    ...I've been home about a week and I've played a few Touch titles now (shhh, don't tell anyone I'm back)...


    Hey, @Zoomie, welcome back! I thought I saw you online last night. Looking forward to hearing your impressions once you've had time to mess around with a few Touch games.

    Make sure you grab your free copy of Ripcoil once you've bought anything else on the store, and you should join our forum Ripcoil tournament!
    DK2, CV1, Go, Quest, Quest 2, Quest 3. Try my game: Cyclops Island Demo
    Up and Coming
    March 22, 2017

    kcampbell said:

    @TheWombatCave thanks. I guess I'll have to wait until next March since I'm #2000 something. Since they didn't ship overseas I asked for an update since they lost a lot of backers but they wouldn't provide one. I thought I'd at least move up in the list. Like I said before, this will be the last tech-related Kickstarter I back. I don't want to relive the stress of wondering when or if the product will ship. 


    I feel your pain with Kickstarter.  I also backed the Sixense Stem system which at this point I assume I am out $300.00.  In the case of the Omni it worked out since they do not sell them, so the only people with it will be us backers, and we got it at a huge discount.  $400 for the build quality is really cheap, you will be impressed when you put it together. 

    In the meantime, any games you really want to play with your Omni when you receive it?  I'm looking for some games to tweak with Vorpx and set it up, I can post dialed in specs once I get it working comfortably.
    Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWombatCave Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vrcave/ CV1 | HTC Vive | Virtuix Omni | Logitech G25 Racing
    Inspiring
    March 23, 2017
    @TheWombatCave off the top of my head I'd really like to play GTA V, Mirror's Edge, and Outlast with the Omni. I'll try to think of more later when I get home from work.

    Have you tried Dead and Buried with the Omni? 
    Up and Coming
    March 23, 2017
    Currently it does not work with the new VR titles utilizing touch and/or vive wands.  The old version of Dreadhalls works as it used to utilize the xbox one controller for movement, which the Omni emulates quite well.  Any FPS game that is playable in VR via Vorpx will work through keyboard WSAD emulation. 

    Mirrors Edge....*Shudder*.... last time I tried that in VR it was nauseating with all the tumbling and camera angle changes.  Never thought about trying it with Omni though.  Could be fun running and jumping over buildings, I'll give it a shot.
    Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWombatCave Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vrcave/ CV1 | HTC Vive | Virtuix Omni | Logitech G25 Racing
    Inspiring
    March 23, 2017
    You know what, that makes sense. For some reason when I typed Dead and Buried I had it in my head that you could move around with the controller as an option. My mistake, it's been a long day...

    I never actually played Mirrors Edge, it just looks like it would be interesting with the Omni for those that have the stomach.

    There's an old Metroid game that was in first person. I'd be really interested in that too. 
    Up and Coming
    March 24, 2017
    Going through the included games we tried TraVR Shadow Ops, kind of a horror experience.  It played really well and shows what developers can do with decoupled everything, but it was so short, I was really hoping for more.  Here is my son giving it a shot, I just thought it was hilarious watching him play as he was so scared.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bXUZVAfpz4

    Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWombatCave Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vrcave/ CV1 | HTC Vive | Virtuix Omni | Logitech G25 Racing
    HiroProtag0nist
    Honored Contributor
    March 24, 2017
    Mirror's Edge - won't that just feel so wrong though, when you come to a jump?  We're fully atuned to sitting still and using a controller for all movements - changing that so we "feel" like we're now doing those movements except for 1 or 2 of them (rolling, jumping) will just feel wrong won't it?
    Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3
    HiroProtag0nist
    Honored Contributor
    March 24, 2017
    Cool video - is he leaning forward because it's quite difficult for him to walk/run?  Is that the same for everybody when they use it @TheWombatCave or is it just because they are kids?
    Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3
    Up and Coming
    March 25, 2017

    andyring said:

    Cool video - is he leaning forward because it's quite difficult for him to walk/run?  Is that the same for everybody when they use it @TheWombatCave or is it just because they are kids?


    Given he is short I've had a hard time finding a good height for him.  I did set it higher for this vid. He also seems to like to hang a bit and tip toe it, so it is possible to cheat the sensors.

    One mistake I realized we have been making is letting the waist band rise too high.  I now set it low, and stand on my toes and tighten everything up, then move ring up one notch.  Once your weight is on it it will settle a bit, and this prevents waistband from being up in your ribs.  Turning is mostly done by leaning and if it is too high it is hard to lean side to side.

    I still have the sensitivity of the Omni set to the default, which is very low.  I do feel at time I would like to be more responsive, but want to become more proficient before I start changing settings.

    As far as leaning forward, it kinda naturally happens and feels normal in the game.  You do get some traction and leaning, especially when running, is kinda what you do naturally in real life.  His was exaggerated due to the ring being too high I think, but running forward in a strait line is very natural, turning is what needs adjustment and practice. 

    Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWombatCave Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vrcave/ CV1 | HTC Vive | Virtuix Omni | Logitech G25 Racing