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Rift vs Quest vs GO (Update: Dec 28 '18)

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

Ever since the discussions at OC4, there has been quite a bit of debate on the purpose of the three Oculus VR HMD offerings. It may be worth taking a birds-eye view of the new Oculus VR Trifecta.

Oculus Rift
  • Dubbed "high-end" VR
  • Requires a wired connection to an Oculus-Ready Machine
  • Implements Touch controllers and relies on external Sensors
  • Target Markets: Entertainment and Industry
  • Competitor markets: PCVR, Console-VR

Oculus Quest
  • Dubbed "mid-range" VR
  • Uses Touch Controllers
  • Implements inside-out tracking
  • No reliance on an external PC nor external Sensors
  • Target Markets: Gaming and Entertainment
  • Competitor markets: Standalone VR, Mixed-Reality

Oculus Go
  • Dubbed "low-end" VR
  • Uses navigation controller/remote
  • Standard head-tracking
  • Target Markets: Media and Entertainment
  • Competitor markets: MobileVR, 360 Media

When it comes to gaming, there are noticeable difference. For example,
Oculus Go will be limited to GearVR type selections. Whereas Quest will have access to some Oculus Rift titles, such as Dead & Buried. My favorite thing about Santa Cruz is that it will give the Windows Mixed Reality market a run for its money.

The way I view these three offerings is rather simple:
  1. Oculus GO will put the power of MobileVR in the hands of people who don't have a VR supported phone or want to enjoy MobileVR without having to rely solely on their phone. Mobile phone reliance is high for everyday life, so having a Mobile VR HMD while freeing up your personal smart phone is a great option.
  2.  Qyest gives us a glimpse of true Tetherless VR while allowing the business sector to thrive. There are applications emerging for Data Visualization, Education (VR Classroms), and industries like Real-Estate (virtual tours). This headset removes the PC reliance which is crucial to succeeding in this arena. Plus you'll be able to battle Rift players in multiplayer action in-between business meetings.
  3. The Oculus Rift is the Big Daddy that gives consumers who are exclusive to the lower-end VR products something to look up to and envy. The Rift is the proverbial, "yes, the grass is greener."

Personally, I'm a fan of this VR Trifecta (I love when things come in 3's).

I expect the competition to follow suit with their own triplet offerings. But right out-the-gates, the Oculus Trifect will be more like...



Whereas the competitions trifecta will turn out more like...



59 REPLIES 59

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

kojack said:
The term Mixed Reality has existed since at least 1994, where it has meant a spectrum of devices ranging from AR to VR. The modern usage as compositing live footage over vr footage like SteamVR and Oculus let you do is actually the wrong usage of the term.

The Microsoft developer site uses it correctly, it's one software ecosystem and API that supports Hololens (at the AR end of the Mixed Reality spectrum) and Immersive Headsets (at the VR end).

But MS marketing has twisted things around and the Immersive Headsets are now being called Mixed Reality headsets, which is confusing people because they aren't covering the mixed reality spectrum with one device, it's just one device at one end of the spectrum that MS covers.




YAASS!!


kevinw729
Honored Visionary

kojack said:
The term Mixed Reality has existed since at least 1994, where it has meant a spectrum of devices ranging from AR to VR. The modern usage as compositing live footage over vr footage like SteamVR and Oculus let you do is actually the wrong usage of the term.
The Microsoft developer site uses it correctly, it's one software ecosystem and API that supports Hololens (at the AR end of the Mixed Reality spectrum) and Immersive Headsets (at the VR end).
But MS marketing has twisted things around and the Immersive Headsets are now being called Mixed Reality headsets, which is confusing people because they aren't covering the mixed reality spectrum with one device, it's just one device at one end of the spectrum that MS covers.
...


Have to agree - the MS marketing team hijacking terms like "Mixed Reality" and "Holographic" have rubbed a number of us up the wrong way, and taken pride in doing this. Trying to take control of "impactive" terms and try and bend them to their own PR aspirations is one thing, but muddling means and perceptions, is wrong at this phase in the market/tech.

We continue to use Mixed Reality (MR) to describe platforms using multiple immersive systems (such as VR/AR hybrids, or CAVE systems using new kinds of viewers). It is part of the reason we abbreviate the MS term to be described as WinMR as a small step to try and take back the term. 

You will be seeing a number of new (real) MR platforms appearing in the next few months, including a new high-end see-thru HMD, and it is hoped that this, and the new Green-Screen VR-booths, can firmly take control of the terminology and put MS in its place.  
https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

Zenbane
MVP
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It should be a safe bet to realize that the millions of people with a Microsoft OS in their homes will outweigh the dozens of VR booths that aren't in any homes. Microsoft will likely maintain their Mixed Reality position for several years.

KNP54
Heroic Explorer
Oh wait I just read the specs of the Oculus GO on Oculus web page... It's a 3DOF headset! Not for me then. I'll wait for Project Santa Cruz.
Specs: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, Deepcool Castle EX 360, 32GB Corsair Dominator RGB 3600MHz, Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming, Asus ROG Strix 3080ti, Corsair HX1000, Western Digital SN850 M.2 NVMe 2TB, Samgung 850 EVO 500GB & 840 EVO 500GB in raid0, Seagate Ironwolf 10TB, Corsair 4000D Airflow, Acer Predator X34 3440x1440 @ 100Hz, Acer V287K 3840x2160@ 60Hz, Oculus Rift S, Oculus Quest 2 256GB.


Zenbane said:



Who has dubbed Santa Cruz mid range VR?

How can they, we don't know the specs?



It's mid-range because it removes the cost of a VR Ready Machine. And while we don't know the full spec's yet, the target pricing is mid-range for the final version.



snowdog said:

The problem that I have with Santa Cruz is that it isn't going to be competing with the Windows VR headsets. The specs aren't going to be as good.

The Rift at $400 Is going to compete with them instead - a high-end headset at a mid-range headset's price.



Mixed Reality offers both AR and VR, whereas the Rift is offering VR only at $400. Plus, Acer is offering a Mixed Reality headset for only $299 ($100 less than the Rift).

Also, many existing Windows Machines will be able to run the low-end of the Mixed Reality experience; and anyone who wants high-end Mixed Reality (dubbed "Ultra") will have to upgrade to something akin to a VR Ready Machine.

The biggest selling point for Mixed Reality is that it will also work with Laptops... giving it that feeling of being both mobile and Desktop PC quality. This is where Santa Cruz will shine the most, since it is also both mobile and Desktop PC quality: only with a better experience due to the Oculus Platform.


Before doing research on these 3 offerings, my plan was to purchase GO for my business app ideas. But now I think Santa Cruz is the way to go for sure.


I’m confused again because i’m under the impression that Santa Cruz does need the VR Ready PC?
Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3

Zenbane
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Hiro_Protag0nist said:
I’m confused again because i’m under the impression that Santa Cruz does need the VR Ready PC?



As things stand now, here is the timeline based on my loose understanding:
  1. Santa Cruz began as an early prototype that did rely on a computer via wireless connectivity. This early version aimed at perfecting the Tetherless functionality.
  2. Current prototypes have replaced the need for an external PC by placing a minicomputer in the back of the headset.

Oculus Santa Cruz is a standalone virtual reality headset. Unlike the company’s earlier models the headset is not attached to a personal computer via a wire. The new VR headset is wireless and needs no computer to power it. The standalone feature has, for the first time, made the Oculus VR headset completely mobile. The wearer is free to move around.

The Santa Cruz headset looks similar to Oculus Rift except that it’s untethered and has some additional features. The prototype comes with the spatial tracking feature and offers 6 DoF (Degrees of Freedom). This is vastly better than Samsung Gear mobile virtual reality headset, which has no spatial tracking and offers just three degrees of freedom. With these two features the user can put on the headset and move around; the physical movements will be fully recreated in the virtual environment.

The personal computer (PC) that was powering the VR headset has been replaced with a minicomputer at the rear end of the head strap. The motherboard that resembles a pack of playing cards is rumored to have one HDMI port and two USB 3.0 ports. Under the three ports is the headset’s rechargeable battery.

Wiki:
https://xinreality.com/wiki/Oculus_Santa_Cruz


I do admit that the sparse information about the headset makes things confusing. It's as if Facebook witnessed all the confusion Microsoft caused with the "Mixed Reality" fiasco and took it as a challenge.

If this represents Microsoft's MR confusion:




Then this is Facebook's Santa Cruz confusion:





Well that’s just ruined my day.  Thanks for the info.
Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3

Protocol7
Heroic Explorer
The current Santa Cruz prototype has the on-board computer integrated into the headset now, not on the back of the head

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

Protocol7 said:

The current Santa Cruz prototype has the on-board computer integrated into the headset now, not on the back of the head



The Wiki lied to me! But I think you're right, I just saw a video of the Santa Cruz Prototype II, which has an onboard PC, but it sure as hell wasn't on the back lol

At least we can confirm that no PC is required at all for Santa Cruz. It isn't just wireless/tetherless, it is truly "standalone."

kojack
MVP
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For Mixed Reality, here's Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino's paper from 1994: https://www.vrwereld.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/A-Taxonomy-of-Mixed-Reality-Visual-Displays.pdf
In particular look at Figure 1.
Here's MS's dev page: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/mixed-reality/mixed_reality
It even references Paul and Fumio's paper for the origin of the term.

Here's an analogy (taken me a while to think of one): think of an LED light. Imagine you've got a green LED (570 nm) and a red LED (700 nm). But the advertising calls them a green LED and a visible spectrum LED. Technically the red one IS part of the visible spectrum. Both green and red could come under the heading of visible spectrum. But calling the red one visible spectrum makes it sound like an rgb LED (you can control the colour). The same here with MS. MR covers everything from AR to VR, so the windows headsets belong to the MR family with Hololens. But calling them just Windows MR as a product makes it sound like the headset itself covers the spectrum.

Calling them Windows Mixed Reality Immersive Headset or Windows Mixed Reality VR Headset would be better, since that lists both the overall family (MR) and the specific segment (VR / Immersive). Although maybe they should have picked a better term than MR.

(Of course it doesn't help that the Immersive headsets have two cameras on the front).


Ok, back to Go/Cruz/Rift.

I wonder if the Santa Cruz is using pure IR? The controllers have IR leds, are the cameras IR only or IR and visible spectrum? One problem with the Windows headsets is that they are visible spectrum only, so they need brightly lit environments and the tracking lights on the controllers are visible as white dots. If Santa Cruz was IR for all tracking (not just controllers) then they could include an IR spotlight on the front (like security cameras do) to force illumination of the environment.

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