Augmented and virtual reality are difficult to describe to anyone who hasn’t tried it (which is still a sizable portion of the general population). Explaining it to you is going to take some time, but I’ll do my best to give you a gamer’s perspective of it before you drop that $650 on an Oculus Rift thinking your only options are that or HTC Vive’s rumored $1000+ headset, consider the modular approach using Android.
Here’s how.
The Rift in VR Platforms
Because virtual reality isn’t fully available yet, it’s hard to imagine how Oculus and HTC could have such different price points in virtual reality gear. The difference is somewhat attributable to the accessories, but to understand the full price of these VR competitors, you have to look deep into the specs. VR isn’t just Cardboard or Oculus.
Samsung’s Gear VR team-up with Oculus (and their subsequent partnership with Xbox) means that the Rift and Gear headsets will work somewhat interchangeably to provide both a wired and mobile solution. This is how VR 1.0 will work.
Additional accessories (motion controller set-ups) will be available for Rift later in the year, but the initial $599 price point is for the Xbox controller and Rift headset that you can connect to your computer to experience what will be a large library of 4k UHD 3D virtual content in a wide variety of apps.
HTC’s VR setup is more expensive because the controllers (which are similar to Wii-motes) also require sensors the size of a Bose sound cube to be placed in two points of the room where the wall meets the ceiling.
So like a Wii, Kinect, Move, etc., your movements will be tracked, but the focus is mostly on your upper body movements. Any walking, running, etc. will be performed using the joysticks on the remotes. These remotes have huge sensors at the tips to track all movements, and in the demos available at CES last week, the only rendered part of your body is your hands around the remotes.
I imagine by launch, both Steam and Oculus will have games designed that feature your full body as an avatar. Future releases will inevitably feature EA Sports-level customization over their virtual avatars, and you can bet most games will feature skins as freemium add-ons.
The Price of VR
Though don’t expect any software on these platforms to come free (or even cheap). VR gaming experiences will be the most premium, and even VR video beyond user-created will be in 5-8 minute clips of Hollywood-produced content using professional-grade cameras like the Disney-backed Jaunt VR.
User-produced video content will work similar to the Xbox Live or PlayStation marketplaces, with independent development galore made available. Content libraries are why the VR industry is so split right now.
HTC runs Steam VR and will feature the entire Steam library of video games (which, if you know anything about PC gaming, is pretty much anything).
In comparison, Oculus will feature content available through Samsung devices (and accessible to any Android phone running the YouTube or Facebook apps). In addition, it will support Microsoft’s deep collection of Xbox and Windows mobile apps and games.
To survive the next generation of gaming, Sony, which already has developed apps to support PS1 level gaming through many of its Xperian gaming phones, is working on Project Morpheus, which will pair with a PS4 (and possibly PS3), DualShock controller (and other PS4 accessories, including toy-to-life), and integrate all the other proprietary Sony stuff we know and love into a VR gaming platform to compete with Steam/HTC and Microsoft.
Apple is sure to release an inevitable headset once they figure out how to make it sexy, and Google’s Android platform hosts the modular approach I’ll discuss in a moment.
Developers from Hollywood to Silicon Valley are already working in full force to create launch content and upload them into each platform, but beyond the on-rails video experiences, any content created will need to be recreated for each of these platforms.
This makes 2016 an important year for VR, especially as Walmart already has ViewMaster’s new $50 version of Cardboard and Gear VR has been in the hands of early adopters since Christmas. With such expensive equipment launching, the only prediction I can give you is what I’m spending my money on right now, which is the Hardcore Droid VR solution.
Hardcore Droid VR
The first piece in this modular set-up is the Nvidia Shield tablet. Any version will do – the app is the important part of the equation, because it’s an Android-based gaming device paired with an Xbox controller.
The original Shield features an Android-powered screen that’s about as powerful as your smartphone (though without all the annoying notifications interrupting your experience). However, it’s capable of streaming Steam games running on any desktop PC, which is what makes it so valuable.
The Shield app allows deep access into the Steam platform, which will remain true with the launch of the HTC Vive, and I’ll explain why in a moment.
The Shield One uses the app to stream to that tiny screen for a mobile experience. Shield 2 streams it to a tablet, and Shield TV streams it in Ultra 4k UHD. Shield TV also functions as a Chromecast device, making it a versatile Android device. What makes it an essential device, however, is its connections.
Shield TV features two full-sized, USB 3.0 connections and an HDMI port. Starting at $199 for a 16 GB version and a controller and moving up for 500 GB (with optional TV remotes available on both models), Shield TV allows you to not only play Steam games, but watch Netflix, and access anything Android on any TV or monitor with HDMI or USB ports.
I’m spending $299 on the 500GB hard drive because of the versatility of this device in the upcoming IoT world of gaming. The microSD support and ports make this an essential Hardcore Droid gaming device.
To add to Shield, I’m talking to Auravisor designer James Talbot to find out how quickly I can get my hands on a production-ready unit of the Auravisor VR headset.
Instead of using an Android phone, I want a dedicated screen that’s as good as the Rift and HTC headsets. Talbot doesn’t advertise much about the headset, so it doesn’t have the fancy marketing push HTC, Sony, Samsung, and Facebook can afford to shell out, but it’s an impressive headset and a key ingredient in my Hardcore Droid VR modular approach.
Running an independent Android system, this headset has the USB and HDMI connections necessary to make connecting it to the Shield TV a breeze. Also, at $450, the headset comes with a wireless Xbox controller.
So, for $199-$299 (depending on your tastes) you get a small Android “dock” about the size of a PlayStation 2 slim that’s capable of accessing the Steam library (in addition to the Android library, and thus Milk VR, Cardboard, and, with a little homebrewing, Morpheus). The $100 difference in price is to jump from 16 to 500 GB of storage, and both are capable of 4k UHD.
Then you add a $450 device capable of acting in unison with a screen, and you have an Android solution more versatile than any VR setup on the planet, but that’s not all. Future-proofing your tech is important, so I’ll explain why I designed my gear this way.
Look at the Razer Cortex Gaming Booster PC setup – this modular design puts all the graphics cards and storage into a ~$1200 box called the Razer Core, which functions as a dock for the Blade Stealth laptop when connected via Thunderbolt (that’s right – Thunderbolt) cable.
The design makes for a functional productivity laptop that can run basic multimedia content, but when paired through Razer’s software, the laptop functions as a monitor for the Core desktop, enabling it to power UHD 3D gaming in a modular way while also providing portability.
Wearables, AR, and Drones in IoT Gaming
With all of this high-tech gear hitting the consumer market soon, you’ll begin to understand what I’m talking about. I’m investing $750 in Android VR instead of $630 in Oculus (plus another $500 to the already $1000 I spent on my desktop PC) not just because it’ll have the most complete access to VR content, but because it’ll be easy to upgrade later without breaking the bank.
And remember I’m paying a premium for 500 GB. The total cost with the 16 GB Shield is $650, in range with the Rift’s initial offering with much more upgradeability.
At CES, VR wasn’t the only high tech I saw. I interviewed entrepreneurs and executives from companies developing 3D holographic computing, artificial intelligence, drones, robotics, projectors, big screens, and more. Over the next few months, I’ll give you in-depth coverage of all the new Android tech you see in any other outlet.
While at CES, I filmed the private press events like CES Unveiled, CES Showstoppers, Pepcom’s Digital Experience, C-Space Storytellers, press conferences, and more. I ate meals in press rooms next to photographers, videographers, and journalists from any media outlet you can think of from Time to CNet, Android Authority, and every major media outlet on the planet.
I designed this setup to not only experience VR but to play multiplayer in ways you’ve never yet seen. The only wild card are motion controllers, but Sony, HTC, and Oculus aren’t the only games in town. Leap Motion has a controller, and many others do as well.
The problem with VR gaming, however, isn’t that the experience tethers you – tethered gaming will likely define VR experiences and it won’t be long before both arcades and theaters are transformed by VR. You may not be able to afford the Virtuix Omni nor ever fit it in your home.
Dave and Busters, Sony, Gameworks, Disneyland, and everyone else can, and since Mark Cuban (owner of a major theater chain) and Shark Tank had a presence at CES, you can bet you’re not the only person drooling over VR gear.
The arcade VR experience will outshine Oculus and HTV, which will always be limited by video card prices. You have 4k, and Sony’s past 10k already, while Stream TV is in 10k glasses-free 3D. To put it in perspective the virtual world you explore at home will never be bigger than a GTA map, but at an arcade or theater, you can explore a scale model of the entire planet.
But everyone will have access to some form of VR, so you need to find your place. Mine is with Hardcore Droid.
By building an Android-powered system, I also open myself up to untether myself from VR and move into AR and drone-to-toy-to-life Android gaming (of which the library is building). Geocaching and haptic input become vital, especially in VR.
Companies like Immersion have designed an array of specialized haptic equipment that’s being implemented in Android-powered IoT and wearables everywhere. When pairing the Hardcore Droid modular VR system with a wearable notification device or smartwatch, haptic technology can keep you informed of what’s going on in the real world without breaking your level of immersion.
Then to move my HD system into AR, I’ll simply replace the Auravisor with a Telepathy Walker, which is a Japanese Android-based AR platform that’s partnering with a Japanese developer to create Android-based AR games.
Hypothetically, both headsets can be used in unison, with two players connected in an app, one in VR and one in AR. You could even connect as many in a room as the Shield app would allow, but it’ll be a few years before the software development catches up. Auravisor may not have the best start out the gate in sales, but over the long haul, it’s in a lane that has huge potential.
The Future of Multiplayer Gaming
Everything you think you know about video gaming and virtual reality is wrong, but I’ll try to explain the versatility of the Auravisor/Shield Android system that’s also included by console and PC competitors. When I’m playing in VR, like in the video, you can only watch me play on the headset. You can’t experience it or interact with me.
On the HTC Vive and Rift, you can interact in a way. Though I can’t see you in the real world if you hand me that Xbox controller unless I take off the headset, I could see you handing me a Vive or Rift controller, and I imagine Sony’s PS4 accessories will soon all include NFC and other motion-tracking technology, but for sure the PlayStation Move is designed for VR and works on PS3.
So if you needed an extra gun, you could see it float in front of your face in the VR world and actually reach out to grab a real-world object.
At $29.99, this is an ideal control to attempt to use with the Android VR experience, though it will take homebrew knowhow as it’s not yet developed. It won’t be long before the gaming community develops a way to use a motion controller set-up to replicate Vive’s and a platform to bypass any Steam verification to play online apps.
Playing online in this homebrew world, however, will be tricky unless the modding community hosts unofficial servers. It’s not out of the realm of possibility, as Counter Strike, Smite, and many other popular Steam games are derived from mods (though Smite isn’t a direct mod, it’s a DOTA clone, and DOTA is a Frozen Throne mod).
However, many of the games at E3 over the last two years that haven’t been as widely talked about featured a unique multiplayer aspect.
Players on one team have a first-person or ¾-overhead view and play a game similar to League of Legends, Smite, Warcraft, World of Warcraft, etc. Players (or a single player) on the other side are playing more of a battle strategy game, loading the field with hordes of monsters, altering landscape, etc.
So – bring this gaming concept to the VR platform (which will be accessible on the Auravisor through the Steam app, regardless of whether or not developers choose to develop directly for the device), and early adopters of VR headsets will be playing games in a virtual environment against not AI-controlled minions, but worlds created by everyone who’s using a screen.
The Hardcore Droid VR combo of Auravisor/Shield allows unlimited multiplayer (limited technically only by the game developer) with other users of VR headsets on any platform. It also has two Xbox controllers, so I can use one to control my VR experience playing the game, and hand you the controller to play along with me on the TV.
Or you can at least see what I’m doing on the TV and see what I’m experiencing.
Or you can disconnect me from the TV entirely, and I’ll plug in my headphones so we’ll be fully immersed in our own separate environments, despite being in the same room.
That – is the most Hardcore Droid setup I could ever dream of, and it’ll be a reality soon.
Auravisor is available for pre-order on IndieGoGo, and Nvidia Shield Smartphone, Nvidia Shield Tablet, and Nvidia Shield TV are available now on Amazon.
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