Every time I put on a VR headset, I have the same thought - how are we ever going to leave the house again. Sure it was Oculus that really ushered this virtual reality renaissance, but plenty of competitors have offered some extremely competitive technologies, even before the headset officially hit the market.
HTC, of all companies is certainly up there. If you'd asked me a couple of years back which tech companies would be at the forefront of the VR revolution, I certainly wouldn't have placed the handset maker anywhere near the top of the list. Yet here we are at CES, playing around with the Vive, one of the hottest VR headsets around.
Oh, and get this, the company's latest demo is powered by HP.
I took the team up for a spin the night ahead of the official CES kickoff and was duly impressed. The callibration process took a bit of doing. Apparently the guy before me accidentally kicked out a plug. That's really one of the pitfalls of demoing a VR headset in this sort of setting. You can't really see where you're going.
The headset itself looks a bit bulky, but isn't uncomfortable. Once on and running, the experience is extremely immersive. In a few seconds, I was walking around underwater, fish zipping by in every direction.
And then came the whale, big and silent, his giant eye trained on me as he passed. Downright haunting. You can look in ever direction, as with other VR headset, getting a full view of your surroundings. You can also walk around, and a pair of sensor on poles capture your movement.
Really, really impressive stuff.
The Vive is set to go on sale in April.
