Of the head-mounted display (HMD) jointly developed by HTC and Valve”HTC Vive” has arrived at our company. In HMD,Oculus RiftThe development version was released ahead of time, but this HTC Vive includes features not present in Oculus at this stage. One of them is that it is now possible for experienced people to give various actions to the virtual world. With the wireless controller included with the Vive, you can grab and push objects in virtual space, and hit guns in shooter games. Furthermore, a tracking sensor called a base station grasps the user's location, and it is also possible to walk around in virtual games. It's an HTC Vive where you can experience VR like never before, so I set it up right away and tried it out.

Unpacking and installing the HTC Vive

Compared to the Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive was delivered in a pretty large box. You can easily proceed with the basic setup by following the attached instructions and software instructions.

The two base stations that recognize head mounts and controllers are placed opposite each other in the room at a height of about 2 meters. At that time, set one base station mode to B mode and the other to C mode.

The HTC Vive can shake the controller and walk in all directions within a certain range. Vive refers to this space as room scale, and you need to make sure you have plenty of space. At least 2 meters and 1.5 meters (6.5 feet, 5 feet) in length and width were recommended for the screen during setup.

During setup, the two controllers displayed “there is an obstacle” and an unrecognizable event occurred, and when the USB port of the link box connected to the PC was changed from a USB 3.0 port to a USB 2.0 port, the controller can now be used. There is no description of the USB port in the manual, but it seems that the link box needs to be connected to a USB 2.0 port.

Experience free games on the HTC Vive

You've successfully set up and are ready to experience HTV Vive. Let's download the free game right away.

PITCH-HIT

First”PITCH-HITI tried downloading a game called”. This game is a game where you fly a ball with a bat and score is accumulated when it hits an object in front of you. When I actually experienced it, I fell into the feeling of entering a game world, and I was able to enjoy batting.

The Lab

Next”The LabI tried”. This game is a set of multiple games, so you can enjoy various types of games. One is to defeat an object (enemy) that appears right in front of you in a shooting game with a laser. Enemies fire round bullets, so it's a game where you move your whole body to advance while evading bullets. I don't play games very often, so the game was over right away, but my colleagues, who are used to playing games, progressed one by one and enjoyed playing games in the virtual world.
Another content I experienced in “The Lab” was content that warps to that point when you select a point you want to move to in an image that is closer to a still image than a game. It seems to be a reference for the experience of going back and forth between panoramic images taken at multiple locations in a virtual space.

View of the installed space (still image)

Impressions after experiencing

Try out the HTC Vive tutorial videos and free games, and you'll be amazed at how complete they are. The images moved smoothly according to head and body movements, and the controller was able to be operated without any sense of incongruity such as time lag. The images displayed in CG are also beautiful, and it seems that attention will be drawn when various games that meet diverse needs are released. However, it seems that preparation for high-spec PCs and how to secure experience space will be the key to popularization.

On the other hand, there is room for consideration on how to utilize images recorded from the real world with Vive, and I would like to explore providing services that take advantage of Vive's advantages.

If you are interested in the HTC Vive, don't hesitateinquiringplease.