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I had an experience with an HTC Vive a couple of years ago, and I'm now considering getting the hardware required to do proper VR.
Obviously, I'd like to play games, but I'm also interested in visualising data (in particular I see that VTK supports OpenVR).
So I was wondering whether anyone in the community here has succeeded in getting this to work under linux, and if they can comment on the hardware required.
I'd be grateful for any insights.
As I understand it, it's best to get 120FPS, otherwise the brain doesn't like it.
I see that system76 has a "thelio major" desktop that can handle a range of NVIDIA cards, but I honestly don't know which would be the minimum that still gets me reasonable performance.
Is it important to have a lot of memory, a lot of cores?
Will I be able to change the level of detail in games to gain in FPS?
Right now it looks to me like I'd need more than 3000 euros for the whole thing (computer+htc vive).
My wife may not approve.
In any case, with the possibility of a second wave of coronavirus in the winter, I'm under the impression a working VR system would be a reasonable addition to the "don't go crazy" activities around the house.
(Score: 5, Informative) by stormreaver on Friday July 17 2020, @01:33AM (1 child)
When I was looking to get into VR, I went through a similar investigation. It's been a while since I did my investigation, so some things may have changed, but here is what I went through:
1) I considered the Oculus Rift, but it was tied so tightly to Windows that it was a non-starter.
2) A coworker brought a headset to work (I don't remember the type, but it required a Samsung phone). It was awesome, and convinced me that I wanted VR, but the cost was prohibitive and was tightly tied to a small selection of expensive phones. I already had a phone, and I didn't want to buy another one just for VR.
3) My particular situation demanded that I not be tied to a specific spot in my house, and that I not have to spend a ton of money for VR entertainment. That eliminated most VR headsets right off the bat.
4) I looked at the Oculus Go, and was intrigued. However, it doesn't have the full 6 degrees of freedom, so I passed. It's a good thing I did, as the Go has been discontinued so Facebook can focus on the Quest.
5) I looked at the Oculus Quest, and decided that it was both in my price range, had a decent assortment of games (the selection is expanding beyond my ability to keep up), was self-contained, and didn't tether me to a specific spot in the house.
After all the considerations, I settled on the Oculus Quest. I instantly loved it, and I still do. My kids spent so much time with it that I had to buy them each their own. The little we have to sacrifice in visuals is more than made up for by the freedom to move (which, in our situation, is absolutely required). There are plenty of entertaining games, and more appear on a regular basis. I don't regret the purchases at all.
(Score: 2) by Marand on Friday July 17 2020, @03:13AM
I absolutely agree and said something similar (but with a lot more words) in another comment. It also has the benefit of being able to work for PC VR via Oculus Link (USB cable) or VR Desktop (wireless), so I ended up using mine for PC VR as well because I have a Windows VM with GPU passthrough. Playing games like Skyrim VR (heavily modded because the defaults are trash) in an open space with no concern for cables or accidentally punching my PC is amazing.