VR Headsets: Revolutionizing the Way People Experience Video Games

Virtual reality has been a concept that has fascinated tech enthusiast since forever, and even though numerous tech companies tried to make virtual reality an actual reality, none of them actually succeeded. Until recently, that is.

Technically speaking, virtual reality has been around for quite some time now, with numerous prototypes being built and showcased, but it is only now that virtual reality headsets – one of the key pieces of virtual reality – are ready to hit the general public. And once they do, video games will never be the same again.

Virtual reality is not just about headsets

Let’s get one thing straight: virtual reality is not just about the headset. Sure, the headset is the component that provides the visual feedback, but there’s another component just as important – the controller. Without a controller that puts the player in control of what’s happening into the virtual world, it’s all just a realistic 3D movie.

A lot of people don’t even think about this aspect when talking about virtual reality, and that’s exactly a mistake that early developers of virtual reality headsets made: overlooking the controllers. A lot of early VR headsets used traditional controllers such as a mouse and keyboard, or some sort of console-like controllers, which did give the player the ability to control the virtual character and interact with the virtual universe, but without the immersive experience.

Working a new angle

Coincidentally or not, while VR developers were trying to figure things out and focusing solely on the headsets, traditional game console manufacturers started working on some innovative controllers of their own, which implied using actual body movements to control the in-game characters. The Nintendo Wii is a great example of such controller, but the other big players in the industry, Microsoft and Sony, also have their own approaches in the shape of the Kinect and PlayStation Move controllers.

You can probably see where this is going – virtual reality is now ready for an almost-complete immersive experience.

Virtual Reality Today

Aside from the lack of adequate controllers, virtual reality technology also lacked proper financial support in the past, and that’s mainly because the hardware requirements were above the possibilities of those times. However, since technology has evolved in leaps and bounds lately, hardware horsepower is no longer an issue, so it’s no surprise that virtual reality is back in the spotlight.

Oculus Rift is a VR headset developed to be the next-gen gaming peripheral, and the crowdfunding campaign for it managed to become popular enough to raise the attention not only of several game developers, but also of tech giant Facebook, which eventually bought it for a cool $2 billion.

Alongside, Sony has been working on a VR headset of its own, dubbed Project Morpheus. It is rumored that the headset will be optimized for the Sony PlayStation Move controllers.

Other companies have jumped in, and they’re working on VR headsets of their own

Virtual Reality– Looking Forward

With all the current hype about VR headsets, one thing’s for sure: virtual reality is making a comeback, and it is doing it right this time. Several games have already been ported to work with VR headsets, and so far things are looking nothing short of impressive, with more game developers looking forward to implement the new technology. There are good news for VR enthusiasts in the affordability department as well, as there are numerous VR headsets that can use smartphones with big displays as the actual displays of the headset, thus significantly cutting down the costs of the headsets.

Summing it up, it looks like virtual reality is here to stay this time.

This is the guest post by Fredrick Cameron and Dirt Bike Games 365!