Pros and Cons of Mobile VR

Pros of Mobile VR

- Mobile (You don't need to be tethered by a cord)

- Free Range of movement

- Not as costly as other VR devices

- Most people already have phones so they don't need to buy one to use the device

- Cell Phone Graphics are getting better

- Ability to share the content with your friends without having to carry a console or computer around with you

- More social experience
Cons of Mobile VR

- Mobile Phones aren't capable of providing intense visually stunning experiences that blow your mind and make you think its real

- Mobile VR can cause motion sickness easily if the games are not running at a decent FPS

- Mobile VR cannot compare visually to HTC Vive or Oculus Rift level of immersion

Google Cardboard

Samsung Gear VR

How Will VR Effect The Movie Industry?

Virtual Reality and the movie industry appear to be getting closer and closer together to collaborating and creating experiences never thought possible before. Imagine, sitting down at the theater VR headsets attached to your seat. You sit down and put the headset on and are transferred to a personal experience of amazement, excitement and shock that you are now the main character in the story going through the plot. Horror movies will leave some with mental scarring, happy movies will leave you in tears of joy and comedies will be 10 times the fun!

Samsung Gear VR

So some of you might be saying, well I don't really want to go to a virtual reality movie theater I don't think I could ever get into it! Well no problem Samsung Gear VR to the rescue, use your smart phone to watch user created content in virtual reality. No longer do you have to be tethered to a cord or limited by the $$$ in your wallet. Samsung Gear VR is capable of creating a cinematic like experiences at home put on the goggles and watch as the room you were previously in                   disappears and transforms into a full blown movie theater with an adjustable screen size and you         can    watch regular movies as well as movies made for VR any time you want given you              download a few apps on your phone.

My Horror Experience With The Oculus Rift

Okay so I got to try the Oculus Rift DK1 in Greece where I found this little shop that had the VR headset hooked up to a gaming PC in the middle of nowhere. So I put on the device being a little sceptical then BAM it hit me like a freight train on acid. I was transferred to a never ending maze of horror I could not for the life of me get through, also known as Dread Halls.

Now let me tell you, what looks like any average horror game on a computer monitor gets transformed into a full blown nightmare on the Oculus. I saw the game and laughed at the people who foolishly jumped out of their chairs and fell onto the floor while gaming, I thought to myself are these people for real? This has got to be a joke. The actual joke was on me as I found out all too soon that the Oculus was no joke. Dread Halls scared the living day lights out of me, I found myself peering over corners and anxious as I looked over to see a shady figure outlined in the dark slowly creeping towards me. My first thought was to run but then I realized I was still sitting on a chair, so that wouldn't work. I ended up finding my way to a room full of stone statues I had no idea at the time were alive slowly creeping towards me until I saw it right in front of my face staring into my very soul I screamed and threw off the Oculus in amazement. The rest of the day I had weird feelings I couldn't explain because it was an unexplainable experience, you just have to try it to understand what it's all about.      

The Costs Of Virtual Reality : Oculus Rift Edition

A lot of people ask, how much will it cost me to get into virtual reality, unfortunately the reality is it is expensive. How expensive you ask? Well it depends but lets go through the pricing of device and what you will need to enjoy your experience.

PC Gaming Setup:

Graphics Card:

NVIDIA GTX 970

   
AMD 290

CPU/Processor
Core I5-4590 or better

Ram: 8GB of Ram recommended

2 USB 3.0 ports

1 HDMI 1.3 Video Output

Summary : The cost of a PC with these specifications will cost you approximately $1000 or more depending on taxes and where you live

Virtual Reality Device:

Oculus Rift



Summary : The price of this device is unknown yet but is speculated to be between $250 to $400

Computer Monitor
This can cost anywhere from $100 to $1000+ depending on what monitor setup you are looking for.

Total Costs:

$1000 gaming PC setup + $350 Oculus Rift (Approximately) + $250 Monitor = $1600

If you are new to the world of computer gaming and don't have a monitor or a gaming PC you can expect to shell out a good $1600 for your Oculus Rift Ready Setup to run games at non nauseating settings.

Note: These hardware requirements are not necessarily 100% required to use the Oculus Rift, it can run on computers with lower settings if you play games that are less graphically challenging and can run at a decent FPS (Frames Per Second) 70FPS is recommended for a nausea free experience.    

Welcome To My VR Blog

Hello fellow VR enthusiasts welcome to my VR blog! My name is Joseph Repoulis and I am here to rant about Virtual Reality and the amazing possibilities that comes from it. A little info about myself, I am a 19 year old tech enthusiast who loves the thrill and the opportunity new technology presents to the world.