VR ONE 4 Everyone - The tried and true home-made VR headset

The virtual reality is certainly riding high and is one of the most acclaimed and discussed technologies in the gaming landscape. Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus are the most famous examples of this new field, still to be discovered, for the electronic entertainment sector. The dream of virtual reality has always struck man and in the near future, thanks to these viewers, the possibility of immersing oneself even more deeply in the digital world can become reality. Yet Oculus Rift is not yet on sale and Project Morpheus has not seen practically anything, how long should we wait to be able to enjoy this technology? Little, I answer you, whyVR ONE 4 Everyone is a new , and completely amateur, answer to the greats of the IT market. hollyhealthfitness

Mattia Granito , founder of Kingdomgame.it, who has always been a friend and supporter of the 17K Group and its communities, is both a video game marketingmediaweb    and technology enthusiast. The union of these two passions led to the birth of VR ONE 4 Everyone , probably the first viewer in the world for virtual reality in operation, almost ready to be used by anyone. Using third-party software and modifying it personally, combined with different hardware components, which unfortunately we cannot yet reveal, you get a virtual reality viewer, really simple and extremely cheap : only 80 € for the hardware and physical components. The VR ONE currently runs on Windows 10 PCs and onXbox ONE , taking advantage of the interconnected ecosystem between the two platforms. But before we get lost in useless digressions let's go straight to the point, on the tried of this new device.

After sitting on the chair in front of Mattia's home TV, I am immediately given the pad of the Xbox ONE in my hand first, accompanied immediately afterwards by the actual viewer, a mask that adapts to the face , similar to the one already seen for the divinebeautytips    various Oculus Rift and the like. After lowering the viewer over your eyes and after adjusting the lenses for focus, it's time to try it, pad in hand. The first choice falls on Minecraft for Xbox ONE , just to settle down in peace. The first impact is devastating : the  eyes have yet to get used to seeing nothing other than the game, immersed in the cubed world of Minecraft. My ability to coordinatethe movements of the character and those of the head turns out to be really bad! Controlling the aim and the view of the game only with the movements of the head is a difficult task , so much so that I often help myself with the analogs of the pad to correct the course. A few steps with a viewer are enough to realize that with the use of these technologies you have to completely rethink your way of playing , where it is no longer only the hands that control the game world but also the head , which becomes a fundamental part of the game. entire ecosystem of commands . After the first few minutes, getting around becomes easier but taking a precise aim and loading a Creeper or a Skeleton armed with a sword prove to be much more difficult tasks.

Minecraft is definitely a fantastic world to explore nanobiztech   but now is the time to try a slightly different approach to VR ONE virtual reality. The time has come and Halo: The Master Chief Collection starts before my eyes, making me immerse myself in the fantastic soundtrack of the saga. After a quick spin in a multiplayer map (strictly offline, we are not yet ready for a clash with other players!) I have the opportunity to try the campaign and thus challenge the game's AI , obviously at Facile, given my still inexperienced skills. of aim. The mission is Metropolis and driving our Scorpion chariot we kill enemies. Straddling the powerful vehicle we feel the masters of the map and we are able to make good use of the viewer and its aiming system. The rewarding experience, however, does not repeat itself once you leave the vehicle and being able techcrunchblog   to eliminate the enemies with our inseparable rifle is really a feat. Leaving the chair and standing up , in order to get more freedom of movement, the situation improves and later we can use a sniper more or less discreetly. Compared to the beginning there are undoubtedly progress but the time was too short to be able to learn how to take full advantage of the viewer. It takes a lot of train and consistency to practically learn to play again. The feeling sometimes feels like you have taken a pad in your hand for the first timebut progress slowly is there and can be seen and I am convinced that, continuing to play with a similar device, the capabilities would be consequently increased. Yet the temptation to use analog to correct my aiming errors is there and it is constant. Mattia, realizing this, offers me something new.

This new addition to his project is still immature, having globalmarketingbusiness   only started implementing it a few days earlier. He then hands me a Wii controller. “I still have to map the controls, I only started trying to use it a few days ago, so it will be a bit of a limited experience,” he tells me. Just a moment to recalibrate those few commands needed to play and you are back in the streets of New Mombasa. An analog for movement, a command to jump, one to shoot and the last to reload, that's enough for the moment. The elimination of analog for the visual gives a whole new input to the gaming experienceand, despite the limited actions that I can make Master Chief perform, the fact that I can only count on the movement of my head to move makes the gaming experience even more immersive and evocative. Although being able to explore a world as visually rich and fascinating as that of Halo with a viewer is something exciting and highly suggestive , the fps format, combined with the fact that the game was not actually conceived for virtual reality, fails to render the the maximum potential of VR ONEor any other viewer. In my opinion, this types of technology will hardly be accepted by the mass market, risking in fact to follow the same fate as the Kinect, a machine so powerful that using it for video games is wasted, it is not possible to grasp its full potential or to make them appreciated by a mass audience. Personally I believe that VR will be intended to be used as a technology for the simulation and training of highly qualified personnel , such as in the military or aeronautical fields. However, there is a niche sector within the gaming world that manages to make the most of virtual reality headsets: simulators .

The third and final game tested with VR ONE 4 Everyone was Elite Dangerous , a space flight simulator, now in early access for Xbox ONE. And it is precisely at the command of our spacecraft, while in orbit on a planet we make our way between enemy bots with our powerful laser cannons, that VR ONE fits perfectly with the game environment . The control of our spacecraft is entrusted to the solid pad of the Xbox but it is thanks to the viewer that while I carry out a tight maneuver in pursuit of my target I manage not to lose sight of it , even when it comes out of the front view. The experience repeats itself while I am under enemy fire: I can easily lower my gaze to the spacecraft's joystickto keep an eye on the status of the shields, the power of the engine or the radar, essential for identifying the position of the opponent and consequently to move to the counterattack. The movement of my aircraft, the throttle of the engines, the triggers for the fire, are all controlled by the pad, while, visor on the eyes, I am free to look around , explore the cockpit and gaze at the distant stars, above and around. myself. And this is how, seeing the target on my right, I can turn the spaceship, always keeping eye contact in the center of the view . Undoubtedly the most engaging, exciting and best successful gaming experience also from the technical point of view of the experience with Mattia's viewer.

After the VR ONE 4 Everyone I can confirm the thesis that I have been supporting for several months now: virtual reality viewers will give their best, especially on simulators . Driving, flight, space simulators… This is the real frontier that awaits this new technology. VR ONE is certainly a new element on the market, much cheaper and just as functional . Of course, the work on the viewer is still long, calibrations, controls and a simplification of the network of cables currently used, but seeing how much Mattia has managed to do alone and in such a short time, I can only be confident for the future.. The foundations are more than solid and now all that remains is to perfect the excellent starting material . And now, after my very personal experience, the time has come to address Mattia Granito, asking him a few questions about his project.

Q: Let's start with a simple question: what led you to think about the VR ONE 4 Everyone project, what prompted you to put it into practice?

A: The idea of being able to play in VR has always fascinated me and the advent of Oculus has fueled this desire. However, from the moment of the presentation, I realized that I did not have an adequate PC to be able to fully enjoy the experience offered by Oculus and therefore the desire was born to try to recreate that experience "at home". At first I had no idea where to start until I learned about the ecosystem offered by Windows 10. After that I threw the project down on paper and searched the net if everything needed was really at hand and so begins to gather all the material.

Q: We can't talk about the technical side yet but, as far as we have been able to see, it seems to be the first viewer for virtual reality already available for gaming. How does this make you feel? Do you feel part of the technological progress in the field of viewers?

A: It is definitely the first one currently usable on console, as you have seen for yourself. There is a difference between the experience that Oculus will offer, currently clearly and indisputably better, but less immersive than what VR ONE 4 Everyone can offer (comparing what was shown at the last E3 with the fully first-person game mode offered by VR One). Well ... It seems to me perhaps too much to talk about technological progress but certainly this project can contribute to spreading virtual reality in a more widespread way since PCs do not need high performance, on the contrary, part of the necessary for the operation of VR ONE ran on a laptop resurrected 5 years ago and with Windows 10 installed for the occasion.

D: Mattia, you have worked alone up to now, haven't you? The results are outstanding, what do you think you will be able to do if you find a team willing to collaborate with you on VR ONE?

A: For now I have been working on my own, every little advance has required a good deal of preliminary study aimed at obtaining the best possible experience. I would like to be able to collaborate with a team to enhance the entire project by improving several aspects that I am sure can be improved.

Q: Last questions: what do you think of virtual reality? Will it be able to revolutionize the world of gaming or will it be limited to being a niche product for a few enthusiasts?

A: Virtual reality needs to lower the minimum requirements necessary to be usable by anyone, VR ONE moves in this direction, when this is available to anyone then it can be used in a widespread way, even if in the gaming sector. new types of games will have to be created and specially conceived. However, gaming could be only a small application present in the enormous field of possible uses, from the peripheral management of robots or use in the cinema field to make the viewer an integral part of the film.

For any additional information or if you are simply eager to contact Mattia Granito for his project, come to us at 17K and we will quickly get in touch with him! We just have to wish Mattia good work and his excellent project, rest assured that we of the 17K Group will follow VR ONE 4 Everyone in every next step , ready to update you on every development, with the hope that this project will enter a tomorrow also in your homes .