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Oculus Rift And HTC Vive Go Head-To-Head
No matter when you were born, you can probably recall hearing about the dream of virtual reality. Whether it was the misfires of projects like Nintendo’s Virtual Boy, or movies like Tron, The Lawnmower Man, or The Matrix, the promise of an engaging virtual world has been tantalizingly out of reach for decades. This spring, the two biggest competitors in the new VR marketplace finally launched retail units that deliver on some of that promise.
The cost of entry is steep for both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, especially when factoring in the connected PC hardware, and the technology isn’t yet perfect. But after two of our editors spent combined hundreds of hours exploring these two new devices, we’re confident in one thing: The dream of viable virtual reality is finally a reality. This technology has the potential to expand into multiple facets of entertainment, education, and art in the coming years. Research firm SuperData forecasts VR sales to reach $40 billion dollars in revenue by 2020; if ever this burgeoning technology trend had a shot at entering the mainstream, this is the moment.
Since their recent launches, the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive platforms have struggled to fulfill preorders, so you may not be able to get your hands on them for several months. By the time you can, the looming launch of Sony’s more affordable and less technologically advanced PlayStation VR in October will further step up the competition between platforms.
We’ve spent the weeks since both the Vive and Rift launched playing games, testing hardware, and forming opinions. Whether you’re in the market right now for one of the new VR sets, or you’re just curious if it might be of interest at some point in the future, here’s a full line-up of stories about what we’ve learned.
Oculus Rift Hardware Review
HTC Vive Hardware Review
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