HP Reverb (Copper) VR Headset

ArmitageShanks

Arrrgghh...the more I see of this headset, the more torn I am. It's such a shame it's bogged down with the WMR tracking and controllers. You almost wish Facebook had partnered with HP rather than a margarine company to make this their Rift S with better tracking.

My sights are still set on the Index since that seems to be the best (if expensive) fit between all the bits and bobs IMO. Will need to see some more first-hand reviews.

Atmos

Why can’t HP put some tracking sensors on the Reverb and make it a SteamVR HMD? It won’t be long before some one else does.

thesnowdog

Because that would ridiculously affect the purchase price. Light sensors aren't cheap, Lighthouses aren't cheap. If they added Lighthouse tracking to the thing you'd probably be looking at a $1000 purchase price instead of $600/$650.

It's the expense of outside in tracking that's causing almost the entire VR hardware industry to abandon it in favour of inside out tracking. We'll see Pimax and Valve following suit in a few years time for their Pimax 3 and Index 2 headsets.

Atmos

Rift was cheap and had an array of LEDs for Constellation. HP could just put a load of LH sensors on and sell the headset on its own for £600 the same way Pimax sells the 5k .

Atmos

Valve will probably do it themselves next year.

Comfypants35

Wmr tracking is good, if you can control the lightning in your room, I speak from experience

thesnowdog

Their hands are probably tied due to their Licence with Microsoft, which is also why it only has two cameras.

And adding light sensors will be much more expensive than adding LEDs anyway. LEDs cost pennies. This is why HTC have abandoned Lighthouse tracking in favour of inside out tracking. It's just too expensive to produce. You've also most likely got other hardware in the headset for any Lighthouse tracking use.

Everyone is abandoning outside in tracking, Pimax and Valve will be next.

Nivek TT

Looks like this has been pulled from sale so we won't be seeing it for a few months yet.

bilbosmeggins

Well, that makes the dilemma a little easier now,

Atmos

I thought you were going to mention the Toms Hardware review which had this to say.

“We observed an abysmal 76.33 fps average, and even the unconstrained frame rate couldn’t feed the 90 Hz display.

At this frame rate aiming was difficult, and the game started to make me feel dizzy.”