hey everybody its norm from Testim and
welcome back to projections where as you
can see in Fermi we're going to talk
about headsets a day I'll be reviewing
the HTC cosmos which is the newest
desktop-based
VR headset from the folks at H T C now
this is the successor the replacement
for the original HTC vive though the HTC
vive pro will still be available for the
enterprise market this is going to be a
consumer class headset that's quite a
departure actually from the design of
the HTC vive primarily in that it does
not use valves steamvr based light house
tracking technically inside out but
yourself to use externals laser array it
actually is fully inside out using
computer vision with an array of six
cameras and in the spectrum of desktop
VR headsets we're kind of in the end of
what I think of as the first generation
all the heads of so far me are kind of
like the second wave of headsets but I
don't when we call these second
generation headsets I think the the
groundbreaking technology that's gonna
really create completely different if
your experiences are still probably a
little waste out but we've kind of
refined the first generation of VR in
terms of tracking in terms of ergonomics
and also in terms of display in what you
have on the table here so on kind of the
entry-level side there is the oculus
rift S on the high end thousand dollar
side there is the valve index and then
sitting in between them is for $700 the
HTC cosmos and yes I know technically
windows mix reality headsets are still
available kinda but you know as
Microsoft can really do anything with
them don't know so let's go over the
cosmos based on that criteria let's talk
about ergonomics first you can sell that
it's actually also departure from both
the original vibes kind of plastic strap
and also the deluxe audio head strap
which I really like and people have used
to modify their our oculus quest
headsets the HTC cosmos is now using a
halo base design also like the rift s
and of course PSV are now just because
it's a halo design doesn't mean it's
exactly
same type of fit as other halo based
design headsets actually a little bit of
variability here first of all there's a
really big pad on the inside a lot of
pressure on the front of your forehead
and the angle of the headset if you
actually look at these side by side is
less tapered down it's a less of an
angle than on the rift s I really like
the ergonomics of the halo strap on the
rift s and P s mu R because it cups the
back of your head that's what you really
want and for here if you try to pull the
head of the strap all the way behind
your skull you actually don't get as
much clarity in the the lenses and the
display and that's because there is no
adjustment on halo style designs
included on the roof s you can't
actually pivot the the display and the
lenses and angle you have to move the
whole strap and so for me I wanted to
the same time pull the halo strap all
the way back but then I wanted to have
the display kind of tilted forward so I
could never get it fully comfortable it
was usable for sure but not my favorite
halo strap design now HDC also put in an
interesting design element in that you
can flip up the display itself this
whole unit flips up which allows when
you wear it you're wearing it so then
easily get out of VR and gets your
computer and interact with the outside
world it's useful I definitely found
myself using that especially during the
setup processes as I was going back to
my PC and going through Steam and in
vive port but if I had the option for
them to vote that engineering a
different feature I would love to have
the ability to move this and lock it in
position say for increased clarity and
finding that sweet spot and well gets a
sweet spot when we talk about the
display there's also built-in headphones
and headphones sound quite nice there's
actually a slight difference if you plug
the headset into your computer over a
USB 3 port with all bandwidth or versus
a USB 2 or a clogged USB bus in that the
audio quality does sound a little
different so make sure that's plugged
into
usb3 bus but if you also want to use
your own headphones it's not too
difficult to unplug this and then plug
in your own headphones as well I also
found that the weight distribution of
the headset was a little bit front-heavy
and that again goes back to the kind of
design they went for their halo head
strap I really wish that if they we're
gonna stick with a fixed angle that they
would have angled the halo strap a
little bit further back so cup the back
of my head a little more I did find
myself constantly wanting to readjust
the whole time as I was in VR one good
thing though is that because you can
flip this up and down it did fit over my
glasses very easily in fact of all the
heads since I've used it is most easily
fits over my glasses and I now have to
worry about the lenses hitting my
glasses because it's actually a good
distance there now the downside is that
there is no eye relief on both the psvr
and also the rift s there is a button
they can press they can actually slide
the headset front and back for not only
for clarity but also if you're wearing
glasses you can't do that here it's it's
locked in it's that fixed field of view
and what I really want to do was to push
the the lenses as close to my eyes as
possible something that I do on the
valve index all the time with its eye
relief to maximize that field of view
one last bit with the design there is
adjustable IPD on this which is a plus
the range is about 61 to 74 and so if
you are outside that average of 65
IPD something like the HTC cosmos would
work for you over the software-based IPD
adjustments that don't work for everyone
on something like the rift s alright
from ergonomics let's start talking
about the panel and the optics this is a
very high-resolution panel HTC chose a
panel with combined resolution of 2880
by 1700 now if you want to do math you
remember 2880 by 1600 is technically the
resolution of the oculus quest of the
vive pro and of the valve index and the
panel they chose here
is an RGB sub-pixel LCD panel which is
similar to with LCD panel that valve
chose for the index what's different
though is that this is maxed out at 90
Hertz so it doesn't go to 120 or 144 I
did my testing on both gtx 1070 as well
as 2080 and 1070 could play most games
fairly well but with that increase pixel
density did i really notice a difference
in terms of the clarity not really that
extra hundred pixels that you get in
terms of height from 1600 1700
I don't think gives you a noticeable
benefit and in fact I think the panels
at HCC are sourcing are not quite as
good in terms of the pixel fill as
what's on the valve index I did a lot of
a be testing I spent a lot of time with
the valve index and while neither of
them exhibit glaring screen door effect
like at this resolution screen or effect
with RGB sub pixels is basically gone if
I'm looking and trying to read text at a
distance on the cosmos I do notice just
a tiny bit of those edges around the
pixels things I did not notice on the
index I do think the pixel fill is not
quite as good even though technically
there are more pixels on this resolution
display the optics also are an
interesting choice they're using Fornell
lenses on the cosmos and the new
arrangement of lenses they have here
does reduce a lot of the godrays and the
ghosting effects in fact I didn't notice
almost any of that even on high contrast
scenes so kudos to the HTC there but the
sweet spot as I'm sure you've read and
heard is not that great and sweet spot
is the place within the lenses where you
can see clear clarity across as much of
the lens and and field of view as
possible and so I did find myself
constantly adjusting especially since
the headset like I said is a little bit
front heavy and it would dip down from
time to time I would constantly have to
adjust up to get my eyes into the sweet
spot and once it was in the sweet spot
the eye box the amount of clarity that I
could see around the field of view was
decent it doesn't really get blurry
until almost the very
of the frame field of view is it's rated
at 110 degrees which is exactly the same
as the very first vibe and and things
like the rift s and again I really wish
there was some high relief because all I
want to do is to push that was lenses
and display closest to my eyes as
possible I think that with this high
technically a high pixel resolution and
pixel density there's no reason not to
get these optics it's closer eyes to try
to maximize the field of view alright so
let's get to tracking on the HTC cosmos
and here that's where I think people
have had the most questions about it and
where it's not necessarily the best
performing in fact the high bar I still
think is steamvr lighthouse space
tracking and if your locker talking
about inside out tracking windows box
reality's pretty good I think what
oculus has done with the inside out
tracking on the rift s and their
software optimizations is still ahead of
the game compared to what HTC has put
out now there are six cameras here so
the field of view of the tracking here
is pretty wide and in optimal conditions
the tracking is pretty is pretty good
setup is really easy it's actually very
similar to what you'd find on the oculus
side you have to do a little bit of
moving your head around the room to scan
the room like you would on a Windows mix
reality headset and then once you've
done that if the room is well-lit enough
then you then draw your boundaries you
find your floor and the set of process
is very quick unlike on the oculus site
it doesn't retain memory of your spaces
so every time you move this to a new
space you'll have to redo the tracking
but again that process is real quick so
I didn't find it a big hassle in my
office which is a normally lit room I
did some testing in this studio as well
I was getting the warning message that
TRUCKING required more light now this is
a known issue and explains why one went
over to HTC's offices and did her first
demo the roommate had us do this demo
and was so brightly lit and there are a
lot of frame things pictures on the
walls in my office there are framed
objects in the walls and that should
provide enough hard edges for the
computer vision to to track and lock in
but I would get the pop-up
message that there wasn't enough light
there is a patch that was released
shortly after this cosmos went to market
that does address that but I was still
getting those pop-up messages you need
more light you need more light
thankfully you can bypass that and you
still tracking will work and so even as
I was looking the room and moving into
spots where there were some dark areas I
wasn't losing tracking all the time also
good is that you could block a few of
these cameras and still get tracking
cells able to block either side cameras
or the front cameras or block more than
four of the six cameras though then you
lose the positional tracking and on the
headset side tracking does come back
relatively quickly though on the
controller side it doesn't come back
nearly as fast as I would like
controller tracking is a completely
different animal it seems than the
headset tracking because it's not using
IR it's actually using I think just the
computer vision as opposed to the IR
light and you would see on the oculus
side and these are our RGB cameras it's
actually seeing full color so as a side
note you can actually enable a
pass-through mode which lets you see the
world through these these two cameras
here which are stereo correct so you do
see a 3d version of the world but the
resolution on that pass-through is
really low not good enough for reading
computers it's only good enough to see
that there's a another person in the
room so you can engage with them flip
the headset off but that's the
controllers they're a bunch of blind
spots and it's something I noticed when
I went to do the preview of this headset
- if you move the controllers up close
to your face
you lose tracking and so for games where
you need to bring like a weapon up to
your face to look down the barrel or
look down a scope that's not gonna work
trying to play a game like Pavlov using
the cosmos
I was holding all my rifles out in front
of me because I couldn't use the Scopes
and then what if I didn't lose tracking
by putting the weapon up it would just
then float my hands would float there
and when I moved it away it would
definitely take a little bit before it
would bounce and relock into a position
more so then I was used to on the rift
side or that would make it playable in
game of course there's some blind spots
behind the headset as well you can
easily test this and some like tilt
brush
and try to draw a circle around your
head and I was actually not too
disappointed by this you lose a little
bit of the tracking like right behind
your head and the lines get all swig Li
and most of the time it would connect if
I was moving fast enough and connect my
drawn circle if I was moving really
slowly it would do some funky things
like push the line up to the ceiling and
then relock back in so the controller
tracking leaves a little bit to be
desired HCC has said that they're going
to be improving the tracking on the
controllers with software updates over
time so well just let's wait and see
until they actually deliver on that
promise now on to controller's
themselves they're also a big departure
from the HTC vive ones that came out
with the first HTC vive and the vive pro
and they actually look a lot like the
oculus touch controllers the new
versions that came out with the quest
and the rift s they are significantly a
heavier and bigger because they do take
two double-a batteries on each hand
which are included with the box and I
gave this to a couple people to use and
some people bigger hands actually like
the bigger heavier controllers organ ah
mcclee they do feel really good and you
have your standard array of buttons not
only the trigger buttons there's also
now shoulder buttons which default act
as trigger buttons and the big
difference between the shoulder and the
trigger is that the trigger button on
the bottom is an analog motion with a
click at the end much like on the vive
ones and the shoulder button is just a
click so actually gives you the option
to have either of those options if you
like more responsive click for a shooter
perhaps but no games right now do you
make discrete use of triggers and the
shoulders so I'm still waiting for that
on the top you have a thumb stick you
have two buttons and of course you have
the the vive button that then opens up
the vibe interface this new lens
interface for you to select by for games
or steam VR games I did like the thumb
stick has good range of motion and also
clicks in depresses across the entire
field of motion something which the
valve index controllers at least at
launch didn't exactly do but I think the
thumb sticks are not a great design I
really like the valve in next thumb six
and that they're kind of a Kong
cave at the top it's really nice to grip
onto and they bounce back really quickly
the the cosmos thumbstick if you're in a
game we're using one to do free
locomotion you wanted to press it for
running I actually found my thumb's
feeling pretty tired after you know 30
minutes of play and I really need to
take a break because the the motion
there plus the depressing requires a
little bit more force a little bit more
strain on my thumb than I liked there is
a grip button as well and it's very
similar to the oculus grip button using
your middle finger but it's not analog
so it is just a click and none of these
buttons have capacitive sensors like on
the oculus controllers or on the valve
index so there's no kind of enhanced
hand presence and you get with like the
CapSense capabilities of NX and so I'm
curious why HTC didn't try to
incorporate that this is a simple click
I always want to I want that analogue
motion because I want my virtual hands
to be able to see how I'm I'm slowly
closing them but them but instead
that's all relegated to the trigger on
the controllers battery life actually is
better than I expected we all fear that
it was about two hours of battery life
with the batteries that come with the
cosmos I was getting about four four and
a half hours and then I quickly swapped
them out and using my own rechargeables
I have at home so not a big concern for
me yes it's Falls much short of like the
10 15 plus hours you'd get on the rift
side and they're not built-in plug-in
rechargeables like on the index side but
if you buy some and loops that shouldn't
be a problem for you on the software
side HTC is also revamped the interface
you run this through vive port and when
you boot into the cosmos there's a whole
new environment that's much like their
version of the steamvr home environment
you get to walk around this this virtual
space you have this little home area you
can decorate and anytime you press the
vive logo the vive lens which like this
portal opens up and you can then select
your vibe port games cosmos does come
with a six month subscription so HTC's
vive port that's their all-you-can-eat
netflix style of VR game buffet so if
you're new to VR and there are plenty of
classic games there and new games there
like battle wake and to the top and some
really good games there it's it's a
pretty good value I think and getting
six months for that it's good but
there's also of course compatibility
with steamvr at least most games in
steamvr you can choose your steamvr
games directly from the seem very
interface or from the lens and if you
there isn't direct compatibility with
controllers yet people are uploading
their own bindings HTC the content team
there is doing that at a pretty good
pace as well it's not necessarily native
out of the box you might still have to
go into steamvr controller settings find
the right bindings that people have
uploaded and then incorporate that into
your favorite games tweak them to your
specifications and I found the
compatibility to be pretty good there so
the question at the end of the day is
you know with the changes that the HTC
has made with the cosmos because it is
such a big design and technology
departure from the vibe where does a
stand in this kind of end of first
generation class of VR headsets and you
think if it's right in the middle
between the rift s and the valve index
like if I was going into VR right now
and I only had 300 to 400 dollars to
spend four dollars gets you the rift
test which i think is a fantastic price
tracking is rock-solid updates that
oculus put out in terms of the blind
spots to controller this has really
solve a lot of those problems and if I
less than $400 windows because reality
is still there and great for sim games
the panel's are good and the tracking
that inside out tracking has been proven
that's good for the entry level on the
high end the valve index is still my
favorite desktop VR headset both from a
comfort side from the field of view that
144 Hertz I think it's totally worth the
money there and you can buy that
piecemeal as an upgrade path if you have
steamvr if the headset is $500 here that
leaves the cosmos in a weird spot
because it is $700 and you have to buy
that $700 with maybe the promise of
spending and hope of spending more money
to unlock the future capabilities
there's gonna be the ability to go back
to seeing VR and swap out this face
plate and then you steamvr tracking if
you have lighthouses but that's gonna
add another two hundred dollars if you
want to use wireless capability Wireless
is something HTC has done very well with
a vibe Pro and the wireless adapter
that's $200 and then you have to spend
$50 on accessory packets to make that
compatible with this which is something
that valve and oculus hasn't put out yet
so that's a potential customer base for
this but I think the base price of $700
is really where I'm getting hung up on
with the cosmos this really feels more
like a $500 headset especially if
they're expecting you to make those
upgrades to expand it in the future $700
plus you know $200 here $200 there to
unpack the full potential of the cosmos
I think is a little bit too high so
that's the status of HCC's kind of
flagship consumer VR headset with the
cosmos and I do think they're in a
little bit of a tough spot they were
early to market and they had a great
partnership with valve for the original
vibe which helped them you know cement
have a foothold in the VR space but it's
been a couple years later and Facebook
has unlimited money that they can put
into software and hardware design the
quest has done really well and on the
valve side they can experiment with
things like the knuckles controllers and
and they put out a really high-quality
headset they they don't necessarily need
to make money from HTC they're running
this is a business they do need to make
money from this I think that was what
went into their decision for this
pricing and that's where I think this
falls a little bit short I do wish them
the best of luck with this I do hope to
see improvements to the cosmos I do want
to see what those up raise down the line
will look at and that could very well
save this device from the future well
that does it for our look at the HTC
cosmos if you have questions about the
headset would love to hear them please
post them in the comments below but
we'll see you next time thanks for
watching
you
