Hey Everyone,
Vinayak here,
Ohh boy,
We have something really special today!
In an earlier video, we spoke about all types
of VR options earlier (you can check the video
in the link above) - most of them used your
phone to provide basic virtual reality.
But what we are about to unbox today is the
‘baap of VR devices’ - the HTC Vive.
So if you are the type who would gladly take
the Red Pill and enter the matrix - you are
gonna love this!
Let’s dive right in!
The HTC Vive is a major competitor in the
PC based Virtual reality space, pitting itself
against the Oculus Rift and microsoft's own
mixed reality headsets.
The Vive’s Room scale is the feature that
gives the Oculus a run for it’s money.
So let's get to unboxing the HTC Vive, there’s
just so much packing all around.
The seller has added a small box of converter
plugs so as to be able to convert the American
plugs to indian.
At last here’s the box of the Vive, opening
it up we find the main components of the kit,
which are two light boxes , two controllers
, and the main headset itself which comes
pre attached with the 3 in one cable.
Diving into the box we have a smaller one
which contains the accessories, such as this
link box, which is used to connect the vive
to the pc.
One side has VR marked and the other side
is marked PC.
Will show how its used when setting up.
Then we have a face foam cushion, this is
an extra one, the vive already has one installed.
We have a cleaning cloth, which is the only
reccomened way you clean the lenses.
We have a hdmi cable, a 
USB cable , some Vive stickers, power adapter
for the link box, this is where you would
use the converter if you dont have a socket
that supports the american plug.
A sticky pad to keep the link box in place.
Earphones to connect to the vive, for audio.
Then under we have the mounting bracket instructions,
more power adapters for the light boxes,
A Viveport redeem code, for two months of
viveport susbcription, which allows for dowloading
upto 5 participating titles every month.
A sync cable, when installing the lightboxes,
if they have a problem seeing each other the
sync cable can be used to um sync them?
The controllers use a micro usb cable for
charging which are included with their corresponding
adapters.
This is the Vive, from the outside it looks
similar to most VR headsets.
But there’s just so much technology crammed
into it.
Unlike the mobile based VR headsets this has
inbuilt screens, which are at a resolution
of 1200x1080 per eye.
Attached to the Vive is the three in one cable
which gets it’s video signal, usb connection
and power from and is of a very respectable
length.
These are the controllers, two are included
and they have an internal rechargeable battery.
There are buttons and also a direction pad
on the top which are used for opening the
menu and also navigation in the virtual world.
On the bottom is a trigger for selecting items
on the menu or in app.
These are the tracking sensors or lightboxes
as they’re called as they give out laser
light to pinpoint and track your location.
The lightboxes have a tripod mount on the
back and also below the device, behind are
the power port, channel selector and a micro
usb port used when you need to update the
firmware.
Ok, now i’ve to mount these sensors max
15 feet apart and as i dont want to put holes
in the wall, using command tape by 3M.
The vive does include mounting screws, for
the mounting brackets.
The mounting brackets are made of plastic,
with a metal mount screw, which is similar
to a tripod screw.
So if you have extra tripods lying around
you can also use them.
These are the locations i have selected to
mount the boxes, diagonally across each other.
So one down, lets mount the Lightbox on it.
You need to screw in the lightbox not tightly
but reasonable enough, then use the wingnut
provided to tighten from the other side.
Similarly the other lightbox too has to be
installed.
Angle them to point in the same direction
and at each other.
I was not very confident with mounting with
only command tape so i also used M-seal around
the mounting brackets just to be safe.
I know the installation is Jugaad, but i didnt want to put holes in the wall
When powered on, make sure to select the channel
b on one device and C on the other.
This is when in wireless mode, if you need
to use the sync cable, we set one to A and
the other to B
Now we get to the breakout box, this is the
interface between the PC and the Vive headset.
Plugin a HDMI cable, USB and the power on
the PC side, and the 3 in one cable from the
vive on the side marked VR.
So that was the installation, now we need
to set it up.
We install Steam VR on the PC and we setup
the devices.
I kept getting an error that the compositor
was not working, as i have GTX 1060, the card
only has one HDMI port, the others are all
Display ports, and i needed the hdmi for full
ultrawide resolution on my monitor else i
got only 1080p.
The displayport to the link box was not providing
the appropriate signals to start up the display
on the headset.
So i temporarily connected the hdmi to the
headset, and the displayport to the monitor,
and continued the setup.
I purchased a mini display port to displayport
cable which when it arrives will be able to
test if it works with it.
Now everything was working , so i calibrated
the are for VR, following the instructions.
Please don’t mind the mess, this is the
part of the room most of you don’t get to
see in my videos.
:-)
Everything’s setup, so let’s test it out.
Room scale couldn’t work in my room as i
needed even more space, so i set it up for
standing use.
But i found i could still move around in the
room , but the vive wouldn’t provide me
with the virtual walls that generally appear
to indicate if you’re walking too close
to the walls.
Now that everything is setup let's fire up
something to test.
First lets check out the Steam Lab, a free
game from valve, which showcases the features
available in VR.
There are multiple scenarios to choose from,
one where we play with a robotic dog, another
where we protect our castle.
My son enjoyed Xortex 26xx which is a shooter,
where we need to shoot all the approaching
crafts, while protecting your ship.
The action is fast paced and the controllers
don't seem to show any sort of lag.
Let's check out beat saber which is one of
the most popular rhythm based games available
for VR.
The game is basically boxes that fly at you
which need to be cut down using the lightsaber
like controls, and the boxes have to be sliced
in a particular direction as arrow markings
indicate.
The ones with a circle in the center just
needs us to slice through a little harder.
We also scaled mount Everest in the app aptly
named Everest.
The Vive also has a camera which can be used
to display your surroundings in front of you.
Even though Occulus was first to release a
VR headset, Valve and HTC have accomplished
quite a lot working together, setting the
standard on the direction for VR to take.
With the room scale feature the vive allows
for more motion than what the other headsets
afford.
The immersion on this headset was so good
it was scary, even without running a horror
game.
With a hefty price tag for the Vive and the
requirement to have an equally expensive pc
to be able to churn out the graphics to feed
it, this might not be for everyone.
But VR is incredible, if you can't get a device
of your own, i would still suggest trying
it out at the malls, where for a price you
can play the same titles.
So thats it from me, thanks for watching and
see you all next time.
