There's no denying that 2016 is going to be the year we see numerous new releases into the VR market and the Rift already has some competition. Obviously, the PC-based Rift isn't going to be for everyone but there are some notable front runners trying to compete against Oculus. HTC Vive HTC's thrust into the virtual reality world is still in its final development stages with the current working title going under the name of 'HTC Vive Pre' and it sizes up to the Rift quite nicely with the consumer version planning to take pre-orders from February 29th. CEO Cher Wang told the Telegraph the company had chosen to refocus on virtual reality (VR) and away from smartphones, saying they company was now "more realistic". Its defining feature is being fully free-roaming, meaning you aren't limited to sitting down or walking around a small space, instead using a forward facing camera and technology called Chaperone, which is supposed to stop you from walking into walls. What you get is a thermal view of your surroundings whenever necessary, and its camera is a great tool for creating completely enclosed virtual worlds. In addition, developers will be able to create digital elements on top of real life, which means there could be more integration further afield than gaming i.e. virtual cooking lessons in your home or even virtual house tours for estate agents. The Rift and Vive share a few similar features, most notably the same OLED display, but the hardware of these headsets isnt everything. Consumer decisions will most likely be influenced by price, ease of use and the games playable on each. PlayStation VR Sony's attempt into the VR world has had some mixed reviews, but if you put PlayStation VR together with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, it's going to come in last, in more ways than one. The device is connected to a significantly less powerful PS4, for a start, and you are comparing it to a high-end gaming PC on the Rift as you need to run at least a GTX 970 GPU video card. In terms of display, Sony's has a lower resolution of 960 x 1080 per eye while the Rift and the HTC Vive run 1080 x 1200 per eye. Another downside is the PlayStation Move controllers, like Oculus Touch and the Vive controllers, PS Move lets you have hands inside first-person experiences, but the five year-old form factor isn't keeping up with the other two. The upside of the PlayStation VR would be affordability, as a Rift-ready PC starts at around $900, that's in addition to the $599 Oculus. If you don't already own a PS4, the VR will require around $350 for the console on top of whatever the headset costs, so even if the PS VR ends up costing $200 more than the Rift, the total package would still be $350 cheaper than a Rift bundled with a PC.
