Three cool things you can do with…

VR HEADSETS

01 Watch live sports like never before

NextVR is the latest app designed specifically for watching sports via virtual reality, recreating the sights and sounds of some of your favourite events (including NASCAR, the US Open and the NBA). It’ll be a premium service, but being there, live, as a match or game unfolds will be truly groundbreaking stuff.

02

Tr avel the world, from home

Ever wanted to visit some of the world’s far-flung wonders but struggled to find the time or cash? Well, VR is providing the tourism industry with a perfect way to show off some incredible locations. For instance, The Wild Within (pictured) recreates the experience of rafting and hiking through the wilds of British Columbia.

03 Turn your headset into a home cinema

In an age when streaming reigns supreme, turning your headset into a virtual cinema has mega appeal. Netflix has already been confirmed for the Samsung Gear VR and the Oculus Rift (with other headsets to follow), while apps such as VR Cinema for Google Cardboard (pictured) give movies a new dimension.

T3 is here to tell you everything you need to know about virtual reality, from the different kinds of headset to the apps and software being tailored for this brave new wave of entertainment and education.

So where do you start? Well, a strong constitution can help (having your eyes

and ears isolated and thrown into truly immersive experiences takes some getting used to), but the good news is that you don’t need to drop a huge wad of cash to get your VR fix. In fact, you just need a decent-ish smartphone, a cardboard headset and a few apps to get a taste of the action.

Google Cardboard

“Wait, did you say cardboard?” we hear you cry. Yes, Google Cardboard is one of the most affordable options when it comes to virtual reality. Unveiled in 2014 at Google I/O (the company’s annual tech and software conference), the search giant’s contribution to the burgeoning virtual-reality market is by far the most accessible.

The set-up is simple: take almost any Android-based smartphone and purchase a compatible cardboard holder (they cost from £2.99 to £29.99, depending on which retailer you opt for). Alternatively, you can make your own – download a template from bit.ly/1KYi8xZ. As well as the cardboard, you’ll need some magnets, a rubber band and a pair of 40mm focal-distance lenses.

With this kind of headset, the bulk of the work is done by your phone’s gyroscopes and sensors. They track the movement of your

head, changing the picture on the screen accordingly; this is then projected to your eyes by the lenses inside the headset. You’ll first need to download some Cardboard VR apps, and the good news is that there are hundreds of free ones in the Google Play Store. These range from interactive games that respond to your head movements and voice commands (though these are a little limited at present), through photographic apps that drop you into incredible panoramic vistas from around the world, to music performances you can ‘walk around’ in 360-degree freedom – check out the Paul McCartney app to see him performing Live And Let Die. All of these apps are projected as two distinct images through the lenses. Of course, since these headsets are built of cardboard and often poor-quality lenses, the experience can be somewhat limited. Spend a little bit more money, though, and it radically improves…

Samsung Gear VR

Created in collaboration with Oculus, Samsung’s Gear VR is the most well-rounded headset on the market right now, and has an RRP of just £80. Like the cardboard headsets, this system uses your smartphone, though it’s only compatible with the Samsung Galaxy Note, the S6, the S6 Edge and the S6 Edge+. It projects these phones’ Super AMOLED display to your eyes via optical lenses that have a 96-degree field of view. As well as offering better vision than a cardboard headset, ease of use is improved by a touchpad and a back button on the side, which means you don’t have to keep taking your phone in and out to select options. The Gear VR is also a feathery light 318g, so it won’t cause neckache.

There’s an entire bespoke suite of apps built exclusively for the Gear VR. While Milk VR is only available in the US right now, it’s filled with VR demos including museum and gallery tours. But for T3, it’s the immersive streaming tech in the Gear VR that’s most exciting. It enables you to stream video, including regular 2D Netflix and fully immersive live streams of sports events such as the NBA season opener. The service is currently available for $199 (£130) from bit.ly/1Btaqst.

Microsoft HoloLens

Following in the footsteps of Microsoft’s disappointing Kinect motion tracker for

the Xbox, the company’s HoloLens headset has understandably been met with skepticism among tech and gaming fans. But T3 has tried it – most recently to see Volvo cars floating before our eyes – and we can report that it’s one of the most exciting prospects to come out of the new VR industry. HoloLens also offers a unique experience that no other VR headset can provide at the moment - a cross between virtual and augmented reality.

So what does that actually mean? Well, rather than presenting an isolated image or video feed through a display, HoloLens projects a 120-degree landscape of 3D imagery. In other words, with nothing more than a headset, you can explore ‘holographic’ worlds in Minecraft in your back garden, or perhaps the surface of Mars from the safety of your kitchen. And it doesn’t require a smartphone or a PC, either - a bespoke

Even Netflix is currently developing an Oculus Rift friendly app

Windows 10 OS is built into the battery-run headset. The price is yet to be confirmed.

HTC Vive

An unusual addition to the coming VR pantheon, the Vive is a collaboration between Taiwanese smartphone/tablet manufacturer HTC and US videogame-developer-turned-PC-gaming-platform-creator Valve. The big selling point here is its exclusive use of Steam - a gaming platform that enables you to buy, update and track the progress of your PC gaming collection. Steam has revolutionised gaming on PC, so it has the potential to offer a huge selection of games alongside the usual non-interactive demos and footage.

The HTC Vive is a little heavier than the previous headsets mentioned, so has two additional straps. However, it does offer some impressive hardware stats - alongside 70 sensors that track 360 degrees of head motion, the Vive has a 90Hz refresh rate, meaning it’ll keep down latency and ensure you’re viewing a smooth, un-stuttery presentation. The headset is due out in April – be sure to visit htcvr.com, as it’s slated for a limited run.

Sony PlayStation VR

Once written off much like the Microsoft HoloLens (mainly because its last attempt at an unusual peripheral, the motion-controller PS Move, fell flat on its face), the PlayStation VR is quickly becoming the most talked-about headset on the market. Despite coming from Japanese electronics giant Sony, the headset formerly known as Project Morpheus has been branded with the PlayStation name for a reason - this headset is all about the games. Sony also invested a considerable amount of money in a sound studio for the PlayStation VR, so the headset contains a 3D positional system that creates a rich environment of sound all around you.

Set for release in the spring of next year, the PlayStation VR offers a 5.7-inch OLED display, with Sony promising reduced motion blur. Add to that a 120Hz refresh rate and you’ve got one gorgeous-looking display that can, potentially, play games at a supersmooth 120fps. Sony is also producing a considerable library of first- and third-party games, including ace space-combat sim EVE:

Valkyrie and open-world puzzle/exploration game The Witness. It’s also important to note that the PS VR is tethered to Sony’s powerful PlayStation 4 console, so you’ll not only be using head movements to control your VR experience, you’ll also use the comfortable DualShock 4 controller and the oft-forgotten Wii Remote-style PS Move peripheral.

Oculus Rift

If there’s one headset that’s become synonymous with the VR renaissance, it’s the Oculus Rift. It also happens to be the project Mark Zuckerberg poured $2billion of investment into. Convinced that VR is here to stay now? Originally funded via Kickstarter, the Oculus Rift is the most powerful VR headset soon heading to market, enabling you to play games and enjoy interactive demos with stereo sound and a crisp OLED screen.

The downside is that it’ll need to plug directly into your PC’s DVI and USB ports (hey, that juice needs to come from somewhere), meaning you’ll be a little tethered in your movements. However, there are plenty of upsides: games include huge hits such as Minecraft and Elite:

Dangerous (another space-combat sim), and there will also be support for an Xbox One controller so you can keep gaming with traditional physical feedback. Even Netflix has confirmed that an Oculus Rift-friendly app is in development.

There’s no price as yet for the Oculus Rift – watch this space for more information. But for T3, it’s one of the most exciting headsets we’ve ever used.