HTC

Virtual Reality (VR) creates the experience of an environment that doesn’t really exist. It is created by a computer device - either a phone, tablet or PC that enables you to experience and interact with a 3D world. By putting on a head-mounted display and some form of input tracking, it will create an immersive, believable experience, allowing you to explore the virtual world being generated by the computer. Because the headset sits immediately in front of your eyes rather than at some distance like a monitor screen does, the experience is much more immersive as all other distracting surroundings are removed.

These accessories enable you to customise your VR setup with additional sensors and the like.

There are two main types of VR headset, PC-powered and standalone.

PC-powered VR headsets experience is mostly determined by the GPU with higher-spec models delivering smoother frame rates and better visual quality. You also get access to the PCs huge library of VR games and content. The down side is that this enhanced experience needs to be tethered (using an HDMI cable) to the PC to provide the higher quality experience, so overall costs will be higher.

Standalone VR offers great flexibility as the headset is wirelessly connected directly to the Internet and an app store or similar where VR applications can be accessed. No external device is required to create the VR environment (although a smartphone or tablet is needed to initially set-up the headset on first use), so costs are reduced. However, as all the processing is done in the headset, image quality may suffer.

Virtual Reality (VR) provides an added dimension when used in conjunction with professional graphics such as architecture and building development, component design or interactive training. The immersive experience allows the most realistic representation of the product or environment your projects and organisations are concerned with.

When using a high performance GPU-accelerated graphics workstation it is imperative that the VR headset you choose delivers the resolution and scale required to effectively view your virtual world, and that the software application(s) you are using supports the VR experience you require.