All Mode
In this week’s series “The King of VR,” I am comparing the current King of virtual reality headsets, the Samsung Gear VR to HTC’s upcoming Google Daydream Standalone headset. So far, I have compared these headsets in terms of graphics and portability. In the graphics department, I have come to the conclusion that these headsets are pretty evenly matched while the new HTC stand-alone wins when it comes to overall portability.
Today, I will be comparing the tracking abilities of these headsets. Tracking is one of the most important parts of a virtual reality headset that developers have to get right. If a given headset’s tracking system does not work correctly, every image that is displayed will appear “off” and the user will probably experience virtual reality motion sickness. Fortunately, most headsets like the Gear VR and HTC’s new standalone headset use highly refined motion tracking technology. That said, there are important differences between the tracking technologies that are included in these headsets.
Image credit: Oculus
Gear VR Tracking
Although the Gear VR appears to be just a Samsungized Google Cardboard, it is not. When it comes to tracking technology, the Samsung Gear VR is much more sophisticated than your common everyday Google Cardboard headset. Working with Oculus, Samsung provides extra hardware and software for the Gear VR.
Instead of using cell phone motion sensors, The Gear VR uses an extra set of accelerometer sensors that are built into the headset itself. These sensors were customized for virtual reality applications. What are the differences between these sensors and regular cell phone accelerometers? These special sensors run at a much higher frequency thereby providing a high-resolution tracking solution than cell phone sensors.
HTC Stand Alone Headset. Image credit: Google
To take advantage of these extra sensitive sensors, Samsung worked with Oculus to provide a low-level software solution that works with the core Oculus software powering virtual reality apps from the Oculus store. All of this comes together to provide extra smooth headset tracking. It is easy to notice this smoothness when comparing the Gear VR to a Google Cardboard headset. The smoothness found in a Gear VR is comparable to super-expensive headsets like the Oculus or HTC Vive.
That said, these sensors only track the yaw, pitch, and the roll of a user’s head movement. This means that leaning into, away, or towards a virtual object is not possible. Headsets like the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive use external sensors to track extra movements like this.
HTC Tracking: Winner
Although HTC is keeping hush about details on its new headset, Google is saying that it will include its new WorldSense tracking system which will provide a better tracking solution than what is included in Samsung’s Gear VR. This system remains portable because it does not include any extra sensors that need to be attached to the environment. Instead, it uses camera sensors to detect objects which in turn are used to determine the headset’s orientation. This means beyond pitch, yaw, and roll, a user’s head can be tracked in more detail.
Image credit: Google
Daydream itself already runs at a Gear VR level of precision tracking. This is because Google’s software tricks make higher levels of accelerometer tracking possible with standard cell phone sensors. To conclude, building WorldSense on top of Daydream may end up providing consumers the best portable VR experience this Christmas when HTC’s new device is released.
i know that the htc standalone is a clear winner for me in most of the comparisons and overall as well. The fact that no smartphone required alone is enough reason for me to buy it.