5 things we need to do to create the perfect VR headset
Since Oculus created the Oculus Rift DK1, companies have been racing to improve upon it and create the perfect VR headset. With the VR industry expected to grow by 48.7% in the next 5 years, it’s about time we figure out how to make that perfect VR headset a reality, and we can start with these 5 things.
1. Increase the refresh rate
Increasing refresh rates should be our first priority. The problem with current headsets is that companies seem to be decreasing refresh rates rather than increasing them. The new Oculus Quest has a 72hz refresh rate compared to 80hz refresh rate of the Oculus Rift S, which is still even lower than the 90hz refresh rate of the CV1 released 3 years earlier. The HTC Vive Cosmos has the same 90hz refresh rate as the original vive. The Pimax 5K has an 85hz option and a 90hz option. These refresh rates are far lower than they should be in order to create the perfect VR headset. Although 60hz is considered somewhat playable without creating motion sickness, many people still experience motion sickness with these headsets at 72hz, 80hz, 85hz, and 90hz, and when you compare these refresh rates to computer monitors with 120hz, 144hz, and even 240hz options, it seems ridiculous that these refresh rates aren’t significantly higher. So, what should the refresh rate be in order to create the perfect VR experience? Thankfully, some headset manufacturers are increasing refresh rates, with the Valve Index maxing out at 144hz, and the PSVR headset maxing out at 120hz. For a perfect VR headset with the current technologies available, 144hz should be the industry standard.
2. Decrease the screen-door effect
After solving the issue of low refresh rates, we then need to decrease the screen-door effect. The screen-door effect occurs when the image displayed in the headset becomes extremely pixelated, almost as if you’re looking through a screen door. So, the obvious solution to this problem is to increase the resolution of the display, but many companies have come out with their own technologies to decrease the screen-door effect without having to drastically increase resolution. For example, the Samsung Odyssey+ only has a resolution of 1440x1600, but because of their reduced screen-door effect technology, they’re able to compete in terms of clarity with the HP Reverb, which has a drastically higher resolution of 2160 x 2160. However, although the results are similar, the HP Reverb is still noticeably sharper since the native resolution is still higher, regardless of any reduced screen-door effect technology. At the end of the day, these technologies can only do so much to reduce the effect. So, what should the resolution be in order to create the perfect VR experience? Well, Varjo was able to create a headset with the same resolution as the human eye, an incredible feat. They were able to do this by combining two 1920 x 1080 low persistence micro-OLEDs and two 1440 x 1600 low persistence AMOLEDs. This is a very innovative solution to this problem, and we should be making this solution the industry standard.
3. Increase the field of view
After increasing the refresh rate and decreasing the screen-door effect, the next step to creating complete immersion is increasing the field of view. One of the biggest issues with current VR headsets is the fact that you can see the sides of the headset when looking at the screen. This makes you feel like you’re looking at a virtual world through a cardboard box, or with thick glasses on rather than seeing through your own natural field of view. Obviously, this completely ruins the immersion of the headset as you’re constantly being reminded of the fact that the virtual world in front of you is just an image on a screen. The solution to this problem is to increase the field of view of the headset. Generally, VR headsets have a field of view of around 110 degrees (give or take a few degrees), with some headsets having significantly higher FOVs. These headsets include the Pimax 8K, the Pimax 5K, the StarVR One, the XTAL VR headset, and a few select others. These headsets have a field of view of around 170–210 degrees. That’s a massive jump, and that field of view is perfect for eliminating this problem. The only issue is that the only affordable headsets on this list come from Pimax. The other companies either target their headsets for professional use only or are far too expensive for any consumers to afford anyway. If we were able to make more consumer-friendly headsets with a 200-degree field of view, this problem would be eliminated.
4. Improve sound
So, now that we’ve fixed all visual problems, it’s time to improve our other senses, starting with sound. Let’s say that in the future we have applications that allow musicians to produce music in VR. Or maybe some consumers just happen to be audiophiles that love listening to music in VR. Perhaps you have a professional VR gamer that needs to be able to hear exactly where their enemies are in-game. For cases like these, the sound on VR headsets would need to be improved. Even for everyday cases, by improving the sound on the headset, the user would be far more immersed in the VR application. In order to do this, companies like Oculus, HTC, and Pimax should work with companies such as Audio Technica, Sennheiser, or Bose in order to engineer the sound on these headsets to be more accurate, more immersive, and have a higher frequency range. Although current headphones included with VR headsets perform fairly well, they don’t perform as well as the headphones manufactured by these companies, and can therefore be improved in order to create the perfect VR experience.
5. Improve comfort
Finally, once we’ve improved both sight and sound in the virtual world, we need to improve the comfort of the headset. With all these new additions we would need a larger screen, more advanced headphones (making them heavier), and maybe even an integrated CPU and GPU if we decide to make it completely untethered. This would make the headset extremely uncomfortable. In order to improve comfort, we would need to find a way to make our headset lighter, add more padding, and make it less bulky. Consumers won’t buy a headset if it’s uncomfortable, regardless of the technological advancements.
The Future
If we are able to meet all of these requirements, we would finally be able to create the perfect VR headset. But what if none of this matters? In the future, perhaps we’ll create VR glasses or even VR contact lenses! The future of VR is very, very exciting, and regardless of how it’s done, the perfect VR experience is on the horizon.
