Oculus Touch vs Vive
The virtual reality (VR) technology has introduced a new way for developers to present their games to their customers. Unlike traditional user interfaces, VR places the user inside a simulated environment. By simulating as many senses as possible, most notably vision and hearing but also touch and even smell, your personal computer can be transformed into a gatekeeper to the artificial digital world. There are more and more games coming up with VR support in order to bring a more vivid and immersive experience to the players.
Of course, if you want to play those VR games, you need to have a VR system in the first place. Right now, there are two dominating products on the market, which are Oculus Touch and HTC Vive. In a previous article, we talked about the comparisons between Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. This time, however, we are going to focus our comparisons between Oculus Touch and HTC Vive. If you are confused in choosing between these two VR controllers, find your answer below.
Overview
Oculus Rift started as a Kickstarter project in 2012. It was among the very first products that bring the VR technology to the gaming landscape. The Kickstarter project was successful, and Oculus Rift was launched with great reception. In 2014, Facebook purchased the company. Facebook has continued the development of Oculus Rift since then. (Have a look : HTC Vive vs Oculus Rift)
However, Oculus Rift does not include the motion controllers. If you want to experience full body motion control in your games, you need to purchase Oculus Touch. Not only that; in order to make Oculus Touch controllers function properly, you need to purchase and install a third Constellation sensor to the system.Without Oculus Touch and the third Constellation sensor, your VR experience with Oculus Rift wouldn’t be complete.
HTC Vive, on the other hand, includes everything you need for the complete VR experience in every box, including the Vive motion controllers. You cannot buy HTC Vive without the Vive controllers. The entire platform is made for the idea of reaching out your hands to interact with the world. As a matter of fact, HTC Vive introduces motion controllers first to the gaming world, so Oculus Touch is Oculus Rift’s competition to catch up with the competition. However, the price of HTC Vive is higher than a bundle of Oculus Rift with Oculus Touch controllers.
Both Oculus Rift and HTC Vive run with Windows computers. However, macOS now finally supports HTC Vive, too, allowing Apple users to enjoy some VR experience as well. Oculus Rift, unfortunately, is not bringing any macOS support any time soon.
Oculus Touch vs. Vive: Design and Quality
The Vive controller is the largest of all models available on the market. It has a sensor ring at the top. The ring is covered in sensors that function to pick up the laser signals broadcasted by the Vive Lighthouses. The system provides a high level of accuracy. Under the ring, you can find a large touchpad where you place your thumb, a trigger, and special grip buttons which you activate by squeezing the controller.
The Vive controllers feel somewhat clumsy at first. However, you can get used to them after some time. The controllers have good build quality. They sturdy and durable enough; they won’t break upon accidental smacks.
Oculus Touch controllers, by far, are the most elegant-looking and feature-complete in the market. The controller fits well in the hand and wraps around the knuckle, providing you access to several buttons, a pair of joysticks, and four triggers. But that’s not all. The first trigger and joystick are able to detect when they are in touch with your fingers, creating “hand presence”. It basically allows your virtual avatar in the game to mimic your finger movements. The build quality is good.
Oculus Touch vs. Vive: Features and Compatible Games
Vive controllers have been criticized by some gamers because they are not able to track the player’s fingers. Some games even are not able to show the player’s hands at all. When you are unable to see your hands, it is very easy to accidentally smack your head or smack the two controllers altogether. Luckily, not all games are like that, and the controllers are durable enough.
Oculus Touch is more convenient to use because the games are able to show your hands when playing, thanks to the touch detection sensors. They don’t really give finger-by-finger detection, but you will be surprised by how responsive they are. Besides, you can still show your thumb movements. Good enough to taunt other players in multiplayer games. In addition, the joysticks and buttons provided on the controllers are very convenient to use.
HTC Vive has about fifty-something launch window games, though many of them are also available for other VR headsets. However, we should not forget that Steam, the largest game platform, has native support for HTC Vive, so we can expect VR developers to bring more. Note that Bethesda is bringing Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Doom exclusively to HTC Vive on PC!
On the other hand, there are at least 30 Oculus Rift and 53 Oculus Touch launch games, and there are more and more titles coming up. The numbers are definitely going to be significantly higher by the end of 2017. Early buyers are graced with two of the best in-pack games, Lucky’s Tale and Eve: Valkyrie. Other notable titles include Chronos, Star Trek: Bridge Crew, Radial-G: Racing Revolved, and Pinball FX2 VR. Basically, every HTC Vive game is now compatible with Oculus Rift if you have Oculus Touch as the controllers.
Conclusion
In general, Oculus Rift and Oculus Touch seem to be a better value for the money right now. Oculus Touch controllers have better design and features. Besides, most HTC Vive games are also playable using Oculus Touch. However, if you want to play some VR games on macOS, HTC Vive is the way to go. In addition, you may want to consider that Steam has native support for HTC Vive, and three of the greatest Bethesda games are coming exclusively to HTC Vive. Being able to experience the Dragonborn’s perspective in VR is certainly very attractive!