Confused when people talk about virtual reality? VR isn’t as complicated as it may first sound, and it’s not a far flung future technology – it’s something you can buy and use in your home today.
You can buy virtual reality technology on shop shelves now and John Lewis has an extensive range of gadgets that means you can jump into virtual world and get some of the best experiences currently on the market.
So what exactly is virtual reality? Often referred to as VR, virtual reality is essentially a computer generated simulation to put you into a 360 degree environment that you can look around and sometimes even explore.
Virtual reality technology can make you feel like you’re exploring the other side of the planet, give you great gaming experiences or even help you learn from the comfort of your own home.
Some headsets are able to live stream concerts or sporting events so you can feel like you’re really there rather than just watching it on your TV or there are even apps that allow you to explore different beautiful locations and landmarks around the world.
You may have also heard of two other terms when speaking about virtual reality, which are augmented reality and mixed reality. Those are slightly different to virtual reality, but each sits within the same family of VR tech.
Augmented reality is when computer generated experiences are overlaid on top of the real world, so it’s not such an immersive experience as virtual reality but it will offer you extra information when looking at something in real life.
Mixed reality is a combination of these two technologies. It’s more immersive than augmented reality, but it still includes the real life elements that you get with it to offer an experience that looks different to the real world around you.
This may all sound like tech from a sci-fi film, but the great news is it’s not. High street retailer John Lewis offers up a variety of different VR headsets and experiences that you can today.
One of the more limited yet affordable options is the Samsung Gear VR, which has is a portable option that you’ll need a smartphone to be able to use. You can plug the phone in to act as the screen, but the headset and controller allows you to play games and watch films.
If you’ve got a bit more money to spend, there’s the PlayStation VR that will connect up to your PlayStation 4 or PS4 Pro.
This one is particularly good for gaming experiences with titles like adventure game Farpoint, shooter Super Hot VR and robot battling RIGS Mechanised Combat League being the highlights.
The top-end tech comes from Oculus and HTC in the form of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive (or Vive Pro), but for this you’ll need to have a computer with the minimum spec to be able to run it. Luckily John Lewis has you covered by offering PCs and laptops that will be able to run the headsets, but this can mean it’s more expensive than the other options.
The HTC Vive Pro is the most high-tech headset on the market right now, and that includes room tracking so you can play games or enter experiences in a space in your home. It means you’re able to walk around in the space and be tracked in the game while you explore.
Oculus Rift offers a similar level of quality but the room tracking is a little more limited so you won’t be able to move around the space as much for when you’re playing games. That said, it’s half the price of the HTC Vive Pro.
Want a gaming PC that you can use with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive? John Lewis has them readily available now, and the list of recommendations include the HP Omen 15-inch laptop, HP Omen 17-inch laptop, HP Pavilion desktop PC, Dell Inspiron 15-inch laptop, Dell XPS 8900 desktop PC or this Alienware Gaming PC.
All of those are capable of running games for the HTC Vive Pro or the Oculus Rift, and can be bought from John Lewis right now. That makes it easy to kit yourself out with a top-end virtual reality system even though you may have thought this technology was at least a few years away.
