Do I need a whole room for VR gaming, or could I use my study?

How much physical room do I need for VR gaming? Is my study enough?

Question by Mac from United States | Answered by in Gaming on

I'm super interested in VR gaming on the PC - it seems to be all we hear about now.

I'm a big FPS gamer, I am totally into Battlefield 4. So, my question, well questions, relates to VR. Firstly, am I going to need a whole new dedicated room in my home for VR gaming or could I just game in VR in my study as I do now? I'm concerned about bumping into my desk and chairs etc.

The second part of the question, do I have to game in VR when standing up to gain the best experience? I mean, what if I just sat down on my chair as usual and gamed in VR? I'm a keyboard and mouse guy, and I think it would take a lot of adjustment or feel strange to game while standing up.

I'd love to hear your opinions here. I'm ready to pull the trigger on a new VR rig and VR equipment, but I want to know what you think first.

Hey there Mac,

This is a great question, and definitely something that everyone needs to think about. I've just spent the past week at the Game Developers Conference where I tried every VR experience I could. From the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift to the PlayStation VR and even a few in between.

Do I need a whole room for VR gaming, or could I use my study? | TweakTown.com

In my opinion, there will be two options for you. The first, is the sit-down VR experience, where you won't need much more room than you use for PC gaming now. You'll need somewhere for the little box attached to the Vive or Rift, and the headset itself when it's not on your head - but other than that the VR experience while sitting down is great.

I can see many people going for the seated experience, and there are, and will be countless more VR games made for the seated VR experience. But... the whole room VR that the HTC Vive is capable of, is truly something else - and if you've got the room, you won't regret it.

I played some awesome games at GDC 2016 like Budget Cuts and Valve's 'The Lab' which made use of the entire room. Not once did I bang myself into a chair or the wall, as the Vive has a 'grid overlay' when you get near a wall or object in the real-world.

This stops you from hurting yourself, or damaging something in your room - but the benefits of the whole room VR experience outweigh it all. Walking around in the VR world, as well as the real-world, creates a sense of presence that makes you feel like you're there - instead of sitting down, and walking around in VR.

Sitting down and walking around in games has become our lives now, and it feels normal - but when you stand up and you're on your feet walking around in real life... as well as the VR world, it really does a great job of tricking your brain into thinking you're there... right there in the VR world, except your legs in the real-world are moving, your arms are moving, your entire body is moving.

Don't worry - I'm a mouse and keyboard guy too, and the adjustment period for standing up and gaming comes quite naturally. Once you do it a few times you get used to it quickly, and then you don't want to sit down and play boring games with the mouse and keyboard - you want to keep going, and play as many VR games as possible.

But I think the seated VR experience is still needed, as you would get tired walking around for hours and hours in the VR world - but it is just walking (usually slowly) around the VR world. The experience though, is unlike anything you've ever tried.

My opinion - go for the whole room experience, and grab yourself the HTC Vive.

Last updated: Nov 3, 2020 at 07:10 pm CST

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