VR headset Oculus CV1

Unboxing

I have the maximum package, and the box is very large. Previously, the package included a headset, one camera, an Xbox controller, and a small remote. My set includes two original controllers and two cameras along with the headset.

The plastic body is covered with fabric, which looks quite unique and protects moving parts from dust.

Initial Setup

All cables are long. The headset comes with a 4-meter cable. The cameras have 2.5-meter cables. The distance between the camera sensors is about a meter (placed at the ends of the table). I am about half a meter to a meter away from the sensors. It’s comfortable enough, but if I spread my arms, the sensors lose track of my controllers. It would be nice to have more space.

It’s not recommended to bring the controllers close to your face, as this blocks the LEDs on the headset and causes the “horizon” to shift. This issue is nearly nonexistent with the Vive, which has the advantage here. The response speed to controller movement in space is quite comfortable. Compared to HTC Vive controllers, I’d say, “I know it can be better, but it’s still quite good here.” I noticed that Oculus controllers are tricky to pick up blindly. The plastic ring makes it hard to tell if you’ve picked up the right or left one or if it’s facing the right way. With Vive, the controllers are universal—once you pick one up in your right hand, the system registers it as the right one. However, one thing Vive lacks is virtual hands. Here, the “hands” are basic and simple, but they do add a level of interactivity to VR, which is often lacking.

When you hold the controllers, the infrared sensors (located near your fingers) try to detect where your index and thumb are. If your thumb isn’t on the button, it’s considered raised. If the index finger isn’t on the trigger, it’s assumed to be straight. When you press the bottom trigger, it means the rest of your fingers are clenched. This way, if you press the top button, side, and bottom trigger at the same time, the virtual hand forms a fist or grabs something. If you release all your fingers (risking the controller falling out of your hand), an open palm is displayed, allowing you to wave. In Oculus games, the controllers let you grab, wave, press buttons with your index finger, give a thumbs-up, or “shoot” with a finger like a pistol. These actions need to be done carefully, as there can be occasional misfires. But, wow, it’s cool!

What the Native Software Can Do

The installer requires an internet connection and downloads about 1.7 GB of installation files. It then asks you to register with Facebook. This registration doesn’t require adding friends, uploading photos, or anything like that—just “email… password… next.”

Now, onto the issue. Oculus devices require a USB 3.0 connection, but not all USB controllers are supported. It’s said that sometimes the sound doesn’t work, or the connected camera sensors aren’t recognized. In my case, both of the included sensors didn’t work, so I had to connect them via USB 2.0. That solved the problem. I haven’t noticed any issues with tracking accuracy using two sensors. Perhaps the accuracy should be higher, but I’ll check this on another computer.

By the way, when installing Oculus Home, a video is shown, which mentions that it’s better to choose “Relax” content rather than “Intense.” I would also recommend limiting the first experience to just one minute. After removing the headset, beginners may feel dizzy or nauseous. Anyone with vision problems, motion sickness, or who is easily affected should test compatibility with the headset in-store or with friends before purchasing.

Oculus Home version 1.17.0.424527 was installed. In this program, I found Oculus Video and about a dozen free games. The most interesting and optimized for controllers is Robo Recall. You can grab, throw, and hit.

Watching Videos in the Headset

There’s the built-in Oculus Video app, where you can watch Facebook 360 videos, Twitch, interactive videos (downloaded as apps), and your own videos. It’s not immediately obvious, but your “own video” will only show up if it’s in the user profile’s Video folder. If you have stereo or 3D video, you need to add “3D_LR” (3D_RL or 3D_TB if it’s side-by-side or top-bottom) to the title. For panoramic videos, the title should include “180” or “360“. As a cherry on top, the Video app doesn’t work with controllers. There’s no interface or controls. You have to look at the video from the list, press Enter, and it starts playing. Press Esc to exit. That’s it—high-tech! Fortunately, I found a free DeoVR video player among the apps, which has proper, user-friendly controls. Now I just need to find the right videos, which is a bit challenging.

For stereo videos (SBS and OU), I didn’t notice a volume effect. For decent image quality in the headset, you’ll need 2K video with a good bitrate. This applies to 180° and 360° videos too. In the headset, they look like YouTube videos at 480p quality.

Oculus Home also supports voice commands. Surprisingly, the headset has a microphone located near the nose. The app is currently in the beta channel and can recognize a few voice commands. This feature is called Oculus Voice. The supported commands are “Hey, Oculus,” “Cancel That,” “Find,” “Launch,” and “Recenter.” I haven’t tested it yet, especially since…

Steam

Oculus Home is good, but not particularly interesting. There aren’t many games, and it has a feature for communicating with VR Facebook friends. But I want more—so, I’ll head to Steam. Here, you need to read the manuals. I’d heard that Oculus works well with Steam, but when launching any game, you need to put on the headset. The presence sensor immediately launches Oculus Home, which then shows its own home screen in the headset, while the game is idling, thinking it’s visible in the headset. I turned to the internet for instructions. It turns out that, in addition to checking the [allow unknown sources] box, you also need to switch to beta updates, and select the [Public Test Channel] in the newly appeared beta menu. Now, the list of games for Oculus can include third-party games. I haven’t figured out exactly how to add them, but the SteamVR icon now appears. I can now launch Steam games as follows: put on the headset, select the SteamVR game from the virtual menu, wait for Steam Home to start, and choose the game in Steam. Then, you can launch the Steam browser or even return to the desktop.

SteamVR doesn’t require reconfiguring the headset. After setting up the “room” in Oculus Home, I get the same configuration in Steam. This means the headset only needs drivers in the system, and Steam takes care of the rest, from camera calibration to rendering the IMD scale in the glasses. Steam automatically detects the active headset and launches games in VR mode. To get rid of the constantly popping up Oculus Home, you can simply set “always require running as administrator” in the settings for the OculusVR.exe file.

Test Configuration

I tested the headset on two computers.

1. Configuration 1: Core i5 3xxx | 16GB RAM | 256GB SSD | GTX 1070 | Windows 7 64x
   This is my home computer, with plenty of space near the desk. I placed the sensor cameras near the wall and spread them about a meter apart. As mentioned, everything connected via USB 2.0. The cameras must be directed parallel to the wall or another flat surface, and they can’t be turned relative to each other by any angle. For example, you can’t mount them at the corners of the room; the calibration program requires them to face the same direction. Also, I don’t recommend turning too far away from the cameras—stay within their view. The manufacturer allows up to three cameras, but advises placing the third one on the side (you need at least two cameras to see you). In comparison, HTC’s setup is much more sophisticated, with two properly mounted laser lidars that cover all your needs and even map the furniture boundaries in the virtual world.
2. Configuration 2: Core i5 6xxx | 16GB RAM | 512GB SSD | GTX 1070 | Windows 10 64x
   This is my work computer, with limited space on the desk. I placed the sensors wherever possible, standing at arm’s length from them. Everything connected via USB 3.0, and I didn’t notice any difference from USB 2.0. Due to the close placement of the sensors, I received many positioning errors. The image was sometimes skewed, or I was detected as a dwarf. Strangely, the sound in the headset only worked after restarting the computer. Another oddity was that Steam games started appearing in Oculus Home here, whereas at home, only SteamVR was added to Oculus Home, and I had to manually launch Oculus, then Steam, and finally the game.

What to Play

At this point, I have no idea how I’ll use the headset in daily life. I knew what I was getting into. I’ve already tested the OSVR and HTC Vive headsets, so I was simply curious to try the Oculus. I know that VR headsets require specially designed VR games. Many genres, such as shooters or MOBAs, don’t integrate well into this ecosystem. However, car, aviation, or space simulators will certainly find a crowd of dedicated fans here. Too bad, I’m not one of them.

I played shooters like Doom, CS, and Overwatch in the headset. The virtualization was limited to displaying the image on a huge virtual screen. After intense battles, it can get pretty hot, my eyes are often red, and my face sometimes itches (from the foam), but the immersion effect is there. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if I never play CS in a headset again, constantly feeling around for an invisible keyboard. It’s not very comfortable for another reason as well—you have to move away from the desk to be within the view of two sensor cameras, so it would be ideal to have a wireless keyboard/mouse. Otherwise, I could just skip the hassle and go back to smashing robots in Robo Recall.

When it comes to optimized VR games, it really depends on the “depth” of the implementation. Sometimes, they simply display the image in the headset and leave it at that, with no understanding of my controllers, requiring an Xbox gamepad instead. I came across games that claim to be Oculus-compatible, but completely fail to recognize my controllers.

Conclusions

The Oculus CV1 is a high-quality and well-thought-out headset. The only thing I didn’t like was the foam padding around the edge. It collects hair and dust, which then gets into my eyes. Also, after wearing the foam, I sometimes experience skin irritation. It would be better if the cameras were mounted higher and more securely, as any misalignment or obstruction by objects won’t be good. And the USB 3.0 issue is quite strange. Otherwise, (especially if you use Steam instead of the native store), the headset competes very well with the HTC Vive in terms of both the setup and image quality, especially with such a price.

That’s all from me. I’m happy to have helped in your decision-making.