This is a hands on look at a brand new VR headset from Zeiss called the VR One – I’m going to show you around the headset and the apps it comes with.
I ordered this very promising headset from Zeiss as soon as I heard about it, because I was interested in a headset that focused on the optics. If you’ve ever heard of Carl Zeiss, then you’ll know that the brand is synonymous with high quality lenses, and when one of the main challenges for VR headsets is the visual factor, it made complete sense that a company like Zeiss would put their hat in the ring.
The first impressions are very promising. It’s made with high quality materials, and looks the part of a bleeding edge device. It’s reasonably light, easy enough to adjust the fitting with the side straps, and unlike some other VR headsets, it includes an optional overhead strap, which for me is not optional but necessary for a good fit, if you don’t mind the dodgy VR hair. And once I adjust the side and top straps, it feels quite snug.
The lenses themselves are huge in comparison to say the Google Cardboard recommended size, and even larger in diameter than the ones in the Gear VR. Interestingly, the lenses are fixed in place, they can’t be adjusted, but you can wear glasses with the headset on, so that should enough for most users – it’s very clear for my non glass wearing eyes.
One of the other reasons that this headset stands out for me is future proofing – it makes custom trays for the mobile phones that slide into the headset. For mine, I ordered the S5 tray, they also make one for the current iPhone 6 and Zeiss are calling out for feedback on what other phones to make trays for the VR One.
I think this is an awesome idea because it means I can just replace the tray and keep using the VR One as my phone changes and time, technology and VR progresses. The tray then slides into here and keeps the phone firmly in place, with a small gap here for headphones.
There are three apps that are ready to go with the VR One – the first is a kind of augmented reality app that uses a paper cube to take advantage of the pass through feature, which is another plus for this headset. The app itself is really just a party trick but of course I hope to see more ideas come to life on that front. The fact it actually has a passthrough function gives it way more utility, as we’ve seen with the Gear VR.
The VR Media app is the VR One’s hub for installing and launching apps. I’m probably being quite forgiving as it is very new, but it is still buggy, with exaggerated drift on my S5 sometimes making it too hard to navigate or select.
Also, selecting certain apps within this space sometimes just deliver a blank screen – I have to take the tray out, and manually switch to the app I want, which I can see has already been launched but never made it to the screen. As a comparison to the Oculus Home as a place to manage and launch apps, they have a fair way to go.
The cinema app is cute and doesn’t even try to be realistic. It’s cartoony, with a few other random rendered audience members in the cinema seats. I do like the functions within the app that give you some hands free control over file selection, re-orientation, pausing and playing, and it supports 720p mp4 videos, either 2D or side by side 3D.
The movie playback itself is smooth and looks great. I am spoiled by the Oculus Cinema of course, they are very different in terms of look and function.
As for how it all looks, well you’re definitely getting a screen door effect because of the native pixels per inch of the S5 – 1080p on a 5.1 inch screen is nowhere near the density of the Gear VR’s Note 4 of 1440p on a 5.7 inch screen. But the comfort of the headset, and the quick response of the apps on the S5 still provides a very good mobile VR environment.
As a mid priced VR headset the VR One is well built, they do need to polish their apps and produce a larger range of trays to reach a larger user base – as well as add a way to use Google Cardboard apps – but I do have a mod for that as well.