Virtual reality becomes a reality

Virtual+reality+becomes+a+reality

It’s finally here.

The new 3D viewing gear by Motoraux is revolutionary to the gaming experience. It’s essentially like a big pair of sunglasses, but instead of lenses, you have a box over your eyes. You open the box from the front, stick your phone (with a virtual reality (VR) game downloaded onto it) into the clamp, and the gear will blow up the screen into a 3D experience.

My dad has had a fascination with the VR world since 1992, when he watched “The Lawnmower Man” as a kid. I came home from school recently and my dad burst out of his room with a box. I had no idea why he was so excited, but when we opened the box and saw the headgear, I nerded out too and began giggling. The packaging had a sleek black design and wasn’t too complicated to set up. The main headgear comes with the viewing box pre attached and all you have to do is attach small foams to the clamp so that it doesn’t scratch your phone.

The first game my dad and I downloaded to play VR Horror. I began in a dank, ugly hallway, staring down into darkness. I’m not one to get creeped out easily, but the sound effects of water dripping, lights flickering and the endless darkness was definitely a crucial deciding factor of keeping or not keeping this device. After all, the whole experience would be pointless if you couldn’t escape reality. The other game I played was InCell VR. I was transported to the inside of a human cell and able to race against a virus to the nucleus, learning different organelles and their functions on the way.

The comfort of the device was pretty decent too. I wear glasses and the headset fits over it just fine. I didn’t have to squint to see the text on the screen and I didn’t have any eye pain afterward, so I really enjoyed being able to play comfortably for longer periods of time. The headset is also very sensitive to movement so when playing games that don’t use the controller, it allows you to lay down and play. Simply tilting your head to the right of left works like magic for turning your body in the game.

Even though the experience of playing is awesome, there were still some drawbacks. When I first opened the box, I was really excited to try out the controller, but it did not come pre-charged or with a micro USB to charge it. It was also really small in comparison to the headgear. When playing, you should also be careful to take breaks. I made the mistake of playing for over an hour straight and, after taking the headset off, felt both nauseous and disoriented. This is not to say you can’t play for over an hour – it’s just a warning to take a little break to shift your eyes and reorient yourself every 15 minutes or so.

In all, I feel like the $40 purchase was still worth it. The headgear does a good job for its purpose and I would definitely recommend it.

Pros

  1. Sound quality is good. You really feel like you’re in the game.
  2. Almost all of the materials you need to use the headgear is provided in purchase, except the micro USB cable to charge the controller.
  3. Headset is adjustable and very comfortable. It also fits over glasses.
  4. Very sensitive to movement. Because movement is the controller for a lot of games, this is crucial.

Cons

  1. The controller is tiny. Easy to lose, hard to use. Also not charged when you first get it.
  2. Slightly disorientating if you use it for over an hour.