In some ways, it's a shame that the PlayStation VR embargo had to lift. We'd encountered problems with the headset prior to this week's verdicts, which we outlined in our review: the resolution of the screen, the number of cables, and the flawed nature of the PlayStation Move controllers. But we hadn't encountered any tracking issues on the headset itself.
Of course, this week's popular Giant Bomb stream caused a minor furore in hardcore circles, with the site encountering some unfortunate (and pretty serious) issues during a live broadcast. And in a way, trying to replicate those issues, we've found ourselves actively searching for faults in the hardware over the past few days, rather than immersing ourselves in virtual worlds.
But we've genuinely found the tracking issues that the aforementioned site encountered difficult to replicate. Playing both standing and sitting, we've found the headset to be largely accurate in both beaming sunlight and complete darkness; being on your feet does appear to cause a little more wobble, but it's all mostly natural β this author tends to fidget while standing.
As we said in the review, the PlayStation Move controllers are prone to jitter and drift, and you can see this clearly in our Batman: Arkham VR hands-on. But in terms of the game world itself seemingly breathing in and out β this certainly hasn't been common in our substantial time wearing the headset. It's worth mentioning that we've been disregarding the distance and lighting guidelines, too.
We'll need to wait until 13th October to see if this issue turns out to be a widespread problem, but we can only say what we've seen, and the tracking seems fine to us. Perfect? No β it freaks if you hold a controller in front of your face, and the PlayStation Move won't work at all if your body blocks the bulb from the camera. We've never shied away from the fact that there's obvious room for iteration and improvement here.
But in terms of game breaking motion tracking issues on the headset itself, we just haven't encountered anything particularly problematic thus far. There are still more titles to try and different environments that we want to test them in, but we're hoping that incidents involving the tracking are isolated, and that the majority of you will have a great experience when you get your headsets home.
Are you worried about PlayStation VR's tracking issues? Have those of you who've tried the headset experienced any issues at all? Drift like a disorientated drunk in the comments section below.
Comments 16
Thanks for the article. Giant bomb were the only ones I'd seen that had this issue (at least to this extent). Like you said, it's not perfect but I'd bet they have a defective unit. I've done a lot with Rift through my university program and I'd say that it's a better overall experience so far but they've had a lot more time to work out the bugs than Sony has.
Also, you may want to try it out in a room with fewer reflective surfaces. I believe the move uses IR sensor the same way the Wii does, and Windows, mirrors and other shiny object will bounce the signal all over the room and give hi those "jitters". I used to have my Wii in a big room with Anya window and had some jitters but I noticed that my friends' Wiis didn't do that. After I moved it into my room where I only have a small window the problem went away.
@NESguy94 It's also considerably more expensive!
@get2sammyb Definitely. It's also worth mentioning that I have had a lot of issues running the Oculus CV1 on our $1000, 2014 Alienware PC (which is more powerful than a PS4). I have to play it on a custom VR PC that we built for the college and it cost almost $3000.
It's like comparing apples and oranges when it really comes down to it.
I wouldn't say I've been worried, but I do have concerns.
I've heard that if you bend down to pick something up (which apparently a number of VR games have you do do for various reasons like pick a key off the floor) the tracking gets lost because you're too low to the ground. Saw a vid where the hands just disappeared and flickered and ya, it was a messy glitch.
Also don't really plan on spinning around or anything (sitting in my chair- that's the meat of my planned itinerary), but if I do need to turn I'm concerned the tracking will get lost then as well.
Guess we'll just have to see how it all pans out.
@NESguy94 how has Occulus had more time? Sony began working on the PSVR HMD before Oculus even announced the Rift so I would wager they had roughly the same amount of time.
The big difference is that the Rift was released in Beta form and they tested it publicly and iterated numerous times based on feedback.
Having used the Move controllers a lot I know first hand that they drift quite a bit, and trying to stay in the cameras sight at all times can be tedious (it can see your top half or your bottom half or be zoomed out a lot, those are your choices). I hope that the PSVR doesnt suffer too much from this.
I will find out soon enough!
@get2sammyb How much of the 5.5hrs do I have to watch exactly lol. Seriously though, the impression I got from these guys was they were reviewing PSVR to Vive standards. They were looking for the slightest imperfections and painting a bad picture of the peripheral. Of course it's not going to be "perfect", and there are obviously going to be imperfections. But for the price I'll be paying I can overlook slightly wobbly hands or the image slightly shaking. I've only had two experiences with PSVR thus far and both had me craving more, not nitpicking. Yes, if I looked hard enough I probably could find fault. But this is gen 1 PSVR using move controllers from years ago, similar tech with regards to light tracking. It's annoyed me at times when playing playroom with the kiddiewinks only for the light bar on the control pad to get blocked when the kids are trying to hoover up AR bots. But I honestly believe that this will be improved with gen 2 PSVR. It's not going to stop me spending many hours lost in virtual worlds. Bring on Thursday.
Well if only giant bomb that have this problem maybe their hardware faulty or something, I hope my ps vr is okay hardware wise.
@blakey78 That's crazy, vive alone cost $800, pc that can run vive cost $1000. That $800 can get you ps4 and a complete ps vr bundle (move, camera, 1 game) or add $100 to buy a ps4 pro & ps vr.
f4nb01
I gotta be honest here, I did think about cancelling my PS VR pre order for a moment last week, but it hasn't got anything to do with the technology side of things; I expected Sony to have a bigger non-gaming VR push after PSVR being in development for so long. Where are my live- sports apps? Where are my live- music apps? How will I travel the world without Sony working together with another company?
But in the end I've decided I've been waiting too long for VR to drop out now. I did consider Vive, but ultimately I'm a console kinda guy. I've got an excellent VR ready rig, but I just can't seem to get used to playing on PC. So I'm just gonna give it a go and when it's not for me at this point I guess I'll just keep it in its stand till the content I want drops.
@Boerewors This may be of interest to you, man: https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2016/10/playstation_vr_will_play_host_to_more_than_just_games
@get2sammyb
I read the article earlier and I loved the image you used: "building castles in the sky".
There is so much more that should've been done and when I hear Shawn Layden saying they're "definitely working on it", I realize that's just Sony for: "let's just see if this VR thingy catches on first".
They should've at least had a contract with 1 BPL or NFL club to have a VR pilot and there should've been tickets available by now for concerts of artists signed by Sony music; this means more options for us consumers and more money for them.
Our company makes UAVs and we have the tech to make beautiful 360degrees images and video for quite some time. To make something like that into a VR product that is commercially viable though, you need big partners like Sony who have a huge stake in it.
I just hope Sony is all- in, cause in lots of ways this reminds me of the Vita launch to be honest. The expensive "accessories" you end up needing to play properly, promises of beautiful things to come and all of that backed up by a pretty strong line- up to make us believe Sony and 3rd parties are committed.
You wasted a perfect oppurtunity to use Oculus Drift as a subtitle btw
@Boerewors I agree loved the image.
@get2sammyb Thanks for the article! I do have one question; Would you say the tracking problems are related to the lighting? For instance when the Wii came out the Wii Remote had problems and Nintendo suggested to not play in a room that had manny windows. I had this problem and once I moved to a room that wasn't surrounded by windows it solved my problem of the motion tracking.
Thanks,
@NESguy94 The Move doesn't use IR.
@Pink_Floyd Played in the dark and full sunlight and I haven't had a problem. Also with a standard lamp behind me.
Maybe if you've got some big blue lights it would have issues.
I have the exact same wobbling/tracking issues when I stand/sit around 2,5-3meters away from the camera (which is required for job simulator).
But when I'm at close range, like 1-2meters the tracking works perfectly fine and no wobbling what so ever.
I tried various lighht combinations and camera setups. Doing always a complete shutdown of the console etc.
I dont think that I have a faulty unit because this problem seems to occur to many others on the reddit/psvr forum...
Thats really sad and I couldnt work out a solution.
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