Hands-On With The HTC Vive

The Demos

Let’s move on to the actual information you most want to hear: a description of the actual VR demos that I experienced. There were seven demos in total (if you count the short tutorials), but I’m only going to talk about the four that impacted me the most.

Before I could dive into the full Vive experience, there were a number of short tutorials that I experienced. These orientated me as to how to use the SteamVR controllers and how to move around in the 15 x 15-foot space. One important thing to note is that your hands are graphically represented in the virtual space, either as variations of a controller or, in one demo, as actual hands.

The amazing thing about the Vive is that the learning curve, at least for me, was very shallow. Within a matter of seconds, I acclimatized as to how to interact and navigate within the environment and what my limitations were. Every move I made, both hands and body, was translated precisely into the virtual space and felt natural, despite all the technology involved. That’s a testament to how well the Vive’s different components all work together in harmony.