HTC Vive review: You can now buy your own holodeck simulator v1.0

Valve's Steam-y fingerprints are all over the system software, but its logo is nowhere to be found on the headset itself.

Headset specs
Headset weight	555 grams (~1.2 lbs) without cables
Display	2160x1200 (1080x1200 per eye) AMOLED panels
Refresh rate	90 Hz
Field of view	110 degrees
Lens spacing	60.2-74.5mm (adjustable)
Controllers	Two wireless motion-tracked controllers with rechargeable 960mAh batteries
Tracking	SteamVR 1.0 tracking system with two "Lighthouse" IR laser tracking boxes (up to 5m diagonal tracking volume)
Audio	Audio extension dongle to plug generic headphones to headset. Built-in microphone
PC connection	Three-part multi-cable (HDMI, USB, and power) with junction box for PC connection.
Included games	Job Simulator, Fantastic Contraption and Tiltbrush
Price	$800

Recommended PC specs
GPU	NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD R9 290 equivalent or greater
CPU	Intel i5-4590 / AMD FX 8350 equivalent or greater
RAM	4GB
OS	Windows 7 SP1 or newer
Outputs	1x HDMI 1.4 or DisplayPort 1.2; 1x USB 2.0
Other	At least 1.5m x 2m of open space for "room-scale" experiences.

An entire generation of nerds has now grown up with the sci-fi ideal of the holodeck as the ultimate future of interactive entertainment. The Star Trek universe’s 24th century gave us a view of rooms literally filled with 3D holographic projections that users could touch, feel, smell, and talk to at will. As a way of interacting with a computer simulation, it seems believably hundreds of years beyond the current methods of using a mouse or a finger to dither around on a 2D screen.

We’re still a long way from technology that can suspend visible light (much less physical matter) in empty space as the fictional holodeck can. For now, though, the HTC Vive is a better simulation of key parts of that holodeck ideal than we had any right to expect from the early 21st century. By combining a 3D virtual reality display, position- and motion-sensitive handheld controllers, and a tracking solution that works over the scale of an entire room, the Vive transports you to a convincing simulated world that you can see and touch (even if you can’t convincingly feel it).

The characters in Star Trek didn’t have to deal with uncomfortable, slightly pixellated ski-goggle helmets or mounting tracking boxes around their living space. Still, the Vive’s ability to let you walk around and poke at a computer simulation as if it was a physical space feels like the first step toward a computing future that science fiction has spent decades training us for.

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