Let's Try and Cost Up Valve's Steam VR Headset and Tracking Systems

Sorry for the late reply, just woke up.

We don't know anything about what Vive's consumer version will look or feel like.

Correct they could make it smaller and lighter but I think LEDs emitters takes less space and unlike Vive's tracking system, they do not require a design that limits the FOV of each emitter, therefore, making the Rift smaller.

Nothing prevents seated use, it's simply capable of much more if developers find a way to use it that way.

That's the thing. Oculus makes complete solutions; good VR guidelines, the tech and the hardware. Valve, however, made a technology and tell OEMs and devs to do whatever they want with it. I think there will be repercussions.

...to figure out that a simple light-tension ceiling pulley system could easily eliminate tripping hazards

You say it's simple. But lets be realistic for a second. Do you think it's practical? Do you imagine this system going mainstream and all houses having 'light-tension pulley systems' in the ceiling? And how exactly would that system work? Does it allow you spin infinitely or do you have to 'reset' your rotation every time you go off limits, the same way you need to reset every time you go beyond the 15'x15' area when you're playing sandbox games?

Mounting the base stations to the wall is fine. But the pulley system though... And not to mention of the risk and safety hazards involved.

A swivel chair will get you tangled just as easily as walking around.

UNLESS, when combined with a combo swivel adapter like this one but for all cables and which can be placed at the bottom of a special swivel chair made for VR. But lets forget about the swivel chair thing for a moment, it's just Carmack's suggestion.

LEDs on other headsets in view of a camera could easily be a problem

Oculus are making a system for one user only. They never said one camera, multiple headsets. That's Valve's idea. Valve 'multiplayer - one room' solution (what I call VR LAN party) is not going to be different from online multiplayer (the Rift already does that).

High-powered laser diodes are actually quite cheap

How about the sensors on the headset and on the controllers?

Your Kinect analogy is terrible.

No it's not. It's realistic.

Kinect has a multitude of problems. It has a limited field of view, something Crescent Bay also suffers from but which Vive does not. It has only a few square feet at a fixed distance from the Kinect where it's useful, something Crescent Bay also suffers from but Vive does not. Kinect suffers from camera lag, something Crescent Bay might possibly suffer from but Vive does not.

Well you didn't get what I meant.

The Kinect: The makers of the Kinect made a full-body tracking system and expect game devs to make something great out of it. And this is why it failed.

The Rift: Like I said earlier, the makers of the Rift make complete solutions with guidelines on how to make good VR games of all genres. Take Story Studio, for example. They are not just a VR movie studio that make movies but they research on how to make the experiences feel right. Like for example, making cuts in VR actually feels like you are getting teleported, which is jarring and that's what they are working on.

The Vive: Valve are doing the same mistake as the makers of the Kinect.

Two small screens may be better for manufacturing yields than a single large one, especially if they're OLED.

Are you sure of that? Source?

/r/oculus Thread