Roomscale/Seated Questions
Do I need a 15ft x 15ft area to use the Vive?
No. You can use the Vive in a seated position, standing position or scale it up to roomscale with a maximum place area size of 5m diagonally. For each game or experience however, it's totally dependant on what the developer has implemented.
How much space do I need for a Roomscale experience?
A minimum play area of 5 x 6.5 feet (1.5 x 2 meters) is required.
Update: As
RollWave_ pointed out, the play area is actually 5m diagonally not 15x15 feet so I've updated this accordingly.
Can the Vive do seated experiences? Can a colour TV do black and white? Yes it can! The Vive can do seated experiences just as well as the Rift can. This includes games like
Elite: Dangerous where the headset is purely for looking around and doesn't use the controllers.
Do I have to place both base stations in front of me to achieve rift level tracking quality for forward facing experiences? (from
homestead_cyborg answered by
ficarra1002)
One base station is fine for a seated experience.
Do I need the basestations for seated?
Yes. They're used for head-tracking. That being said you don't need them in the corners of the room for seated.
Do I need to do any special mounting of the basestations for seated? (from
CrystalShadow)
Nope, as
/u/ficarra1002 says
here you can just sit them on your desk, no need to mount them to your monitors or anything fancy (though having them mounted to something would probably help avoid calibration errors from them moving).
Do the basestations need to be plugged into the PC?
No, they just fire lasers for the headset to use. They need to be wirelessly connected to each other or use the provided sync cable. They do need to be plugged into the wall, but if you need to you can also use mobile phone battery packs.
How do I mount the basestations?
They use a standard camera 1/4" 20 thread screw, so any tripod, monopod, ceiling camera mount, etc will work. You can buy pretty cheap Magic Arms from Amazon and Ebay with clamps for clamping them to things. Lighting stands, drop ceiling mounts, etc can also be used. Basically, if it can mount your digital camera you're good to go!
/u/puzzabug also posted a number of mounting solutions
here. More mounting solutions will no doubt be discussed when the Vive is released too.
Can I suspend the cables on the ceiling to avoid tripping?
General feedback is that the cable tripping hazard is not nearly as significant as you'd expect. Some devs have actually
found it to be worse for presence as it tugs at your head when you move, while the trailing cable is dealt with mostly without thinking after a small while.
Backtops?
A laptop on your back. Unlikely to be a major thing for quite some time, the laptops required as expensive and heavy, and the Vive still needs to be powered.
I'm worried about walking into things/objects with the Vive on my head. What's the solution there? (from
Glasharry)
Clear your play area and configure the roomscale systems properly and the Vive will handle the rest using the the Chaperone system to warn you if you're about to go out of your play area. Recent updates that add the front-facing camera also allow you to see outlines of objects in the room if you turn on this feature.
How many Vives can operate in a single space? Do I need multiple sets of basestations? (from
Fakungfuu)
The lighthouse technology can support multiple Vives, we don't know how many just yet though. But you only need one set of basestations as they just emit IR lasers for the headsets to pick up on. Roomscale may get a bit difficult with multiple headsets though, what with bumping into each other and all.