How to get a HTC VIVE for free using software and your smartphone
Cheating your way to a HTC VIVE is pretty easy. It doesn't involve breaking any hearts, glass windows, or hurting your wallet either. Sometime ago, I lamented at the double standards for the pricing disparity for the HTC Vive region to region.
That's changing, too slowly, and the VIVE is still well out of the reach of most gamers. First, there's the cost of a high end PC gaming rig, the headset itself, and with the rising cost of real-estate, rent, and a premium on space, the room to actually have a room-scale VR experience.
There's been a way to play VR games on your phone for quite some time, with solutions like the Google Cardboard, Google Daydream, and various iterations of the Samsung VR headsets.
If only there was some way to get your computer to talk to this hardware.
Well, there is! It's called RiftCat, and in Combination with VRidge (a piece of software you can download from the Google PlayStore onto your Android phone) - you can have a VIVE in your hands in literally no time.
Here's how to get it all working:
- Install VRidge onto your SmartPhone
- Download the RiftCat software to your PC
- Install Steam VR (via your Steam Client)
- Load up Rift Cat, open VRidge and follow the on screen instructions
- Launch your Steam VR Compatible title and enjoy.
There are some restrictions, however. With the free version of the software, you can only play for ten minutes at a time, or you can pay EUR14.99 to have no restriction on your gameplay session length.
I had a go with Rise of the Tomb Raider and the Croft Manor DLC, and the experience is pretty authentic. There's little lag, the image is sharp, but text is difficult to read.
I streamed wirelessely to my phone, but there's also the option of using USB tethering for a more steady experience if you don't have a 5GHz wifi router.
All in all, its worth a try - for free, to see if this VR thing is for you, prior to making the plunge. There are reports of others having decent to excellent experiences with VR titles, but its a good novelty option if you don't want to spend half a thousand dollars on a full fledged VR headset and appropriate controllers.
Will I be rushing out to buy a VR exclusive game to experience this in more depth? No, I won't. Will I use it to experience some VR exclusive content should there be a game that I really, really want to experience in VR? Yes.
Pretty cool i dea :D Though I'm not sharing this one with the sprogs or I'll never see my phone again XD
Easter goes for four days right? You're fine XD I like your egg better. May not have an actual egg or chocolate on the inside but sure is pretty.
I hate those awkward silences in conversations with yourself. They seem more awkward than usual, or perhaps I'm just too self-conscious.
I like the surrounding colours as well, but unfortunately am not quite smart enough to pick the...uh...easter eggs in your easter egg XD
I save only the best presents. Don't eat too much chocolate... you'll get diabetes!
It's an interesting way to hack your phone to work with SteamVR but in no way can you equate that to dedicated headset with integrated audio, roomscale tracking, motion controllers etc. It might be wiser to just get a cheap dedicated Daydream or GearVR headset for affordable native VR experience :) P.S I think the title suggesting you can get a free HTC Vive free can be misleading to some readers.
I will confess it's a click bait filled title!
I've not experienced true VR Yet, but have an extensive play with phone based systems.
It's a cool novelty, and it does work - the controllers of the vive would take the experience to the next level, I'm sure!
HA, I don't know, for me personally I wont go into this with anything less than a Rift. I guess it can probably be fine using a phone setup though.
It sounds cool. I gave to my boyfriend some VR headset a few years ago so he can use it like this! Smartphones still need a gyroscope to be able to play games designed for cardboard on it, and our phones don't have it, so he never used the headset at all.
Excellent publication, you know recently sold me a new Oculus Rift and gave it to me to try some days but for some reason whenever I used them I got dizzy so I decided not to buy them since I always got dizzy, for the moment virtual reality is not for me xD likewise great article, greetings ..
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