VR has to run at 90fps to work effectively. Oculus uses ATW software to avoid judder when sims momentarily drop below 90fps. Its difficult for some sims to maintain 90fps without turning down graphics settings, but this isn't the biggest problem with VR Flight sims. The VR headset resolution isn't quite good enough yet, but it can be helped with higher pixel density settings. Even with these issue, very few people who have tried flight sims in VR have any interest in going back to a monitors and TrackIR, as your just looking into the flight sim world with a monitor, while VR completely immerses you into that world.

TrackIR double the immersion of flight sims, while VR makes flight sims ten times more immersive.

i also have Oculus Rift and playing in VR.
agree with this post.

can be fatiguing for me, but still hands down will play this over a regular monitor any day

Yep, I have actually not gone back to monitor simming since around mid 2014 when I received my Oculus DK2. Now with a Vive.

If you've never tried VR, you should. You might be wowed from the start just by loading up in the cockpit and finding yourself feeling as if you're really in there. Some cockpits will looks super cramped, others big and spacious, and the instruments, switches and levers will come to life as if you were sitting in the real thing. That on his own, this sort of aviation museum at home aspect would have sold VR to me, not kidding. But that's only the start... Aerobatics and dogfighting in VR... Piloting helos in DCS in VR... Just talking about it and I want the working day to be over!

I have to admit the whole VR experience is very enticing. My biggest concerns are:

1) Smoothness...Because it is a subjective term, I have concern that my idea of smoothness is consistent with the feedback that I read about here and other places. They have a vive demo at a gamestop a short ways from me but I suspect the demo games/apps would not be as taxing on the PC as DCS or P3D would be

2) Effect on eyes. In particular the long term effects. Typically I just fly for half and hour to an hour at a time. Would focusing on something that close to eye be damaging or difficult for that matter (the demo would at least help with determining the difficulty part

That's my n.1 concern as well. My eyes are sore after a couple of hours behind a monitor...
Can some of you lucky VR users write about your experience in terms of eye strain / itching or red eyes after the simian session, in VR compared to normal monitor?

I would still suggest any of the "I'll-never-go-to-ED-forum" crowd, who might be reading this thread and start thinking about investing in VR to go there after all (/Input and Output/Virtual Reality/ section), because, whether one likes that place or not, it's still the biggest resource of users feedback on how VR performs in DCS on different hardware configs at the moment.

I guess smoothness will come down to graphics settings and the hardware you are running it on. I have a GTX980 GPU and a 3.4 GHz i7-6700 processor, 16 GB RAM. DCS runs very smoothly.

As for the effect on your eyes, you are looking through lenses that push the image out as if it were some distance away. I'm near sighted, and I get the sharpest visual experience in my Rift when I wear my glasses (which I also wear for flying, driving and watching TV etc). So far I have not felt any eyestrain except when I play for long periods without my distance glasses.

I've had my Vive since the weekend and while I agree the effect and 'presence' is unlike anything else you'll experience I'd add a couple of caveats:

I'd hardly describe the image as 'clear', even if you're used to a regular monitor rather than a high density one. Essentially what you're viewing is a *not* very high res screen at very close proximity and the result is rather blurry (there are a couple of reasons why the Rift is slightly better than the Vive in this respect but despite not having tried the former I don't believe there's that much in it). Dials and HUDs are definitely more difficult to read than on a monitor - evidence for this is that the latest beta has increased the comms/menu font size specifically for VR.

Performance is another area where I'd suggest concern. While DCS might not be as dependent on a solid 90fps as other applications, the effects of low/inconsistent fps are much larger in VR. I find as low as 30 fps perfectly tolerable for DCS on a monitor but it's not a pleasant experience in VR. I've not suffered any sort of motion sickness, but people who are suceptible to that sort of thing may want to bear it in mind.

I'm hugely enthusiastic about the future of VR but reckon there needs to be improvements to both the display hardware and implementation of more efficient rendering technology before it can realise its potential. I'd hate someone to spend a large amount of money and end up disappointed with the whole thing because they'd been given unrealistic expectations.

Regarding the effect on the eyes: one thing I'd like to dispell is the idea that you need to focus on the screen at the physical distance at which it stands ie very close. That's not the case, the lenses make it so that the focus is distant (I can't remember the real numbers for that, not the same on Rift and Vive). I have been using a Rift Dk2 since 2014 and Vive since April this year. I can play for hours without feeling any eye strain. I think anyone concerned by that should relax. One word of warning though: it is good practice to know your IPD and adjust your headset to that. Public VR demos tend to skip IPD fine tuning so if you go to a demo and feel a strain on your eyes, this is probably the reason.

Brun: I find the picture on the Vive really clear, BUT, and that's an important but, it takes a bit of playing with the straps and the position of the hmd on your face before you find your spot. One important thing to do is loosen up the upper strap and try adjusting that so that the back of the straps stand lower on the back of your skull. Try getting close the chaperone, and then move the hmd up/down and left/right until you find the spot where the chaperone lines are the clearest. Of course, at the end of the day it's not the clarity of our HD monitors. I can totally live with that though, the effect of feeling like I'm in the cockpit is totally worth it. But maybe I went in VR with lower expectations and therefore I'm constantly wowed (but still am 2 years in though!) while others expect to put it on and see an image that's as good as reality.

I'm aware that the Vive has a noticeable sweet spot, that's what I was alluding to when I said the Rift was slightly better in a couple of respects. From what I'm led to believe the optics make this less noticeable.

Here's some attempt to try and illustrate what I mean about the resolution...

A typical 24" monitor has 1080 pixels over about 300mm vertically. At a viewing distance of 600mm that works about at about 37 pixels per degree of vision.

In comparison, the vertical field of view of a VR headset is apparently about 110 degrees, and the fact that there's only slightly more pixels than the monitor means you're looking only 11 pixels per degree. Admittedly that's an average, the optics might mean it's not consistent across the entire image.

So the effective resolution of current VR is almost 3.5x less than that of a regular monitor. Or in other words, like running DCS at something like 640x360.

I don't think it is quite that bad. The 110 deg FOV is likely a diagonal one. I came up with something closer to 22 pixels/degree for the rift (HZ and VT) and about 32 pix/deg for my setup at home (48" screen x 3ft viewing distance). Definitely less but not as bad...at least from what I can figure out :-)

I have finally got my OR working and have been blown away by it, especially in DCS. The imersion is better than I could ever have hoped for.

I am aware that the instrument panels are somewhat blurred ( although I can clearly read any text on screen - such as in the training ) but am struggling with reading the instruments. I have sent pixel density at 1.5, I did try 2.0 but that killed my FPS.

Can the instruments be easily read by others ( without zooming in )? If so I would appreciate any tips/settings. Or is it something we just have to except?

BTW I am only flying the Gazelle so havent really looked at any other instrument panels yet.

Thanks.

I borrowed a Vive from a coworker (who is returning it it turns out due to the lack of resolution) and it was phenomenal. OP is bang on - the 3D, 1:1 movement and field of view were incredible. Even without movement I felt like I was sitting in an F-15, and then flying one..vIn a generation or two I'll be considering one, I couldn't fight in DCS with it, but flying for a weekend (bracing myself on a non existent canopy a few times, cringing looking down while inverted at 30,000') was beyond words. Anyone who has a chance to try one should give it a go.

Tomcat, I'd bet that with practice you would become quite effective fighting with the aircraft in VR. Despite the handicap of less than sharp visuals, you do learn to adapt, and the experience is 10 times that of what you feel with a traditional flat screen. With the latest VR zoom function, the MFD's are easy enough to read, and distant targets easier to pick out. Personally I could never go back to 2D even if my combat performance took a step backwards (of course, I was never all that good at it in the first place ).

I haven't noticed that, or any other visual artefact with the Vive. The sense of 'presence' in VR is stunning, even though the current FOV and resolution limitations make it seem you're looking through a slightly misted up diving mask.

What ruins it for me is the motion sickness, which I thought I'd be immune from.

I haven't had clipping issues.

I've dealt with the resolution issues on the smaller instruments by upping the pixel count (I can fly without issue at 25-27 FPS), occasionally using the VR zoom feature, or in most cases just learning the instrument panel better. Only one giving me a little pain in the Mig-21.

Regarding the Gazelle, she's hard on FPS in a cockpit with VR. Big difference from say, the Huey, or even the Hip.

I am continuing to do the Training Lessons in 2D because its easier to reference things and there is no "yellow marker" to find in VR yet. But I'm shocked at how much I'm disappointed now when playing in 2D. Now, it seems a little like watching TV versus being in an aircraft. Crazy.

Tried Oculus last night in Dirt Rally and American Truck Simulator. Holy crap..

Heh possibly I could Paul, I'd love to give it a second chance some time if he wasn't returning it to wait for a next generation version. Still shocked about how amazing it was.

I've seen than too and figured it would be very noticeable. However, given that VR is binocular, the other eye might be covering those small blemishes (as commonly occurs when a small near object partially obscures the view of one eye). Especially since it is a problem in the periphery.

That said, I haven't tried VR so this is a theoretical comment. I really need to try it, just need to convince my wife...

-Nick

That happens with a standard display as well.

I got the vive yesterday and today I finally got around to playing DCS with it. WOW just wow. Trackir is obsolete, my monitor is obsolete. It really is a game changer. I wish I could adequately express the immersion, it's just unbelievable. Maybe it's the fact that it really feels like one is in an airplane that the textures of the cockpits now look cartoonie, it's that convincing. That is the only drawback I got from the experience.
If you get a chance to try it out make sure you have the money to buy it because I guarantee once you try it you'll want one. Just WOW