 So this is the HTC Vive Pre and it's the single best VR headset I've ever used for more than half an hour at a time. Technically the Vive Pre is not the finished HTC Vive that's going to be coming out in April, but from everything we've seen the hardware looks almost exactly the same. The downside of this is that the Pre definitely has kind of a 1980s jacking into cyberspace feel, even compared to other VR headsets. It's a little bit bulky and it's got this large front-facing camera that should be able to show you the outside world when you hit a button or you go out of bounds of its trackers. Then there are these cables back here which run down into an incredibly long cord that you're going to have to steer clear of as you move around. But this cable is so long because the Vive actually gives you a lot of space to move around in. That's thanks to these two boxes around here called lighthouses, and what they do is spread lasers across a pretty large section of the floor and then sensors on the headset and controllers will pick that up and calibrate exactly where you are in virtual space too. So okay, I've got my headphones plugged in. It's adjusted so it's not going to give me a headache, which it will if it is even a little bit too tight. I'm going to put on these headphones. And I can actually see where these controllers are because in the game they appear as a pair of hands. So this is Job Simulator and it's mostly an excuse to throw things around with your controller. So this is where the Vive really comes into its own because I'm actually walking around my office cubicle. Eating some donuts, throwing some cups at things, photocopying some phones. And this obviously looks clumsy because that's kind of the joke of the game, but it's really precise. And so if I hit this button it feels exactly like what I might be doing with my hands. Normally I can get some really bad motion sickness in VR. If you're moving even a little bit in a game. But here I've barely even noticed it. That's mostly because when I walk here it is one to one motion. I am walking in physical space and virtual space. So this is a game called Final Approach. You are landing airplanes and generally being a flight controller. So obviously I have a lot of space here, but not everybody's going to and that's pretty okay for the Vive. A lot of the games you really only need to be able to move a little bit in every direction enough to land these little planes. It's even got a setting for just standing absolutely still. I'm just crashing all of these airplanes. Crushing them horribly. So the controllers are obviously one of the best parts of the Vive because they really let you feel like you're interacting with space. This is really what sets a high-end headset apart from something like Google Cardboard. Which is that you're able to create things. You're able to really affect the environment. You're able to actually get something that feels just a little like reality. I'm playing Tilt Brush right now which is a 3D painting app. It's really detailed and really responsive. But it's also a sign that the controllers really could be designed a little bit better. They're a little bit heavy and being able to hold them like remotes is great sometimes. But sometimes it also just feels kind of unnatural. It feels like I'm twisting my hand in weird directions to paint when I would be holding something like a pencil. Most of what you do, you do with a little trackpad here and a trigger here. But there's also a home button right under that trackpad. Which is a great idea. It's a pause menu. It's the way you launch games. But it's also right under my thumb so when I'm doing something really exciting... Look! There's the whole Steam menu. That's great. So like a lot of VR, the Vive asks you to just imagine your relationship with a computer as completely and fundamentally different. You're not really inputting commands. You're actually using yourself and putting yourself into some version of a game. It can feel really natural and can turn some things that are great but a little mundane in the real world into just amazing experiences. So I'm just here in Ninja Training slashing fruit as one does. The thing that's really unique about the Vive is that your body feels the effects of the things that you're doing. That might not be great in the long run because it means that it kind of limits how much you can do with the experiences. But it's really fulfilling the promise of virtual reality. So I'm going to withhold judgment on this until the actual final version comes out. But everything I've seen so far has been fantastic. And the big question is going to be whether they can put enough good experiences on this that it's worth using in the long term. If nothing else, it's the first time I've spent five hours playing a one-minute Fruit Ninja demo. So I'm optimistic.
 So this is the HTC Vive Pre and it's the single best VR headset I've ever used for more than half an hour at a time.
 Technically the Vive Pre is not the finished HTC Vive that's going to be coming out in April,
 but from everything we've seen the hardware looks almost exactly the same.
 The downside of this is that the Pre definitely has kind of a 1980s jacking into cyberspace feel,
 even compared to other VR headsets.
 It's a little bit bulky and it's got this large front-facing camera that should be able to show you the outside world
 when you hit a button or you go out of bounds of its trackers.
 Then there are these cables back here which run down into an incredibly long cord
 that you're going to have to steer clear of as you move around.
 But this cable is so long because the Vive actually gives you a lot of space to move around in.
 That's thanks to these two boxes around here called lighthouses,
 and what they do is spread lasers across a pretty large section of the floor
 and then sensors on the headset and controllers will pick that up and calibrate exactly where you are in virtual space too.
 So okay, I've got my headphones plugged in.
 It's adjusted so it's not going to give me a headache, which it will if it is even a little bit too tight.
 I'm going to put on these headphones.
 And I can actually see where these controllers are because in the game they appear as a pair of hands.
 So this is Job Simulator and it's mostly an excuse to throw things around with your controller.
 So this is where the Vive really comes into its own because I'm actually walking around my office cubicle.
 Eating some donuts, throwing some cups at things, photocopying some phones.
 And this obviously looks clumsy because that's kind of the joke of the game, but it's really precise.
 And so if I hit this button it feels exactly like what I might be doing with my hands.
 Normally I can get some really bad motion sickness in VR.
 If you're moving even a little bit in a game.
 But here I've barely even noticed it.
 That's mostly because when I walk here it is one to one motion.
 I am walking in physical space and virtual space.
 So this is a game called Final Approach.
 You are landing airplanes and generally being a flight controller.
 So obviously I have a lot of space here, but not everybody's going to and that's pretty okay for the Vive.
 A lot of the games you really only need to be able to move a little bit in every direction enough to land these little planes.
 It's even got a setting for just standing absolutely still.
 I'm just crashing all of these airplanes.
 Crushing them horribly.
 So the controllers are obviously one of the best parts of the Vive because they really let you feel like you're interacting with space.
 This is really what sets a high-end headset apart from something like Google Cardboard.
 Which is that you're able to create things.
 You're able to really affect the environment.
 You're able to actually get something that feels just a little like reality.
 I'm playing Tilt Brush right now which is a 3D painting app.
 It's really detailed and really responsive.
 But it's also a sign that the controllers really could be designed a little bit better.
 They're a little bit heavy and being able to hold them like remotes is great sometimes.
 But sometimes it also just feels kind of unnatural.
 It feels like I'm twisting my hand in weird directions to paint when I would be holding something like a pencil.
 Most of what you do, you do with a little trackpad here and a trigger here.
 But there's also a home button right under that trackpad.
 Which is a great idea. It's a pause menu.
 It's the way you launch games.
 But it's also right under my thumb so when I'm doing something really exciting...
 Look! There's the whole Steam menu. That's great.
 So like a lot of VR, the Vive asks you to just imagine your relationship with a computer as completely and fundamentally different.
 You're not really inputting commands.
 You're actually using yourself and putting yourself into some version of a game.
 It can feel really natural and can turn some things that are great but a little mundane in the real world into just amazing experiences.
 So I'm just here in Ninja Training slashing fruit as one does.
 The thing that's really unique about the Vive is that your body feels the effects of the things that you're doing.
 That might not be great in the long run because it means that it kind of limits how much you can do with the experiences.
 But it's really fulfilling the promise of virtual reality.
 So I'm going to withhold judgment on this until the actual final version comes out.
 But everything I've seen so far has been fantastic.
 And the big question is going to be whether they can put enough good experiences on this that it's worth using in the long term.
 If nothing else, it's the first time I've spent five hours playing a one-minute Fruit Ninja demo.
 So I'm optimistic.