Produced | 93913 Media Center
Written | Roger
Edited | William
In June last year, arpara officially launched an ultra-thin, ultra-high-definition PC VR headset - arpara 5K VR headset. This VR headset, which weighs only 200 grams and is half the size of an ordinary VR headset, but is equipped with a double-eye 5K (5120×2560) ultra-high-resolution screen, has attracted the attention of the industry and VR enthusiasts as soon as it was released.
The 93913 also got the device for the first time and evaluated it. It is worth affirming that the arpara 5K VR headset has excellent performance in terms of wearing comfort and display effect of the picture, and also provides the diopter adjustment function of the two eyes, which greatly improves the experience of myopic users.
At that time, the arpara 5K VR headset wanted to play the PC VR masterpiece of the Steam platform, and it was necessary to use third-party hardware to achieve 6DoF positioning tracking function, and players had been expecting Arpara to launch a first-party locator accessory to bring a more stable and convenient 6DoF experience.
After more than half a year of waiting, arpara finally released a 6DoF locator accessory specifically adapted to the arpara 5K VR headset at the beginning of this year - arpara Tracker, which completed the last piece of the puzzle of the Arpara PC VR ecosystem, and finally packaged it into a game set to launch, giving fans a one-stop PC VR experience.
After getting the game set, we reviewed it as soon as possible. (The content of the arpara game set packaging is subject to the final official announcement)
The hardware we used in this review includes: arpara 5K VR headset, arpara Tracker and official DP1.4 cable included in the arpara game set, as well as two SteamVR 2.0 positioning base stations, a pair of Valve Index finger tiger controllers, and a desktop PC with NVIDIA RTX 2070S graphics cards.
First of all, the conclusion, arpara Tracker locator can be perfectly adapted to the Steam VR 2.0 positioning system and the highly acclaimed Valve Index finger tiger handle, while ensuring accurate and smooth positioning, but also taking into account the convenience of installation and settings, can be called the "best companion" of the Arpara 5K VR headset. Let's take a look at our specific review!
Appearance, specifications and installation
Arpara Tracker is black throughout, and from the front, the panel is frosted and printed with the brand LOGO, which has an atmospheric appearance and a sense of technology. A total of 28 Triad optical sensors are provided in the recesses of the panel, ensuring a stable reception of positioning information from the SteamVR base station in all directions.
The back of the arpara Tracker can clearly see its connection with the arpara 5K VR headset: the micro USB interface on the top needs to be inserted into the corresponding interface above the headset when it is used, and the black strip below is used to fix the arpara Tracker on the headset.
Compared with the appearance before and after installation, arpara 5K VR headset is like wearing a set of "armor", although the volume has increased slightly, but in terms of weight, the arpara Tracker weighs only 122 grams, plus the headset is only more than 320 grams, still lighter than most other brands of PC VR headsets. Next, we need to connect the VR headset to the PC through a data cable. In this review, we are using the 3.5m DP1.4 data cable officially provided by Arpara.
Connect the USB-C port of the data cable to the left interface under the arpara 5K VR headset, and then insert the DP interface and the USB 3.0 interface into the corresponding interface of the PC, and we have completed the connection between the headset and the PC. After that, we also need to set up two base stations of the Steam VR 2.0 positioning system.
Steam VR 2.0 positioning system 2 base stations are best installed at the high ends of the diagonal of the active area to ensure that no matter how the user moves will not produce a blind spot of positioning, of course, if the conditions do not allow, just place the base station at both ends of the computer desk can also make the positioning system work normally, but when you turn your back to the PC, the positioning system may occasionally lose positioning due to the occlusion of the body.
There is also a small Tip: arpara provides more conscientious cable materials and workmanship, so if the amplitude of action is larger during the VR experience, it may cause the USB-C interface with the VR headset to loosen due to the cable falling, resulting in a black screen affecting the game. If possible, try hanging this cable in the air like the picture above for a better experience. At the same time, the 3.5-meter DP1.4 cable provided by arpara also comes with a small clip, which can provide the wire collection function.
Next, to start Steam and Steam VR on the PC, we also need to set up the base station channel, pair the handles, and configure room tracking.
By default, steam VR 2.0 tracking base stations use channels S-0 and S-1, and the current channels of the base station can be viewed separately by hovering over the SteamVR panel base station icon. If the two base stations use the same channel, you need to use a paper clip to poke the small hole on the back of the base station for adjusting the channel, so that the two base stations use different channels for work, it should be noted that it may take a certain amount of time to switch channels until the SteamVR window recognizes the change.
Next, right-click the mouse on the SteamVR panel handle icon to pair the handles, and operate according to the guidance of SteamVR. When both the base station and the handle are properly connected, the SteamVR window should display the headset, two gamepads, and two base stations with colored icons indicating that the devices are connected.
Finally, we also need to click on the three horizontal lines in the upper left corner of the SteamVR window, select the room setting in the pop-up menu, set the position tracking of standing only or room scale according to our actual situation, and follow the instructions of SteamVR to complete the operation.
At this point, the setup of arpara Tracker has been completed, and then we can open the VR games and applications in Steam for a pleasant experience!
Gaming experience
"After The Fall"
In this review of Arpara Tracker, we tested the popular music game "Beat Saber", the VR version of the brick "VRKANOID – BRICK BREAKING GAME", the critically acclaimed domestic VR vs. shooter "Contractors", and the recently launched VR version of The Road to Survival " After The Fall".
Overall, the arpara Tracker and Arpara 5K VR headset can work stably at 4K resolution @90Hz refresh rate (DP1.4 data cables support up to 5088×2544 resolution @70Hz refresh rate screen display), whether it is "Beat Saber" and "After The End: After Winter" or "VRKANOID – BRICK BREAKING" that requires high positioning accuracy GAME" and "Mercenary Warrior", arpara Tracker performs well, no matter how fast the swing action is made, or the environment that quickly turns the head to observe other directions, it can provide accurate feedback without any lag in the game.
In the case of "After the Fall: Winter", thanks to the excellent screen quality of the Arpara 5K VR headset, the game provides an unparalleled sense of immersion, whether in the dim indoors or open outdoors, the details of the in-game environment are revealed. Another advantage of the excellent Micro-OLED screen is the chiaroscuro contrast, the pixel self-illumination feature allows users to accurately distinguish enemies and various items in dim scenes, and the user experience is once again upgraded to a new level in the subtleties.
On the other hand, the weapons we used in testing "After Destruction: Winter" did not have functions like crosshairs or infrared sights that could assist in aiming, and relied entirely on the simulated "three-point and one-line" mechanical aiming method to accurately kill the enemy. This requires both the VR headset and the handle to achieve stable and non-drift-free positioning.
In the course of the game, when we focus on aiming at long-distance enemies, the positioning of the VR headset and the controller controller is very stable, as long as we aim in the right way, we can perfectly achieve "where to point", so that everyone can become a sharpshooter, give the enemy a "Headshot" from a distance, and first suppress the number of enemies, thereby reducing the difficulty of close-range fighting.
Write at the end
Compared to other mainstream PC VR headsets such as the Rift S, Valve Index, and HTC Vive, the advantages of the arpara Gaming Kit are obvious:
First, the resolution of the arpara 5K VR headset Micro-OLED screen (monocular 2560×2560) far exceeds that of these older PC VR headsets (Rift S is monocular 1280 x 1440, Valve Index is monocular 1400×1600, HTC Vive is monocular 1200×1080), which can bring ultra-clear pictures with almost no sense of pixels and vivid colors;
Secondly, the weight of the arpara Tracker+arpara 5K VR headset of only 322 grams can also add a lot of points to the experience, alleviating the past "Tarzan topping" style VR game experience;
Finally, arpara Tracker achieves accurate and stable 6DoF positioning, which can not only bring accurate interaction to VR games, but also ensure that users will not be plagued by problems such as perspective drift because of the positioning system, adding a guarantee to the excellent picture experience of the arpara 5K VR headset.
▲B station UP master @Pink Dan try to wear arpara 5K VR headset + arpara Tracker
At present, many established VR manufacturers have gradually abandoned the PC VR market, such as Meta (formerly Oculus) has completely abandoned the PC VR product line, and the next generation of VR products of V Society is rumored to be an all-in-one machine. This brings about a vacuum in the PC VR headset market – players have been in a state of disrepair for a clearer, lighter and lower premium 6DoF PC VR headset.
In recent years, the more rapidly developed VR all-in-one machine can not fill this gap: on the one hand, the VR all-in-one machine is limited by the performance in the short term, it is difficult to provide users with a mobile VR game experience comparable to the PC screen effect, on the other hand, although the VR all-in-one machine has a PC VR streaming mode, but because of the encoding and decoding problems, there is still a difference with the native PC VR headset in the screen experience.
The emergence of the game suit composed of the golden pairing of arpara 5K VR headset and arpara Tracker, and the combination of official characteristics of the wire, is undoubtedly a good thing for the player group that is still rooted in PC VR, bringing them a long-lost "no increase" experience upgrade; but on a deeper level, arpara can gain a larger market share in the PC VR market. It will also bring more potential users to arparaland, the VR social platform it hopes to build, to welcome the true arrival of the "metaverse era".
This wave is a "win-win" for manufacturers and players.