PlayStation VR is a promising new contender on the scene, but all eyes are still on the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift when it comes to VR rivalries. One HTC figurehead doesn’t think we should be looking at it that way, however.
Alvin Wang Graylin, China Regional President of Vive, made this point during his talk at last week’s Vive developer conference in Hangzhou, China. As he later shared on his Twitter account, Graylin compared each of the three major headsets to electric cars to explain his reasoning. The Vive itself he compared to Tesla’s Model X, describing them both as “Full-Featured” products for “Versatile Use”. The Rift, meanwhile, was likened to a Chevrolet Volt with its “Compact design” for “Home Use”.
Using electric vehicles to explain #VR devices at the #Vive Developer Conference in Hangzhou. @uploadvr #viveport @htcvive @tesla pic.twitter.com/niZx5Nul2C
— Alvin Wang Graylin (@AGraylin) October 16, 2016
As for PlayStation VR? It’s a Toyota Prius: a “Modern Design” for “Younger Customers” that’s “More Affordable” than its contemporaries.
Graylin also used the same comparison for mobile VR. An E-Motorbike is, in his mind “Versatile” and “Sexy” like Google’s Daydream platform, while an E-Moped has “Limited Features” and is “Easy to Use” like Gear VR. An E-Scooter? That’d be Google Cardboard: “Affordable” VR that’s “Low-Thrills” and “More of a Toy”.
Graylin later said: “my key point in slides is these vehicles don’t compete w/ each other, they are all needed to serve diff segments.”
my key point in slides is these vehicles don’t compete w/ each other, they are all needed to serve diff segments @UploadVR @htcvive #vr
— Alvin Wang Graylin (@AGraylin) October 16, 2016
It’s a noble thought, though it’s tough to look at those slides and not feel like Oculus has come up a little short-changed. With the arrival of the Oculus Touch controllers in early December, the Rift and Vive will on pretty equal footing with both offering room-scale VR with position-tracked input, and Gear VR is very comparable with Daydream too.
Still, we can get behind a high-level executive stressing the importance of cooperation and not dominance in the VR space which, given the amount of money Oculus is spending on content at the moment, might not be a mutual feeling.
