Meet the best virtual reality goggles and their history

Virtual reality headset

A virtual reality headset, also called virtual reality goggles, virtual reality viewer or HMD (head-mounted display), is a helmet-like display device, which allows you to play computer-created images on a screen very close to the eyes or projecting the image directly onto the retina of the eyes. In this second case the virtual reality headset is called a virtual retina monitor.

Due to its proximity to the eyes, the virtual reality headset makes the images displayed much larger than those perceived by normal screens, and even allow to encompass the entire field of view of the user. Because the helmet is attached to the head, it can follow the user's movements, thus making it feel integrated into computer-created environments.

History

The Sega VR, announced in 1991 and seen in early 1993 at Winter CES, was never released. One of the first VR headsets, the Forte VFX1, was announced at CES in 1994. The VFX-1 has stereoscopic showcases, 3-hub head following and stereo earphones. Sony, another pioneer, propelled the Glasstron in 1997, which has a discretionary position sensor, which enables the client to see the environment, with point of view moving as their head moves, giving a profound sentiment of inundation. These VR headsets gave MechWarrior 2 players a new visual perspective of seeing the battlefield from inside their ship's cockpit. Notwithstanding, these early caps bombed economically because of their restricted innovation and were portrayed by John Carmack as "glancing through bathroom tissue tubes".

In 2012, he started a crowdfunding campaign for VR headsets known as the Oculus Rift; The project was led by several prominent video game developers, including Carmack 5, which later became the company's CTO 6. In March 2014, the parent company of the Oculus VR project was acquired by Facebook for $2 billion. The final consumer-oriented launch of Oculus Rift began on March 28, 2016.

In March 2014, Sony introduced a prototype helmet for PlayStation 4, which was later called PlayStation VR. In 2014, Valve introduced some prototype helmets, which led to a partnership with HTC to produce the Vive, which focuses on "room scale" virtual reality environments with which users can navigate and interact naturally. The Vive was discharged in April 2016 and PlayStation VR in October 2016.

Virtual reality headsets and viewers are also designed for smartphones. Unlike helmets with built-in screens, these units are essentially boxes in which you can insert a smartphone. Virtual reality content is viewed from the device's screen through lenses that act as a stereoscope, rather than using dedicated internal displays. Google discharged various particulars and related DIY units for computer generated reality watchers known as Google Cardboard; these visors can be fabricated utilizing minimal effort materials, for example, cardboard (thus the name). Samsung Electronics partnered with Oculus VR to jointly develop the Samsung Gear VR (which is only compatible with recent Samsung Galaxy devices), while LG Electronics developed a helmet with committed presentations for its LG G5 cell phone known as LG 360 VR. Asian hardware manufacturers such as Xion and Kolke have developed low-cost virtual reality headsets. In 2017, chinese company Tencent announced that it was preparing to launch its VR headset that year.
Types

Monocular: Images are only reproduced over one eye. Technically it's an HMD but it's not for virtual reality. That's the case with Google Glass.
Binocular: the images are reproduced over both eyes, thus obtaining a stereoscopic image.
On the other hand, it is also possible to distinguish:

Virtual reality helmets or glasses: occupy the field of view of the user so that he has no perception of the surrounding environment, thus allowing the complete immersion of this in a virtual reality, since he will only perceive the images created by computer and reproduced on the screen.
Helmets or glasses of augmented reality or mixed reality: also known as optical HMD (or OHMD) allow the user to see the entire environment around it and introduce into this virtual objects or information, thus producing what is known as augmented reality or reality Mixed. This category includes smart glasses, whose main use is to display information available to smartphone users without using their hands.
Finally, according to their operability, they can be distinguished:

Mobile virtual reality glasses: they are really cases, which do not have their own screen or processor but are prepared to house a mobile phone, in which the images will be played back. Examples: Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard, and many others from different manufacturers.
Processorless virtual reality goggles: they include their own screen and sensors but connect to an external device (typically a personal computer) to receive the images. Examples: Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, HTC Vive...
Autonomous virtual reality glasses: these include all the necessary components, such as the housing, display, sensors and processor. Example: Microsoft Hololens and others in development such as Intel's Project Alloy, Qualcomm and Google's Daydream Standalone, or Samsung's Exynos VR.
Models
See Virtual Reality: Products

Helmets or goggles

- Glasses with built-in display (Rift, Playstation RV, HoloLens, VIve, StarVR, FOVE VR)

- Mobile VR housings or goggles (Gear VR, Daydream View, Cardboard, Plastic Caracasa and other materials)

- Old models (Virtual Boy, Forte VFX1, eMagin Z800 3DVisor)

Position sensors

Controllers (Leap Motion, STEM System, PrioVR, Gloveone, PowerClaw)
Other peripherals (Virtuix Omni, Cyberith Virtualize)
Other Systems (CAVE System)
Features
There are several key concepts in technology used by virtual reality headsets. Among them we can highlight:

Screen resolution: it is a very important parameter because it depends mostly on the definition of the image perceived by the HMD user. A typical resolution today (early 2016) is 1080x1200 pixels for each eye of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
Field of view – The amplitude of the user's field of view is occupied by the virtual image. The higher the, the better the immersive feeling. The Oculus Rift DK2 for example offers a 100o field of view.
Head tracking latency—This is the time that elapses between when the user moves their head and the time when the displayed image is readjusted to that movement. Manufacturers try to minimize it as excessive latency can cause user dizziness, as well as less realism. PlaySation VR registers at a latency of 18 ms.

Refresh rate—The number of images displayed per second. From 60 Hz is considered a good ratio. For example, the HTC Vive Pre headset and Oculus Rift CV1 run at 90 Hz, while the PlayStation VR reaches 120 Hz.
Head tracking (rotational tracking): using internal sensors (gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer) the HMD detects where the user's head is oriented.
Positional tracking—also known as absolute positioning, is achieved by a sensor, usually external to the glasses themselves, which detects where exactly the user's head is located and any changes that occur in that position. It is a feature that only incorporates the most advanced HMDs.
Eye tracking— Infrared sensors inside the helmet capture the movements of the eye. This allows things like replicating your eye movements in your virtual avatar, or provoking reactions from other characters depending on the way you look at them. Pioneer of this functionality is the FOVE VR model.

Stereoscopic vision: feature present in almost all virtual reality devices, which showing a slightly different image to each eye allows to visualize the environment in three dimensions.
Screen-door effect—A visual effect that happens on screens when lines separating pixels from screen-door effect become visible in the projected image. The result is similar to looking through an anti-mosquito fabric. It's a common effect on virtual reality viewers that aren't advanced enough.

Uses 

Medical training

Virtual reality headsets are currently being used as a means to train medical students for surgery. It enables them to perform fundamental techniques in a virtual, controlled condition. Students perform surgeries on virtual patients, allowing them to acquire the skills needed to perform surgeries on real patients. It also allows students to review surgeries from the perspective of the primary surgeon.


Traditionally, students had to participate in surgeries and essential parts were often lost. Now, with the use of VR headsets, students can view surgical procedures from the perspective of the lead surgeon without losing essential parts. Students can also pause, rewind, and quickly advance surgeries. They can also refine their techniques in a real-time simulation in a risk-free environment.