Filip Brož I've always liked fantasy and sci-fi movies. When I was in elementary school, I really liked The Fifth Element, Star Wars or Demolition Man, for example. I still remember the scene with Sylvester Stallone and Sandra Bullock when she told him she wanted to have sex with him. An excited Stallon began to prepare as the actress brought two virtual reality helmets in it. I told myself that I would hardly ever live to see this moment.
But it was enough to wait only a few years and this year's hit is virtual glasses, in various forms and capabilities. This is proven by this year's largest consumer electronics fair, CES 2016, where virtual reality glasses were found at almost every stand. We have now received the Hyper BOBOVR Z4 glasses, which can be easily purchased in the Czech Republic.
The BOBOVR Z4 set differs from the competition primarily in that it has its own integrated headphones, more precisely padded ear cups. But it is not a virtual tool in itself, such as Microsoft's Hololens, but they use a connected iPhone.
Inside and with cover
The kit consists of several parts. At the very front is the place where you have to place the iPhone. The positive news is the fact that the glasses support all models, i.e. with a diagonal from four to six inches. I personally tested the BOBOVR Z4 with an iPhone 6S Plus, with glued glass and a classic silicone cover. So you don't have to remove the cover every time you use it, which is nice.
Hyper works on the same principle as the Google Cardboard glasses, so it can handle both 3D applications and, for example, 360-degree video. But before you dive into virtual reality, you need to download some apps from the App Store. Unfortunately, there are already many of them today, and more are constantly coming.
For example, I liked it very much the Within - VR application, in which you can find short films, animations, music videos and documentaries from the workshop The New York Times. Probably the most powerful experience is the music video by the group U2 and their song "Song for Someone". With the glasses, you can look in all directions and angles, while the scene in front of your eyes is constantly changing.
Horror films or a trip to the mountains
Horror movies and short trailers of all kinds are also popular apps. For example, you can download an application in the App Store Sisters: A Virtual Reality Ghost Story, with which I had to struggle a lot at times to last until the end. Thanks to the glasses, you can also shoot virtual zombies in the subway, just look at them and the rifle will start shooting in front of your eyes. You can also try riding a roller coaster yourself, walk through the streets of New York using Google Street View or climb Mount Everest. Relaxing games such as Crossy Road or Jurassic Park are also nice.
There are many ways to use glasses. The BOBOVR Z4 kit can also be used on YouTube, where Google has adapted all videos for virtual reality. But only in such a way that with glasses you have a greater angle of vision and you feel like you are in the cinema. Just switch to the Cardboard option for such an effect.
The principle of virtual reality is very simple. All apps and videos are split on the display when launched. You then place your iPhone in the glasses, click and place on your head. Even before that, it is also necessary to plug the integrated jack connector into the iPhone in order to hear the sound.
The Hyper BOBOVR Z4 fits perfectly on any head size. You can adjust everything with Velcro straps. The glasses also have a padded forehead rest. The inside of the glasses is then completely padded in soft leather with a filling of breathable memory foam, which not only prevents the penetration of ambient light, but also maintains its shape. So you don't have to worry about sweating. The face ventilation system also works around the glasses.
The same goes for the front semi-transparent cover for the phone. Thanks to this, the rear camera of the phone remains functional and the set can also be used with applications for augmented reality. A ventilation system based on the principle of open spaces protects the smartphone inside the glasses against overheating. The inside is also completely rubberized, so you don't have to worry about scratching or otherwise damaging the phone's body and display.
Integrated headphones
However, without high-quality sound, your visit in virtual reality would only be half as good, which is why headphones are an integral part of the Hyper BOBOVR Z4 set, which fit comfortably on your ears and help isolate them from the outside world.
Sound engineers have done a lot of work here and created light and strong membranes with a diameter of 40 millimeters, which can play clear highs and explosive bass and offer an all-encompassing 3D surround sound full of sound effects. Competing solutions usually do not have such headphones at all, and the experience is then not the same.
There are also side buttons on the glasses that adjust the distance of the phone from the lenses and are used to correct the focus. You can then adjust the distance between the lenses with the upper wheel so that the black edges do not disturb your view. Underneath the glasses is a control button that simulates touching the screen, as well as a wheel for controlling and adjusting the volume. I also have good news for people who wear glasses, which includes me. You can put them on without any problems, the developers have completely customized the interior.
The hardware is good, the application is not enough
I have to say that I was literally captivated by the virtual world. At least in the first few deployments of the virtual set, you will find yourself in a slightly different, hitherto unknown world. But after the initial enthusiasm subsided, I began to realize that something was missing. The set from Hyper is excellent, but what really falters are the applications and especially the video quality.
Even when I set the highest possible resolution on Youtube, the resulting image was still so dull. I met the best response in the already mentioned application Within - VR during short films and clips. The programmers definitely still have something to work on and I firmly believe that the situation will improve.
I was also very surprised at how light and sturdy the whole set is. Hyper BOBoVR Z4 are on a completely different level than Google's paper solutions. However, what impressed me the most is their price. Easystore.cz is sells the whole set for 1 crowns, which is very good considering the market. In addition, the BOBOVR Z4 will offer a field of view of up to 120 degrees, while other solutions often do not get over a hundred degrees.
Even if it also did the sex, mentioned at the beginning of the article, it would be absolutely perfect...
Well, it can :-) Try visiting pornhub.com - they have a special section for virtual reality and these glasses communicate with it without problems :-) It's very cool, kind of like in Demolition Man
do I understand correctly that I can then watch the movie in 3D? something I didn't usually do on mbp? :)
Yes and no. The thing is, I haven't found a single feature film yet that supports the glasses. Probably also for the reason that just an ordinary clip from U2 or Muse in 3D in the maximum possible quality with all angles etc... takes about 700 MB. That is, as I wrote in the conclusion. The glasses themselves are great, it's worse with the applications... there are a lot of them, but it's not the same yet and it still needs some time.
Otherwise, you can find various shorter documentaries, animations and so on... In Youtube, it's really only about a larger viewing angle, something like a screen in a cinema.
the size also occurred to me .. I suppose it's not worth going through an adapter or something to reduce the size .. thanks :)
Unfortunately, no. Those clips and shots are still tied to the application on the iPhone, so you just download it so that it doesn't bite when streaming from the Internet, and then you can enjoy two to three minutes of absolutely maximum experience. If an action movie was made in this way (Mad Max comes to mind) I would literally be pissed off, but we still have to wait for that. Not even the iPhone could pull that off yet.
Try it http://nplayer.tv/ the best player for iOS. When BR rip is 3D, there are several options for displaying it (next to each other, above each other, left/right channel separately, several types of anaglyph)