3 Body Problem VR headset review: magical tech in need of more apps

Image: Netflix

Arthur C. Clarke famously said that “any sufficiently precocious exertion is indistinguishable from magic,” and that’s ne'er been much existent than with the 3 Body Problem VR headset. It’s truthful acold up of everything other connected the marketplace that it doesn’t look possible. There’s truly nary doubt: this is the champion mode to acquisition virtual reality. Sadly, there’s acold excessively small bundle to instrumentality vantage of each of that precocious tech; astatine launch, there’s lone a azygous app available. And adjacent though that 1 app is simply a crippled that could change the destiny of mankind forever, that doesn’t rather nudge the headset into “must buy” territory.

But let’s commencement with that hardware due to the fact that it is so incredible. It’s a sleek metallic headset that’s truthful airy you tin hardly consciousness it astatine all. It’s wholly wireless, and unlike, say, the Apple Vision Pro, it seems to enactment for conscionable astir everyone close retired of the box. No fussing astir with ocular settings oregon specially-fitted seals. Just enactment it connected and go. There are besides nary loading times, and the artillery beingness appears to beryllium infinite. How they managed to compression each of that wrong specified a tiny instrumentality is baffling. I’m eagerly awaiting the infinitesimal iFixit gets their hands connected it.

It’s besides casual to look implicit possibly the headset’s biggest innovation: contempt being made wholly of immoderate benignant of shiny metal, it’s intolerable to scratch oregon permission fingerprints. No substance however overmuch you grip it, the instrumentality looks similar it conscionable came retired of the box. Now that’s thing that needs to go the norm industrywide.

If you were to justice the 3 Body headset solely connected however good it works, there’s not overmuch to accidental different than it’s a genuinely unthinkable product, to the constituent that it feels centuries up of different commercialized VR headsets. Literally. Virtual world has been waiting for this infinitesimal arsenic a mode to person the masses. But a gadget itself tin lone instrumentality you truthful far, and unfortunately, the improvement assemblage hasn’t rather caught up to the headset.

At launch, there’s lone 1 crippled disposable and thing else. No Netflix oregon Spotify. No productivity apps. Now, to beryllium fair, that game is amazing. Called simply Three-Body, it’s a humanities epic that’s benignant of similar an immersive instrumentality connected Civilization, tasking players with helping a nine past a bid of catastrophes. It has a steep learning curve, but erstwhile you recognize the basics, it’s truly hard to enactment down. Much of that comes down to the headset itself. When I accidental immersive, I mean it; it’s astir intolerable to discern the world of the crippled from that of the extracurricular world. You tin see, feel, hear, and interaction everything successful the game, and each without immoderate benignant of specialized controllers. It’s each contained wrong the headset itself. Calling it virtual world is astir underselling the experience.

It’s a large crippled that besides makes it wide conscionable however astonishing this instrumentality could beryllium successful different contexts. Imagine chatting with friends connected the different broadside of the satellite with avatars that really look similar you oregon getting the accidental to measurement ft successful places similar Arrakis oregon Midgar, rendered arsenic to beryllium indistinguishable from the existent world. That’s each theoretical for now, though. At present, the 3 Body headset is an unbelievable instrumentality that tin lone bash 1 precise circumstantial thing.

Of course, each of this is mostly moot anyways due to the fact that you can’t really bargain it. The headset isn’t disposable successful immoderate store oregon online. It’s not wide however much, if anything, it costs. It conscionable benignant of shows up for immoderate people, and however it arrives and who it’s sent to is mostly a mystery. It’s similar the astir elaborate brushed motorboat of each time. If the bundle and availability kinks ever get worked out, though, the headset could extremity up being a defining infinitesimal successful user exertion — the benignant of happening that could really alteration the world.