The world of virtual reality is special. It fully immerses you into worlds beyond your imagination. You could be escaping a room one minute, then shooting up bad guys to a pumping soundtrack the next. Nothing beats it. Sometimes though, that immersion gets broken. Even in the quietest environments, you can be disturbed, causing you to remember you’re wearing a device on your face. One of these more common annoyances is exclusive to us spectacle wearers. Maybe your lenses keep steaming up, smudging or even the pressure of the headset pushing your glasses onto your face, making it hurt. These are all things that I have become accustomed to in my experience with VR. But then scrolling Facebook one day, I found something that would change my experience for the better. VR Wave, actual prescription lenses specially made for the VR. I had to try them out on my Oculus Quest 2. They also offer lenses for other VR devices.
Being an American-based company, ordering the lenses required me to get my prescription form from my optician, emailing it to the VR Wave guys, who then send it to their manufacturing division, and then package them up to send. The lenses took around a week and a half to arrive.
Before I say how it worked out for me, let me tell you what came in the box. A wipe, two lens cleaner wipes, a blue-light torch and testing card, the lenses themselves housed in a little fabric carry case and two information cards. Now, I’m not entirely sure why they packaged a small blue-light torch and testing card other than demonstrating the damaging effects of blue-light to naked eyes. I shone it onto the card, and it left darkened spots. I felt lucky that my lenses had blue-light protective glass. The information cards were a thank you for purchasing and a QR code to scan for installation instructions.
The lenses themselves came in a cute little grey and black circular hard case, which would easily protect the delicate surfaces of the glass. Its also portable in case you took your Oculus Quest 2 with you, and your non-glasses wearing friends are easily able to take the lenses off and keep safe.
The lenses themselves came in two parts: the lens and a frame. Installation was easy. The frame disconnects from the lens, allowing you to simply match up the shape to the Oculus lens, and a little pressure gives you a satisfying click as it is secured into place. These frames stay on the Quest 2 and never come off. The lenses are literally just placed on and held in place by tiny magnets, which means they can be taken on and off in no time at all.
The VR Wave lenses were nothing short of revolutionary for me. As a glasses wearer, being able to use my Quest 2 and game in virtual reality without my glasses was life-changing. I didn’t have to worry about warping or snapping my glasses. I didn’t have to worry about smudging the lenses, and I didn’t have to worry about my face hurting from the pressure. I could game to my heart’s content, glasses free. There is a slight glare, but it disappears in-game when colours are filling your field of vision. My only concern is that I may have to get new lenses if my prescription changes, but I’m sure that won’t be for a while.
I cannot recommend VR Wave enough to those who wear glasses and want to own a VR device without worry. The convenience of just popping the lenses on and off if you have non-glasses wearing company and how impressive they work and improve quality of life on your Oculus Quest 2 is breathtaking. Antony Lam, I praise you.
Developer: VR Wave
Platforms: Oculus Quest/2, HTC Vive, PSVR, Oculus Rift, HP Reverb G2
RRP: $30.00
Gaming Respawn’s review sample unit VR Wave lenses were provided by the developer.
