VR Is the Safest Way to Learn Dangerous Jobs
One the most effective ways that the HP Reverb could help government agencies is as a tool for training, especially for dangerous jobs. It’s designed to not only simulate a virtual world for safe training in a dangerous environment, but also to allow communication with instructors or experts during the exercise.
Two small cameras on the front of the headset deliver situational awareness to users who would otherwise be completely immersed inside the virtual world. In pass-through mode, users can see the environment outside of the headset without removing the gear. This enables augmented reality, where a user sees their environment as well as simulated images, so that reality and virtual reality merge. This is probably one of the best use cases for education, because it enables an instructor to journey with a student as they progress through the simulation.
Coming in at 1.1 pounds, the HP Reverb headset is lightweight and comfortable to use. This makes this headset perfect for a long training session, especially with the effective seal around the nose of the unit, which does a great job of keeping out all external light and feels comfortable sitting in place for hours on end.
Speaking of comfort, the headset is well vented, which lets out heat that users experience with less well-designed units. The vents do a great job cooling both the unit’s electronics and the person using them.
Two key features that we particularly liked for training and education are the study frame and how easy it is to clean the device. Agencies that plan to use VR for training will need units that last a long time. Since the face mask padding on the HP Reverb can be easily removed, it makes the unit particularly simple to clean — a must in this era of heightened germ control.
Also, despite being lightweight, the unit is sturdy. We had five people test the device over the course of a month, and despite some rough handling and a few VR-related bumps into actual walls, the unit was just as reliable and sturdy on the last day of testing as it was when we first unwrapped it.
HP Reverb Virtual Reality Headset
Processor: Intel Core i7-8565U 1.9GHz
Built-in Devices: Dual camera, microphone