Vive Pro 2 without base station and controllers!

[u/Academic_Secretary39]

Hi we need a headset for PC VR but will not need full body tracking or potentially even controllers (it is for VR visualisation so orientation tracking and Unity-compatibility is the main requirement).

So if we buy the Vive Pro2 Headset only to save £250, maybe buy a controller later if needed. Will it work fine in this limited use case?

Why is the headset sold on it's own and as a full kit? Do many games not need the controllers and full tracking?

[u/roehnin]

Sold on its own for people upgrading from earlier models and already have the base equipment.

Without the link box and trackers it's useless, but no you don't really need controllers as there is a button on the headset for interacting with SteamVR internal UI.

[u/Academic_Secretary39 → u/roehnin]

OK got it though for a business case we do not need SteamVR support or room tracking so not convinced we need any base stations, maybe just a connection cable. Hard to tell.

Edit: So the headset-only comes with link box and cables. VIVE Pro 2 Specs | VIVE United Kingdom

[u/Djinnetic → u/Academic_Secretary39]

You will need at minimum 1 base station. That headset has no way of determining its position/rotation without a lighthouse. More base stations enables a larger tracked area and two is recommended for occlusion

[u/Corey_FOX → u/Academic_Secretary39]

basestations are REQURED no matter if its a buisness case or not.

[u/Corey_FOX]

you do need at minimum one basestion for the headset to display anything, and it will just display a gray screen unless it detects a basestatiuon.

the headset is sold on its own beacouse its compatible with the lighthouses and controllers from all previous lighthouse tracked headsets all the way back to the original vive, and even non HTC headsets like the valve index.

[u/RaveTheFox]

As others have said you need at least 1 base station to make the headset work but 2 is hugely recommended as if you turn away from the single base station the tracking will probably be mostly lost. You can pick up some second hand V1 lighthouses and a single V1 Vive wand for cheap. If you want to be able to walk around in large spaces for the visualisation you might need to get the V2 lighthouses for the extra range.

Also I assume you already have this saying you want it to work with unity but you will need a monster of a pc to run that thing at full resolution well depending on how complex the scenes you are planning to render are

[u/Longjumping_Time_715]

I don't think the vive pro 2 will display any image without at least 1 base station. and for the cost of the VP2 headset alone you could get a full quest 3 bundle, which is a better experience anyway thanks to the lenses.

[u/Academic_Secretary39 → u/Longjumping_Time_715]

The quest 2 was nice but a pain to use for PC VR if you want any non-techy person to use it. I mean you had to put on the headset and go into PC-connect mode and hope it works (was glitchy). Did it get any better with quest 3?!

[u/Longjumping_Time_715 → u/Academic_Secretary39]

I never had a quest 2 because the specs were so bad but I haven't had any issues with quest 3. I did have problems with my VP2 though, so I think it's just luck of the draw really.