The lead image for this article was generated by HackerNoon's via the prompt "a man playing vr games" AI Image Generator My VR journey started with the Oculus Quest in 2019. It’s kind of crazy to think that I’ve been in the VR scene for 4 years now. From getting my mind blown by Beat Saber to , I’ve experienced almost everything the virtual reality video game genre has to offer. interviewing the makers of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners I’ve , soft modded Skyrim to my heart’s content, and felt like a real soldier playing with the most expensive VR gunstock on the market. experimented with hard mods Pavlov Throughout these 4 years of hardcore VR gaming, I’ve amassed a large number of accessories, controllers, and peripherals that have only made my gaming experience more enjoyable. While some of these items I could definitely live without, there are some accessories that I consider completely essential. In this article, I’ll cover the VR accessories I think everyone needs to get the most out of their virtual reality experience. While I’ll mostly be covering Meta Quest 2 accessories, almost all these items have counterparts for all the major VR headsets out there. Note: Please note that I have NOT received payment from any of the companies listed below for inclusion in this article. However, every item I mention below was sent to me for free by the company for review and consideration. With that in mind, everything I write below is true to my real experience testing these items throughout my daily VR play sessions. Vested Interest Disclaimer: 1. ZyberVR Headset and Controller Dock & Charging Station I’m ashamed to say that I have been neglecting headset storage for pretty much the past 3 and a half years. Since I picked up my headset and played it almost every day, I didn’t think there was a point to get a fancy docking station. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. The VR charging dock I currently use for my Meta Quest 2 is from . The company makes accessories for other headsets too, so don’t worry if you don’t own the Quest 2. ZyberVR Put simply, this is the most useful VR accessory I own. It keeps my Quest 2 headset and controllers tidy, protected, and, most importantly, fully charged. We’ve all had that facepalm moment when we are all set for our VR workout or gaming session only to strap the headset on and find that either the headset itself is out of battery, or the controllers are. Getting yourself a dock/charging station will stop that from ever happening again. One of the best things about it is the ability to charge your controllers wirelessly. This dock and many like it charges the controllers via the dock itself wirelessly. This means it’ll come with custom double-a batteries for your controllers and custom battery covers that allow you to charge the controllers without ever having to take the batteries out ever again. If you’re still sleeping on this, do yourself a favor and make sure a VR charging dock is your next gaming purchase. For more information on the ZyberVR dock, check out my full review of this product below: https://hackernoon.com/this-vr-charging-dock-is-the-most-essential-quest-2-accessory-on-the-market?embedable=true 2. Skull Caps for Sweat Absorption & Silicone Face Covers I think for most people it is physically impossible not to sweat in VR. You have a bright, hot, screen an inch from your eyes, which is strapped tightly to your face, pretty much covering your entire head. On top of that, in VR your entire body is engaged. You’re moving; you’re reacting, rather than just pressing X or A on the controller. This makes VR gaming a lot healthier (physically, at least). However, it also makes VR gaming a lot sweatier and more uncomfortable. : silicone face covers, microfiber sweat-absorbing face covers, and even complete facial interface replacements. I’ve tried everything there is on the market There is no perfect solution to the hot headset = sweat problem. Let me start with the bad news: But the good news is you can prevent water damage to the headset and wear something comfortable that can absorb as much of the sweat as you can. To this, the best solution I’ve found throughout the years is simple: Use a silicone face cover, and wipe sweat off of it during the session Wear a skull cap during more active VR sessions Silicone Face Covers The Silicone Face Cover does not absorb sweat; it does the opposite. It keeps sweat on the surface and makes it easy to wipe off in between sessions. But in my experience (as the sweatiest person on the planet), that is not enough. You also need to absorb as much sweat as you can. Skull Caps The Skull Cap is the other piece of the puzzle that will absorb your sweat as you play. The reason I chose a skull cap and not a headband is you need to choose something that is as thin as possible. Otherwise, you’ll be wearing a bulky cloth underneath an already bulky headset. For that purpose, skull caps are best. Some of them were made to be worn under bike helmets. I don’t have a particular brand in mind, but I’d recommend choosing ones that come in multiples. These are pretty much a use-once-and-throw-in-the-laundry type of item, so it’s best to have many of them on hand and ready to go every week. 3. Haptic Feedback Accessories I kept this item in the list very vague on purpose. Lots of these accessories are extras that are not essential to the VR games they were made for. However, some of the most fun and most immersive experiences I’ve ever had in VR have been thanks to accessories that provide haptic feedback. Haptic feedback is currently the pinnacle of VR immersion. It might not be Ready, Player One, but it’s damn well the best we have. For me, there are 2 haptic feedback accessories I can highly recommend: bHaptics VR Haptic Vest Make no mistake; the bHaptics haptic vest is one of the most expensive gaming accessories I’ve ever seen. Not VR gaming accessories, just gaming in general. Don’t believe me? The bHaptics Tact Suit retails for either $299 USD or $499 USD. It is expensive, but after testing it I understand why. If you get punched in the stomach in a boxing game like Thrill of the Fight, you can feel the feedback in your stomach. If you get hit in the chest, you feel it in your chest. This brings about a new level of immersion synced to your game that isn’t cheap to come by. This tech itself is early and bHaptics is one of the first to market. This definitely isn’t an essential accessory by any means, but those of you money bags that are dedicated to VR gaming should definitely check it out. Forcetube Haptic Rifle Stock Without , without haptic feedback, playing shooting games in VR is a lot like playing make believe. You hold the rifle in the game literally by floating your controllers in place (pretending to hold a rifle). It works well enough, but it definitely isn’t that immersive. VR rifle stocks But instead imagine if you held a gun up in VR and in real life you were holding something like this: I don’t have a video of the Forcetube but to show you what the haptics would feel like here is a video of me testing the ProVolver (a pistol version of the Forcetube). https://twitter.com/AmbalinaLimarc/status/1488448263925616640?embedable=true The immersion that haptic feedback offers is something every VR gamer should experience at some point. However, I need to be extra clear that these accessories are incredibly expensive. They aren’t really something the casual gamer can afford. Please shop responsibly! 4. Controller Grips: ZyberVR KNIGHT Direct-Charge Controller Grips Cover for Quest 2 If I’m being completely honest, these were items I never expected to be on this list. As a safety precaution, pretty much all modern VR motion controllers come with wrist straps. The wrist straps annoying to put on and don’t feel that great, but I do believe they are necessary. They make us feel safe and let us rest assured that if we get too immersed in the experience and swing our hands too wildly, our loved ones and the expensive items around the house won’t get hit by a flying motion controller. With that in mind, I was very skeptical when testing out these battery-powered controller grips by ZyberVR. However, I was very pleasantly surprised by how great these felt and how much I warmed up to them. What Are They? The epically named are rubber grips that wrap around the entire grip of the Quest 2 controller. They come with special battery packs and a usb-c port at the bottom of the grip that allows you to charge the controllers directly with a usb-c charger without ever having to take the grips off. KNIGHT Controller Grips The Pros: The grips make the controller much larger than the original form factor. For gamers with larger hands, this alone is a blessing and the larger grip makes the controller easer and more comfortable to handle. Comfort: The larger grip also makes the controllers heavier. And when we talk about immersion, it’s obvious to most of us that the smooth light plastic controller feels nothing like the real-life counterparts of the swords and guns we wield in games Skyrim VR or Crisis Vrigade. Immersion: The KNIGHT grip is much more believable and makes it feel more like we really are holding the hilt of a sword or the grip of a firearm. It goes without saying that a rubberized grip makes it harder for the controller to accidentally slip out of your hand. While the original Quest 2 controllers have wrist straps, the smooth plastic by its nature has virtually no traction and yes, it is easy to let the controller fall out of your hands. That’s why the wrist straps are there. Safety (non-slip): To make sure that the KNIGHT controller grips really were worth it, I tried them on two of the games in which I swing my arms with the most force: The Thrill of the Fight and Beatsaber. I’m happy to report that not once during testing did the controllers fly off my hands (despite having no wrist strap). The rubber has so much traction that it’d be virtually impossible to have the controllers accidentally slip out of your hands. Keep in mind that I was playing games in which instinctively we are gripping the controllers quite strongly; boxing basically requires us to have our hands balled up into fists the entire time. Also, I made sure to tighten the grips as much as I could without making it uncomfortable. As long as you do that, I can say that you’d pretty much have to be trying to throw the grips off to have them fly out of your hands. See video below for a demonstration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfqVhfj3BFQ&list=TLGGKK6rEcEn3PYwNDA2MjAyMw&t=30s&embedable=true The Cons My main gripe with this item is that it is incompatible with the accessory I talked about earlier in this list that I consider essential: charging docks. Since the grip covers the entire controller and has a custom battery back, it of course makes it so that the controllers will no longer fit in any sort of charging dock (including the dock that ZyberVR themselves sell). This issue is the only thing that stops me from using the grips 24/7. I really like the convenience of just popping the controllers onto the dock after a play session. With these grips on, I need to place them somewhere else separate from the headset. Dock Incompatibility: In general, unless you’re being reckless, your VR controllers should never fly out of your hands. That is regardless of whether you have these grips or not. However, wrist straps always made me feel an extra level of ease, knowing that if I do scew up for whatever reason, the wrist straps keep the controllers from being hurled across the room. While the rubberized grip is strong, I can’t help but wonder why they didn’t just include wrist straps on these things for added safety. No Wrist Straps: At the end of the day, if you find your VR controllers too small for your hands or you hate wrist straps, these would be the perfect accessories for you. However, if you prioritize storage convenience, like I do, I’d rather not have these grips and keep the convenience of using a charging dock. 5. Headstrap Replacements/Upgrades Last, but not least, is probably the most important and most essential item on this list. When something is strapped to your head for hours, the most important accessory you can buy is one that will make that item more comfortable and put less strain on your face, neck, and whatever muscles we subconsciously use to keep the headset in place. Thee biggest issue with VR right now is how uncomfortable and inconvenient the headset design is. All VR headsets are front-heavy. This means that whatever headset strap or upgrade you invest in needs to offset that front-heaviness. The options vary depending on your headset, but most designs are similar. The two most important things to look for in a strap are: Weight (and weight distribution) of the strap Tightening mechanism For those of you that just want something simple that works out of the box, I’d recommend getting a replacement strap that has a battery pack on the back of the strap. This will ensure there is a counterweight on the back of your head that offsets the heaviness of the headset itself. Once that is taken care of, the next best thing to look for is a strap that has a dial to control the tightness of it. It’ll make it super easy to take the headset on and off. I’m sure we are all wondering what the hell Meta was thinking when they made the head strap of the original Quest 2 super flimsy and harder to adjust than a pair of ice skates. This is pretty much the only design factor in which PSVR was superior. Recommendation for Meta Quest 2: The ZyberVR Elite Head Strap The is also from ZyberVR. While they sent this to me for free, I wanted to make sure that the quality of the head strap actually stood above the rest. head strap I currently use on my Quest 2 Comparing to Cheaper Options , I decided to buy 1 from and 2 from Amazon Japan just to see if it really is worth it to spend $49.99 on a head strap, rather than $15-30 you could spend on Wish or other marketplaces. Since there are so many cheap head straps from brands no one has ever heard of Wish.com So I bought this one from a seller named TeeMars on Amazon Japan that converts to about $30 USD. And I also bought this one from a company called NiceCool (lol that’s really their name). This one was the equivalent of $25 USD. And also, I bought this terrible one from from a company called Animation around. Sadly, it also was the most expensive one as well at $33 USD. Wish.com After testing all 3 of those no-name brand headstraps, by far the best one was ZyberVR’s followed by the one by NiceCool who had a similar design. There are 3 reasons why ZyberVR won out in the end (and no one of them is not because they sent me the product for free): The 6000mAh battery adds a decent amount of weight to the back of the headstrap, offsetting the front-heavy Quest 2 The back of the head strap has a rubberized cradle for the round back of your skull. The top strap that runs along the center of your skull has a soft cushion. The NiceCool version and even the original Elite Strap by Meta themselves didn’t have this in their design. I think the winning formula here is headstraps that follow Meta’s original ergonomic elite strap design (pictured below), but also improve on it and fix its imperfections. Lastly, don’t forget that you’ll need a strap that has a dial you can turn to adjust the tightness. Most of the newer models will have it but some still don’t. Final Thoughts That’s it for my list of VR accessories that every Meta Quest (or pretty much every VR gamer) needs to at least consider. Some of these may be perfect for you, and some might not. Let me know in the comments below what you consider to be the essential accessories in your VR gaming setup.

The is an opinion piece based on the author’s POV and does not necessarily reflect the views of HackerNoon.

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