Guide to VR

This is my minimal guide to VR for those who are completely new to VR, what it is, and isn't.
Basically, it is a method of immersing yourself into the thing you are doing using it. For example, you are Iron man, instead of watching or playing it through a flat panel.
You dont play a character in a game, you are the character, you posses them, look through their eyes, can see the character's hands if you look at them, have the hands move to your own motion.
While nice for some things, i wouldn't recommend watching VR (360) videos on a VR headset personally, as the quality is just bad 99% of the time, and its more interesting to game, or socialize using a VR headset.
That aside, there are ways to get into VR, enhance your experience in different ways with all kinds of accesoires.

Standalone

If you want to go fully stand-alone VR, i have some suggestions for good baseline headsets, which are:
Pico 4, and the Meta Quest 2 (as of january 2023)
Both offer a decent low barrier of entry, and are decent in their own ways.
The quest 2 has a better catalog of games/apps than the Pico 4, but the Pico 4 has much better visuals due to newer lenses in it.
Both can be used in standalone, or PC mode if wanted.
A full body tracking setup can be used with either of them. but depending on which full body set, it might be a bit work to get it working as expected.
In general, a standalone option gives you a cheap flexible headstart.

Hurdles

One of the hurdles that plague VR for now still, is support for say, different tracking points in most apps/platforms/games.
For example, if one wants to use a Wifi based full body system together with a base station based headset, and match them exactly position wise, there is calibration between those 2 required per session, which cantake quite some minutes to properly align for the play session and it will get likely misaligned during gameplay slowly.
For PC VR headsets that use base station tracking, there currently is no decent priced option that is wireless. (closest is the HTC vive wireless adapter, but that thing gets very hot and is prone to damage itself from overheating)
Another is that if you get any add-on, like a haptic vest or gloves that let you feel, the software support just isn't there generally, unless you make it happen yourself.

So, as one might clearly notice, there are some hardware issues, but most are software support ones.

Tips+tricks

Generic tips for VR dancers: use a wireless headset preferably. head/wrist sweatbands to protect VR equipment from most sweat, face gasket cover for further sweat protection. and a bodysuit, or if even needed, a swimsuit to absorb your sweat while dancing, as you have to avoid any sweat getting into full body trackers, as those are NOT liquid resistant

Generic VR tips: set a alarm that goes off every hour, reminding you of time, and to hydrate. A non-spillable cup (like a kid's sippy cup) will go such a long way actually, as drinking with a headset on is difficult from say, a mug (especially when avoiding spilling)

Extending wireless VR playtime can be improved by using a powerbank, for the Pico 4 i found every 5000mAH batterbank extends playtime by 1 hour. You can use a waistbag (like the festival ones) with a 2 meter usb cable on your back to be a good solution Though keep in mind to keep the things free from any moisture.

For VR aiming / weaponry of any kind, thy to hold a 1 lb / 0.5 kg weight in the hands you use (using a strap to keep fingers free to hold and use controllers), this will simulate more realistic weights, improving accuracy in aiming

If you notice /any/ strain or annoyance from any body part even slightly, stop being in VR and observe things out of VR. why? as for most, VR suppresses senses for most, so noticing anything in joints or such likely is being more serious that it might seem while in VR.

Cautions

One thing i would suggest against using VR for: As babysitting tool, especially without proper parental controls set up. Here's my reasoning as to why: you dont know if they end up visiting a adult dance club in a social vr platform as example. You wouldnt send them to one in real life either, right?

The fact one can be who they wanna portray them selves as, also is a easy pitfall for uneducated people to have kids fall prey to abusers, or seeing nsfw things that's for adult only. (someone in social vr is in fact 2 clicks away from going nude as matter of fact).
Educating people with the pitfalls, dangers, and such before buying a VR headset is to me a very important thing. Hence I talk on it on my website. as better educate than let people go in blindly.
Hence im against using a VR headset without parental controls unallowing social VR platforms as a no-no for VR entertainment for minors.
In this regard, for parents who want to give their kids a VR headset, please use the parental controls and lock out social VR experiences, as the others using VR too can be 2 clicks away from becoming a nude model.

Another pitfall for new VR users is to play while standing the first few times, as some people have to get used to it first to overcome initial motion sickness, hence I recommend for the first few times, to play while seated.
This will prevent most issues with people falling over, smashing into objects and hurting themselves most of the time. Another one for people observing others play in VR is to keep a yard/meter around those people at least.
Because they mosty likely are /not/ aware of you standing close to them at all, and you don't wanna be potentially punched randomly.

Lastly, to increase immersion in VR, you may want to disable the playspace border. I am fan of this, but only if you are very aware of your real life surroundings, and where it might make sense. (don't do it in a room where there's a lot of object around or walls next to you for example)