This page won't actually tell you which VR hardware to buy. Instead, it will give an overview of the different types, the pros and cons of each, and compatibility notes to keep in mind.
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
DISREGARD ALL OF THIS INFO, the situation has changed in the years since it was written. Happy to discuss options with you if you are interested, just hit me up wherever
This type of tracking uses one or more lighthouses to find the positions of tracked objects (headset, controllers, etc) in 3D space. Each lighthouse scans the area in front of it with an infrared laser. Sensors in the tracked objects are able to sense timing information and through some fancy math, can calculate an absolute 3D position.
Two models of lighthouse exist. 1.0 lighthouse systems can have a maximum of two lighthouses. 2.0 can have more and is generally more robust. All tracked objects that support LH2.0 can also work on 1.0 lighthouses, but LH1.0 tracked objects will not work with 2.0 lighthouses.
SLAM, or simultaneous localization and mapping, generally refers to hardware that tracks itself using a combination of IR cameras and IMUs (think motion sensors). Most commonly (on Quest2, etc) this is seen as a hybrid system where the headset tracks itself based on your surroundings, and then the controllers are tracked relative to the headset's position using the same cameras.
The Quest Pro controllers have cameras in them and are not susceptible to the occlusion problems described in Cons. They're expensive though!
FBT is generally pretty flexible in terms of compatibility (assuming you're doing PCVR). It does complicate setup and calibration a bit, but generally you can mix and match tracking types, different manufacturers, etc without any problems.
Lighthouse-based FBT generally has all the pros and cons of lighthouse tracking in general. For a basic FBT setup you will need three trackers, in addition to the headset and controllers. More trackers can be added for a more accurate pose (less algorithmic guessing of bone positions) but generally three is plenty. It's possible to use lighthouse-based tracking with a SLAM headset like the Quest, you just have to buy the lighthouses.
There are several IMU-based FBT options available - off the top of my head, SlimeVR and HaritoraX are the big ones. An inherent downside of these is that being IMU-based, they can never calculate an *absolute* position, it is all relative. The calibration process will establish the reference to something with an absolute position (headset). Since position is relative and IMUs are not perfect, drift is an inherent downside. You can estimate 5-60 minutes between needing minor recalibrations, depending on IMU quality, your environment, and activity. Tracking quality is generally a bit “floaty” looking.
The major upside of IMU-based tracking is significantly reduced cost compared to lighthouse-based tracking, even if you already have lighthouses. IMU trackers are also smaller and generally have better battery life than lighthouse trackers. Since it's pure IMU there are also no occlusion issues ever. Same deal as lighthouse where you can add additional trackers to improve the tracking quality.
A bit of a ship of theseus.