Battle of the high-end virtual reality headsets: Oculus Rift vs HTC Vive vs PlayStation VR

After four years of hype, high-end virtual reality is coming to consumers' living rooms next week with the release of the consumer edition of the Oculus Rift. The debut will be followed by the introduction of similar high-fidelity head-mounted displays, the HTC Vive and PlayStation VR.

Despite comparably offering immersive windows into 360-degreee virtual worlds, each headset has a unique approach to VR, whether it's the room-detecting capabilities of the Vive or the plug-and-play simplicity of PlayStation VR. Here's a look at how the three systems are different:

Oculus Rift

For early adopters, Oculus will be first to market with a $599 headset that must be connected to a high-powered PC. It's worth noting that although the Rift officially launches March 28, Oculus has announced that pre-orders have already sold out and new orders won't be shipped until this summer.

The headset will come with an Xbox One controller to play included games like space dogfighter EVE: Valkyrie and cartoony platformerLucky's Tale. However, Oculus' intuitive Touch controllers, which can recreate the sensation of hands in VR, won't be available separately until later this year.

Out: March 28

HTC Vive

For a higher price than both the Rift and PS VR, the Vive will offer seated and standing gameplay experiences utilizing a pair of sensors capable of monitoring movement in a room. Unlike the other headsets, the Vive features a front-facing camera and sensors to detect what's in the real world.

As with the Rift, the Vive needs to be connected to a super-charged PC costing at least $1,000 in order to operate, but the Vive will come with a pair of wand-shaped controllers and games such as Job Simulator,Fantastic Contraption and Tilt Brush to validate its heftier $799 price tag.

Out: April 5

Playstation VR

Sony is offering the least expensive entry into VR at $399. While the Rift and Vive only operate when connected to souped-up PCs, Sony's version of VR works in tandem with the PlayStation 4 console, which costs around $350 depending on the model, and PlayStation camera, about $60.

PS VR features one OLED screen inside the headset, while both the Rift and Vive have a screen for each eye, offering a slightly larger field of view. The headset works with the PlayStation DualShock and Move controllers. Physically, it fits more like a visor than Oculus and Vive's goggle-like approach.

Out: October

Virtual reality set to transform filmmaking

Chris Milk stepped onto a TED Conference stage and took the audience on an awe-inducing trip into the future of movies. While much of the early attention on virtual reality has focused on use of the immersive technology in video games, Milk and his US startup Vrse are using it to transform storytelling and filmgoing. "We have just started to scratch the surface of the true power of virtual reality," Milk said. "It's not a video game peripheral. It connects humans to other humans in a profound way... I think virtual reality has the potential to actually change the world." He had everyone in the Vancouver audience at TED , which ended Friday, hold Google Cardboard viewers to their eyes for what was billed as the world's collective virtual reality experience. Google Cardboard gear is literally that -- cardboard

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