The HTC Vive heralds a new way of playing games, learning new skills, exploring new places and interacting with virtual worlds. While Oculus Rift did it first, the HTC Vive does it better.

A joint venture between HTC and Valve, the HTC Vive is a virtual headset that also includes motion tracking. While currently still in development phase, it’s working and working well. A consumer version is expected by the end of the year.

To set it up, simply place two cameras in a room at 90 degrees and hold the controllers in each hand. Then the system knows where you are and what you’re doing and will represent that in the virtual world. Bend down, jump, throw a punch and it’s all there.

This motion tracking is what sets the HTC Vive apart from the rest right now and adds that much needed immersion. Your body movements are reflected right in front of your eyes. So as you move in the real world, you move in your virtual one. It’s a big thing and one that completely changes how your mind processes what it sees.

Journalists got a demo of the HTC Vive at the Mobile World Congress last April and they all loved it. While the demos were fairly limited, everyone said how involving the system is. Opinions were universally positive about the HTC Vive and all were excited about the future of the technology.

Yet virtual reality has yet to become a reality. It seems like we’ve been waiting for this technology for years now. Oculus Rift has been teasing us for ages, the Samsung Gear VR has been making big promises too and they aren’t the only ones.

While excited about this possible future, that excitement is slightly dampened by the fact that we’re having to wait so long to experience it for ourselves. While patience may be a virtue, we’re more interested in going virtual.

Jesmond Darmanin is a technology enthusiast who blogs at www.itnewsblog.com.