To Oculus Rift, Valve and HTC:

Virtual Reality headsets are an exciting new development in video gaming, and have great potential in enhancing the playing experience of video games. However, these companies have concentrated way too much effort on the Augmented Reality aspect of these headsets, to their detriment.

A Virtual Reality headset is best when used while playing a game (any game, not just games specifically made for VR) while sitting on the couch or at your desk, with either a standard controller or even keyboard and mouse, with head-tracking technology to look around.

That is all we gamers need. We do not need nor want the Augmented Reality stuff. Not only does the AR stuff require lots of room space, and rearranging your room, it also severely limits game design and gameplay, and can in fact cause accidents and damaged property. (AR has, in fact, been compared to the infamous Kinect because of all these things.) The AR also can be used only in games specifically built for it, and is useless for generic gaming. It's an extremely niche feature which is pretty much useless and has little to no potential for video gaming.

We do not want to play games by walking around the room (carefully trying not to stumble onto furniture and tripping over and hurting ourselves) in a ridiculously small space that limits gameplay. We want to play games by sitting on the couch or at the desk. All games, not just games specifically built for VR.

Not only has all the AR development increased the cost of the headset, it has also had the negative side-effect that many people now think that it's the only way to use the headset, and thus are drawn off from the idea of purchasing, because it's too inconvenient, too niche, and too expensive.

So, please, cut the Augmented Reality stuff out of the headsets, and make a cheaper, more practical version, which concentrates on what's actually useful and important in gaming. That is, the stereo display, and head tracking. Nothing more is needed. We do not need nor want the ancillary AR stuff, nor want to pay for it.