Disclaimer: I'm definitely onboard with motion controllers in general, and would hesitate to definitively say that Vive > Rift+Touch without trying more things for both of them (that being said, I cancelled my Rift preorder and do have a Vive on hold right now). The subject matter of the Star Wars demo was much more compelling than the Rift+Touch demo I tried, which I'm sure influenced me subconsciously. But the main things that I consciously noted during both experiences:
1. Better tracking in the Vive. I dropped an arrow on the ground in the Touch demo (a longbow shooting game) and the controllers lost track of my hands when I crouched on the floor to grab it. It was really disorienting to be "grabbing" it and have the game have no idea where my hands were, sort of like when you're in a dream where your body just refuses to move how you tell it to. I had to just give it up and stand, wait for my "hands" to adjust to the right position, and then reach for another one at eye level. Similarly, I kept having to reach a little farther than I was expecting to to actually pick anything up despite being able to see my "hands" in the game. It was like all the distances were just a little off from reality. I'm a lot shorter than the average person (5'), I don't know if that contributed or what. In the Vive demo the controllers always felt 100% 1:1, even when I was whipping the lightsaber around, crouching on the ground examining R2, etc. Tracking did not even surface as a concern at all to me there, felt exactly like my body.
2. Freedom of movement in the Vive demo really made me feel like I was in the world. I could easily walk around, kneel, stand, and was encouraged by the experience to lunge and flail around, like I said. It felt like I was there in the desert 100%, free to do whatever I wanted. I did trigger the transparent Chaperone grid, and felt a little annoyed when it happened, but I trusted the grid to save me from hitting a wall, and the demo's layout encouraged my movement well enough that most of the time I forgot that I couldn't run off into the sunset if I really wanted to. Most of the interesting things were within six feet of me so in general I forgot about the limitation and just felt like I was there. In the Rift demo I felt very constrained and was concerned about hitting anything IRL. It was a longbow shooting game, with me stuck between two parapets. IRL there was a TV displaying what I was doing for the benefit of the people behind me in line. It was positioned in the space between parapets in the game world, and I was super concerned about headbutting it accidentally as I leaned forward to try and see over the wall. No Chaperone, so even though I was trying to be careful I almost did hit it and the woman giving the demo warned me to step back. In the game there was also a bow rack right next to me, and I felt nervous about tipping it over, too (this is silly, as it's not real--just goes to show how immersive the experience was).
