Gonna powerlevel a little bit here, as SteamVR is something I've been looking forward to:
It is definitely (WAY) on the expensive side, but I'm still excited for the Vive. It appears to be more full featured than the Oculus, in that it comes with 2 controllers that are specifically designed to be used in VR, as opposed to just tossing in an Xbox controller. The reason for it to be able to sense objects in the room is that it comes with 2 base stations that you are supposed to set up that will allow you to actually walk around the room and have that reflected in VR. Maybe it will help keep you from tripping over your coffee table.
Additionally, the buzz is that Valve has been very accommodating with developers who are producing content for VR, so hopefully it won't be very long before it is supported by many more games. I frankly have more faith in Valve being able to pull off that type of thing than Facebook.
Anyhow, sorry for the powerlevel. I'm not a Valve fanboy by any means, but they have a pretty good track record... As long as you're aware that you'll never see SteamVR v3.0