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Google Earth VR

vr.google.com

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Re: Google Earth VR

#51

Post by oopsies49 »

thearn4 wrote: post #34
rubicon33 wrote: post #28

Of course. Only available on the HTC Vive. I regret my oculus rift purchase.

FWIW, I use both and vastly prefer most things on the rift (especially flight and driving sims). The room-scale experiences on the Vive are fantastic and definitely the direction this tech will go, but the majority of the SteamVR experience are... unpolished? That's the best way i can describe it. SteamVR itself is also extremely buggy, but I've also had USB 3.0 issues on the Rift, so there are some issues on both pl…

Steam vr recently added asynchronous reprojection.

Re: Google Earth VR

#52

Post by alexqgb »

baobrain wrote: post #32
mdrzn wrote: post #5

Why only on HTC Vive? Does this require huge computing power, or is it because of the controllers? I hope it'll become available on the Google Daydream phones.

I'm confused about this as well - this could be a great application for "casual" vr like daydream.

As a title, sure, but that's about it. As a product, it would be a fundamentally different thing. That's inevitable when one system offers full position tracking and 300 watts of power while the other tracks rotational motion only and runs on 3 watts.

Re: Google Earth VR

#54

Post by jpreiland »

amenod wrote: post #49
strictnein wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why the downvote? How visiting forbidden places isn't on the top of mind for people using this is beyond me. Area 51, White House grounds, Russian military bases, Syria. I know the experience will vary, but think big.

I very much doubt these places will allow virtual visitors if they forbid real ones. That is, I doubt Google will be allowed to drive through North Korea with their cars. :)

would satellite imagery be sufficient?

Re: Google Earth VR

#55

Post by davidjnelson »

thearn4 wrote: post #35
toephu2 wrote: post #21

Seems like one of those things I'll play with for about 30 minutes, think it's cool, and then never touch it again.

To be honest that's true for about 90% of VR demos/experiences that have been released...

Try rec room if you need a workout motivator. Vive is like a gym that's fun :-)

Re: Google Earth VR

#56

Post by davidjnelson »

thearn4 wrote: post #34
rubicon33 wrote: post #28

Of course. Only available on the HTC Vive. I regret my oculus rift purchase.

FWIW, I use both and vastly prefer most things on the rift (especially flight and driving sims). The room-scale experiences on the Vive are fantastic and definitely the direction this tech will go, but the majority of the SteamVR experience are... unpolished? That's the best way i can describe it. SteamVR itself is also extremely buggy, but I've also had USB 3.0 issues on the Rift, so there are some issues on both pl…

Vive takes some fiddling. Make sure the lighthouses are secure and try a usb2 port. Those fixed it for me. And camera 60->30fps or off, maybe Bluetooth auto shut off also off.

Re: Google Earth VR

#57

Post by davidjnelson »

VikingCoder wrote: post #15

Was playing with it - it's great. I was flying around the towns I know, but I'm reminded of the places that I need to go when I get a chance: Golden Gate Bridge The Washington Monument Disney World Yosemite Beijing The Grand Canyon

Highly recommend Yosemite. When you go, don't miss the vernal/Nevada falls hike!

Re: Google Earth VR

#58

Post by ferongr »

>Google Earth VR is first available on Steam for the HTC Vive

The lack of a common VR framework, and no expectation from consumers that a VR-enabled application will be cross-compatible between different systems is the main reason I have not yet bought a headset, and advise people asking me against buying. The VR landscape right now looks like it suffers from consolitis, and I will never support such business models.

Re: Google Earth VR

#59

Post by alexqgb »

iraphael wrote: post #27

> Available first on HTC Vive I can't find if it'll have support for DayDream View, which I just got for free with my pixel. Does anyone have more info?

Per Mike Podwal, PM at Google, the team is entirely focused on the Vive (via Kent Bye's Voices of VR podcast https://player.fm/series/76331/165981404)

Re: Google Earth VR

#60

Post by jliptzin »

I really think something like this will displace some tourism/sightseeing (at least at the margins). I have done a ton of traveling all over the world and would much prefer a VR experience like this instead of cramming onto an airplane like cattle for hours, getting accused of being a drug lord at every border crossing, dealing with foreigners who seem to hate Americans, etc. Most tourist cities are pretty much the same anyway; a few jam packed attractions, the strip of overpriced fancy tourist trap restaurants, those gift shops you can buy cheap crap with the city's name on it, luxury hotels, adventure charter companies, etc.

Anyway, sorry for the rant but I liken this to going to a football game in the stadium vs. watching at home and I'd much prefer the latter.

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