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Google Earth VR

vr.google.com

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Re: Google Earth VR

#111

Post by shostack »

berberous wrote: post #79
secure wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valve’s The Lab is fantastic and is usually one of the first things I show. Next up is Job Simulator. Lots of fun and attention to detail in there. Then Tilt Brush, because it’s surprisingly fun, even for non-artists. Earth VR probably goes into the list at this position right here :). The Cubicle ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/452490 ) has a nice twist to it, but is far less polished than the ones I previously lis…

I would caution against demoing Hover Junkers to first timers, especially without an explicit and careful discussion of nausea first. It is the only game anyone has listed thus far that has 'unnatural' movement, which for me at least, causes extremely unpleasant nausea that lasts multiple hours after removing the headset.

Which is a shame because that is one I really want to play once I get a headset.

Has there been much others solving for this type of motion sickness in VR where it isn't just latency/performance related?

Re: Google Earth VR

#112

Post by sintaxi »

njharman wrote: post #109
ferongr wrote: post #58

>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.

That's like expecting ps3 game to work on Xbox.

...or your monitor, keyboard, & mouse to work with any content.

Re: Google Earth VR

#113

Post by saurik »

shostack wrote: post #111
berberous wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would caution against demoing Hover Junkers to first timers, especially without an explicit and careful discussion of nausea first. It is the only game anyone has listed thus far that has 'unnatural' movement, which for me at least, causes extremely unpleasant nausea that lasts multiple hours after removing the headset.

Which is a shame because that is one I really want to play once I get a headset. Has there been much others solving for this type of motion sickness in VR where it isn't just latency/performance related?

While maybe these issues can be slightly mitigated, the underlying problem is the same as getting seasick or getting sick while trying to read in the back of a car; I imagine the state-of-the-art solution is "Dramamine" ;P.

Re: Google Earth VR

#114

Post by mahyarm »

matthjensen wrote: post #39
secure wrote: post #31

I played this for about 2 hours recently, and it’s so much fun! Flying around like that really gives you a perspective of your home town that you don’t usually get. For instance, I have discovered that there’s actually train tracks underneath a bridge over which I drive fairly frequently — from inside the tram, I never saw them. Notably, this is significantly better than the “liquid galaxy” installations one can find…

What else is on the list of things you show people who are new to VR?

I really like 'budget cuts' as a game. It's pretty fun, but only has cartoon levels of violence.

Re: Google Earth VR

#115

Post by Razengan »

ngokevin wrote: post #74
matthjensen wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What else is on the list of things you show people who are new to VR?

I've demoed to dozens of people. 1. Job Simulator 2. Tilt Brush 3. Space Pirate Trainer 4. Accounting 5. https://aframe.io/a-painter/ (for WebVR)

There is an alarming number of titles like "Job Simulator" and "Accounting" and "Cubicle" on this page, for a medium that's supposed to be an exciting new frontier.. (´・ω・`)

Re: Google Earth VR

#116

Post by shostack »

saurik wrote: post #113
shostack wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is a shame because that is one I really want to play once I get a headset. Has there been much others solving for this type of motion sickness in VR where it isn't just latency/performance related?

While maybe these issues can be slightly mitigated, the underlying problem is the same as getting seasick or getting sick while trying to read in the back of a car; I imagine the state-of-the-art solution is "Dramamine" ;P.

Funny you mention that...my current approach for games that make me nauseous that I can't fix with FOV settings has basically been ginger gum and lots of fresh air breaks.

Re: Google Earth VR

#117

Post by saurik »

I wish Earth VR weren't written in so custom of an engine :(... it is severely missing some basic annotation and presentation tools (such as a 3D pencil) which would be comparatively easy to mix in if it used some off-the-shelf engine (such as Unity, which happens to be used by Tilt Brush). It kind of makes sense, though: it really just needs two cameras over the code they already have for Google Earth. It is written in OpenGL (as opposed to Direct3D), so maybe it won't be quite so annoying to throw together something minimal at the rendering layer?...

Re: Google Earth VR

#118

Post by AustinDev »

saurik wrote: post #117

I wish Earth VR weren't written in so custom of an engine :(... it is severely missing some basic annotation and presentation tools (such as a 3D pencil) which would be comparatively easy to mix in if it used some off-the-shelf engine (such as Unity, which happens to be used by Tilt Brush). It kind of makes sense, though: it really just needs two cameras over the code they already have for Google Earth. It is written…

Thanks for answering the first question I had after digging through their site. A rendering layer would be fantastic. There are so many cool things that could be easily added to increase immersion or tell a story.

Re: Google Earth VR

#119

Post by ashark »

prawn wrote: post #99
zardo wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seeing the Sahara on a screen, and climbing a sand dune, are two very different experiences.

They are, and I've done both. But I think two things will limit the majority of people doing the latter: it's expensive, and some experiences are getting very crowded and even limited by ticket. Things like The Wave, Half Dome, etc are already on permit/lottery systems. Other places are so crowded that it seriously impacts the experience (parts of the Louvre, the Vatican). Visiting the Sahara from Morocco requires fl…

> Other places are so crowded that it seriously impacts the experience (parts of the Louvre, the Vatican).

I will never, ever go back to Palais Versailles. The gardens, maybe. Inside? Hell no. It was a really long wait to eventually be shoved through a cattle-chute of an experience for a couple hours, barely able to see anything, unable to take enough time to really look around due to the motion of the crowd, some other tourists constantly shoving me, and wishing more than anything that it was over. You'd have to pay me a fair amount of money to do it again.

A VR tour of it might be cool, though.

Re: Google Earth VR

#120

Post by saurik »

AustinDev wrote: post #118
saurik wrote: post #117

I wish Earth VR weren't written in so custom of an engine :(... it is severely missing some basic annotation and presentation tools (such as a 3D pencil) which would be comparatively easy to mix in if it used some off-the-shelf engine (such as Unity, which happens to be used by Tilt Brush). It kind of makes sense, though: it really just needs two cameras over the code they already have for Google Earth. It is written…

Thanks for answering the first question I had after digging through their site. A rendering layer would be fantastic. There are so many cool things that could be easily added to increase immersion or tell a story.

FWIW, I have some initial reason to believe the "tour" mode it has involves the use of KML, so it might be possible to "easily" (still require some crazy hacking, but not so much) tell your own "story", but yeah: what I am really looking for is something where, from inside of VR, I can easily point at stuff and draw things and either take a recording or synchronize my state with another user. Earth VR was just such a great initial example of a place where I wanted to inject these kinds of features, so it is all the more annoying that it is one of the few apps that is built in a way to make that really hard :(.
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