Google Earth VR • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Earth VR

#131

Post by berberous » Thu, Nov 17, 2016, 4:20 AM UTC

Razengan wrote: post #115

ngokevin wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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・`)

Accounting has nothing to do with the name. Its from the creators of Rick and Morty and is a short, bizarre, hilarious experience. Highly recommended. Job Simulator is exactly what it sounds like --but it's surprisingly fun to play for 5 minutes (not much beyond that though).

Re: Google Earth VR

#132

Post by shpx » Thu, Nov 17, 2016, 4:41 AM UTC

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?

This 360 video of a ULA rocket launch is really good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03hAiKZDRAk

Re: Google Earth VR

#133

Post by TwoBit » Thu, Nov 17, 2016, 5:27 AM UTC

rubicon33 wrote: post #28

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

The Rift has better apps in general than the Vive, so you're fine. This will come to Rift and others in time.

Re: Google Earth VR

#134

Post by TwoBit » Thu, Nov 17, 2016, 5:29 AM UTC

russelldc wrote: post #93

oopsies49 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steam vr recently added asynchronous reprojection.

SteamVR's implementation is equivalent to ATW, but not Oculus' new ASW.

And Vive reprojection doesn't work on AMD hardware, unlike Rift.

Re: Google Earth VR

#135

Post by benjismith » Thu, Nov 17, 2016, 5:52 AM UTC

Awesome.

I'd love to use a VR headset to explore the visualizations at http://cosmicweb.barabasilab.com, and fly around through the superstructure of the universe!

Re: Google Earth VR

#136

Post by j1vms » Thu, Nov 17, 2016, 5:55 AM UTC

sp332 wrote: post #76

jpreiland wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

would satellite imagery be sufficient?

The area around the White House is intentionally pixelated. Israel does not allow detailed maps in certain places - GPS navigation devices don't work there.

> The area around the White House is intentionally pixelated.

Not for the Russian "Google Earth" counterpart, it ain't. ;)

Re: Google Earth VR

#137

Post by elaus » Thu, Nov 17, 2016, 6:26 AM UTC

thebiglebrewski wrote: post #89

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 agree! I don't understand these two separate arms of Google VR. Couldn't they do the processing power on the server side if you have a fiber connection?

VR needs 90fps with only a few milliseconds of latency between moving your head and seeing the movement in your headset. Both can't be achieved by streaming from a remote server…

Re: Google Earth VR

#138

Post by piyush_soni » Thu, Nov 17, 2016, 6:50 AM UTC

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…

Is it only available on HTC Vive? Can Google Cardboard users experience it?

Re: Google Earth VR

#139

Post by shostack » Thu, Nov 17, 2016, 6:55 AM UTC

alasano wrote: post #6

I've been dreaming of this for a long time now... holy crap. This is as close as we have to the Black & White (lionhead x EA) god feeling, except for beating up your cow/monkey/etc of course. Can't wait to try it out.

Oh man, you just put that near the top of my VR remake list along with:

- Sim Ant (or any Will Wright game for that matter)

- Oregon Trail

- Civ

- Baldur's Gate

- Battle Chess

- Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

- A VR version of Where's Waldo

Re: Google Earth VR

#140

Post by shostack » Thu, Nov 17, 2016, 6:59 AM UTC

haydenlee wrote: post #73

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.

Anything that is built on SteamVR is cross-compatible with Oculus Touch, so not sure what your problem is. The only reason they don't market it as such is that Oculus Touch is not publicly available yet. As a current Touch owner I can assure you that every SteamVR app works with Touch today. Edit: However, ironically Google has put in a software check for HTC Vive and blocks any other headsets. I imagine they'll do a…

I wonder about that...I could see it as strategically valuable for Google to have the Vive succeed and the Rift fail.

If the Rift took over somehow (doubtful at this point) FB having control over its ecosystem would be bad news for Google because AR and VR are the future of where digital eyeballs will be.