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VR

blog.ycombinator.com

531–540 of 568 posts

Re: VR

#531

I've tried the Vibe and the Microsoft Hololens. The Vibe feels like a minor improvement over Jaron Lainer's original unit from the 1980s, which I tried back then. It's still too big and heavy. The update rate and position tracking are at last acceptable. It's going to be popular with the FPS gamer crowd, but beyond that, it doesn't seem worth the trouble. The Hololens packs an incredible amount of hardware into a sma…

What do you think will be the use cases for the Hololens in the short and long term? I've yet to try it, but I've heard mostly good things.

I tend to link to this too much, but see Hyper-Reality.[1] Augmented reality for the job monkey, out of Medellin, Colombia. After viewing that, read Marshall Brain's "Manna", if you haven't already. Then visualize the two linked together.

The killer app for augmented reality may be the bossing around of humans by computers.

[1] https://vimeo.com/166807261 [2] http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

Re: VR

#532

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My daily usage level has dropped, but mostly it is due to the lack of new interesting software. When you read this thread, or /r/Vive or anywhere else, it's always the same story: people talking enthusiastically about games that came out months ago. The same ones, over and over. Space Pirate Trainer. Holopoint. H3VR. Job Simulator. I'm really bored of those.

Easy - as that time period includes the Oculus Touch launch titles. That gives me: 1. SuperHot 2. Arizona Sunshine 3. The Unspoken 4. Dead and Buried Looking through Steam sorted by user reviews: http://store.steampowered.com/search/?sort_by=Reviews_DESC&t... Gives me another easy set. I'll stick to things I own or I've heard almost universally good things about: 5. Smashbox Arena 6. Sairento 7. QuivR 8. Distance 9.…

Thanks for this reply. Did not know SuperHot had a VR version. I definitely will check that out at least.

Re: VR

#533

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the same thing until I tried it. Seriously, try it out the level of immersion is insane, a more classic game feel can be amazing. But something where you move around is incredibly compelling. I watched a friend try to lean on a counter while cooking in Job simulator. I have hit basically every wall in my living room with a controller at this point as well as all the lights. On the exercise front, Not every…

I tried Oculus, expecting to be amazed. I found it annoying and not immersive at all. I can see every single pixel. Doesn't feel real at all. Possibly because I"ve been using high-resolution 3D displays for point cloud editing for the science I do for years. (Nvidia 3D Vision 2 -- probably the 3rd major attempt at consumer 3D that never really caught on)

this, I work at Facebook and try out all of the demo devices over at Oculus. I keep hoping that they are going to advance the pixel density, but have gotten so disappointed by it that I've stopped testing their new equipment at all in the last few months. That and the team of folks that work on it are outrageously arrogant. Looking at you Charmaine/pedoguy.

Re: VR

#534

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your message reminds me of Steve Ballmer, 2007: > "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance," said Ballmer. "It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60% or 70% or 80% of them, than I would to have 2% or 3%, which is what Apple might get." But t…

While witty, your comparison to the Ballmer quote has nothing to do with what I said. I didn't say "VR won't do well because people are cheap," I didn't say "VR won't do well because many similar, lower-tech products meet its needs fine." Further, the iPhone was immediately well-received and a huge success for Apple. VR products are not taking off, and will not do so. I'm not commenting on a press release or a tech d…

About 15% of my gaming guild has either rift or oculus. A guy at my 100 person office picked it up over christmas. Basically 100% of gamers say they want VR at least eventually - they at worst think that the current tech is cumbersome (wires or space concerns) or that there aren't compelling games out yet. Contrary to your reasoning that "most people don't want this", I find that everybody does want VR. How do you reconcile this?

Re: VR

#535

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody wants VR _as it is currently implemented_. With goggles the size of glasses, no tether, and the ability to see around you at the flick of a switch, it would take over the planet. That could be a while off though.

Personally I don't want VR until it is divorced from motion controls. I hate motion based control schemes.

What do you mean? You can play with joysticks and whatnot in some (most?) games e.g. Elite Dangerous

Re: VR

#536
"Because VR games are so physical, gaming will no longer be perceived as an unhealthy activity"

- I had the same thought yesterday too. I would go further and say we will see the first open world MMO to adopt true geospacial coordinates very very soon.

What do you think this will do to fitness? ;)

Re: VR

#537

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Idk dude, VR headsets have already sold to millions of consumers and new applications pop up by the day. Not only that, but unlike most of the technologies you mentioned, VR has massive backing already from some of the most powerful companies in tech. It has billions in investment already, FB is putting hundreds of millions into Oculus and funding applications/games. HTC has basically pivoted their entire company to…

None of that means it will succeed. Apple Watch sold millions, and it's about to fail. Same with all the other smartwatches. VR is going away, since it's such a terrible user experience compared to laptops/desktops/smartphones.

This is a strange post to me.

First, where's the evidence that the Apple Watch is about to fail? Every day I keep seeing more and more Apple Watches in the wild. Just the other day I was getting lunch and noticed that at the table next to me every single person had an Apple Watch on. Every time there's a get-together in my family, I notice one or two extra relatives who've ended up getting one. That's pretty impressive for something that's on the verge of failure. It actually feels comparable with how smartphones slowly started assimilating into our lives years ago.

Second, consumer VR right now is for video games, period. Maybe that will change later on, but that's what VR is all about right now. So comparing it to laptops/desktops/smartphones seems strange. What are the dimensions of this comparison? Turning on Steam VR, then putting on the headset doesn't feel all that different to me from turning on the TV, then sitting down on the sofa.

Re: VR

#538

It's not going to take off until someone solves the movement issue. The only games VR is currently suitable for are if you are stationary somehow -- pilot, tank gunner, etc. Which limits it pretty severely. Something like the Ghostbusters Experience[1] is what people want in their own homes. Also, maybe it's because I've been gaming my whole life, but the resolution in VR is still not good enough to "blow" me away, l…

The movement problem is already pretty much solved. Teleportation works amazingly well in games where that's not inconsistent with the in-game universe, and when fluid motion is necessary games like Onward have managed to make it work quite well. Keep in mind that Onward is a competitive military sim, so there's not a lot of room in the game for players to be fiddling with locomotion. The fact that the game has been such a success is pretty strong evidence that locomotion is not the contentious issue in VR that it was a year ago.

Re: VR

#540
post #360
post #12

I bought a Vive the week of Thanksgiving and have been using it roughly 2 hours a day. Every other day is my workout day most of the week (unless I'm playing hockey that day/night) and the VIVE has become part of my workout now too. After I complete my normal workout - a mixture of hockey specific training, free weights, aerobic and of course tons of pull-ups - I now spend an additional hour+ in VR. I typically play…

Maybe I'm just lazy, but VR games requiring physical exertion have absolutely zero appeal to me. I want to sit back with a keyboard and controller and relax. I include any kind of room scale in that assessment, and personally, just the idea of wearing a thing on your face and having to crane your neck around to see what's going on sounds like a PITA. I honestly and truly don't understand why people think VR is going…

As a vehement supporter of VR and early Vive adopter, I agree. My Vive has been stuck in a drawer for several months now, and I'm strongly considering selling it.

Though, to be clear, most of my issues with current-gen VR is because of the state of the technology: low-res displays, bulky and heavy HMDs, clunky wires, etc. In a generation or two once this is addressed, it will be a much more enjoyable experience.

The other issue is in the software itself: there are just no must-have VR experiences yet. Technical demos, unpolished experiments, and shallow gameplay make up 90% of the current catalog. Plus there's the motion problem we haven't figured out yet, where most games rely on teleportation as primary movement mechanism, which is terrible UX.

Here's to hoping this isn't yet another failed VR attempt and that the industry will keep evolving, as the possible level of immersion is truly remarkable.

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