Google Open-Sources Cardboard • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Open-Sources Cardboard

#101

Post by kolinko » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 8:36 AM UTC

rosybox wrote: post #53

kayoone wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought an Oculus Rift devkit and later the full version and loved it, but I actually have doubts about it only being a content problem. VR has some inherent problems (lack of any outside visibility, motion sickness, space restrictions) that are hard to solve and keep many people away from it. For me it only really worked in racing games where i was not moving at all and even then it is quite exhausting.

Those are pretty large problems. As an outsider it seems that the people bullish on VR think consumers, with respect to these problems you mentioned, will just get over it because of how compelling VR is. It seems obvious to me that they will not get over it. The lack of any outside visibility is a huge problem for families. It is anti-social. Small kids can't be near you while you are using VR. Pets can't really be…

As for VR being anti-social - from my experience it's the exact opposite.

I've been visiting my friends who have VR, and organised VR mini-parties at my place. The setup goes like this: you show what's in VR on a tv screen, one person plays, and others watch, taking turns. Works extremely well with Beat Saber, FNAF, and some shooters.

I also did social painting in VR, where people took turns drawing in Tilt Brush, and others went in to look at it, adding to it their own stuff.

Another case I saw is adding VR setup to a bigger party, which works very well with Beat Saber.

VR can be just as social as couch-multiplayer on consoles, or Karaoke. If not more.

As for pets, it depends on a pet, but with 2-3 dogs I saw there were no issues whatsoever.

Re: Google Open-Sources Cardboard

#102

Post by cameronbrown » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 8:43 AM UTC

unlinked_dll wrote: post #32

ipsum2 wrote: post #6

For those out of the loop: Google has gradually shut down and in some cases, open sourced their VR projects (Daydream, Mirage, VR180, Seurat, etc) over the last 6-12 months to be more focused on their mobile AR projects (ARCore, Google Streetview AR, Lens, etc). A sad day for VR.

I mean not a sad day for VR. Google is just being Google and thinking that XR is a tech problem. It’s not. The XR gap is in content, not developers, and not tech. Any VR play should be throwing money at creatives, not devs or APIs or frameworks.

It's both. I love Vive and Rift and own one of those, and while content makes me want to use the device longer, the device itself makes me want to.. well not.

Vive is far too heavy and Rift has issues with lens fog (so I can't bloody see anything a minute after putting it on my head)

Re: Google Open-Sources Cardboard

#103

Post by fsiefken » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 9:11 AM UTC

russdill wrote: post #51

unlinked_dll wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean not a sad day for VR. Google is just being Google and thinking that XR is a tech problem. It’s not. The XR gap is in content, not developers, and not tech. Any VR play should be throwing money at creatives, not devs or APIs or frameworks.

The big piece of missing tech for all add on solutions (daydream, etc) has been 6DoF. Without 6DoF, it's a child's toy.

Daydream has 6DoF support with the appropriate hardware (Mirage etc)

Re: Google Open-Sources Cardboard

#104

Post by Kiro » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 9:16 AM UTC

rosybox wrote: post #53

kayoone wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought an Oculus Rift devkit and later the full version and loved it, but I actually have doubts about it only being a content problem. VR has some inherent problems (lack of any outside visibility, motion sickness, space restrictions) that are hard to solve and keep many people away from it. For me it only really worked in racing games where i was not moving at all and even then it is quite exhausting.

Those are pretty large problems. As an outsider it seems that the people bullish on VR think consumers, with respect to these problems you mentioned, will just get over it because of how compelling VR is. It seems obvious to me that they will not get over it. The lack of any outside visibility is a huge problem for families. It is anti-social. Small kids can't be near you while you are using VR. Pets can't really be…

> Small kids can't be near you while you are using VR. Pets can't really be near you.

I know several parents and dog owners who have bought Oculus Quest after trying it out and they don't seem to have a problem with this. I guess they just close the door or play after bedtime.

> They probably have issues interacting with their audience since they can't easily see Twitch chat I would think.

All VR Twitch streamers use some kind of plugin that shows the chat either as a floating panel (in Beat Saber) or as a palette you can bring up Tilt Brush style (in VRChat).

Re: Google Open-Sources Cardboard

#105

Post by fsiefken » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 9:20 AM UTC

dragonsh wrote: post #4

If open source cardboard included Daydream hardware specifications and fabrication files will be nice. Google has already abandoned the project so it should not be an issue to release hardware and related assets under open source along with SDK. It might allow different companies to continue daydream, instead of let it die.

Yes, then we would have an open-sourced mobile VR solution.. which is now being dominated by Oculus Quest and Facebook. I totally love the Go and Quest VR but open source competition is always good. Mozilla Hubs, JanusVR, Firestorm Viewer and Firefox Reality are all nice open VR projects but they sit on top a VR capable system which is not open source, at least not the 6DoF part. With WebVR 3DOF works, you can watch immersive videos and have limited social VR

Re: Google Open-Sources Cardboard

#106

Post by ElonMuskrat » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 9:22 AM UTC

amanzi wrote: post #14

For what it is, Cardboard is pretty cool technology that opens up the VR world to a lot of people that would never be able to afford the high end equipment needed for real VR. I had a couple of cheap Cardboard viewers and then upgraded to the Samsung VR goggles which are also surprisingly good for the money.The Samsung/Oculus partnership seems to still be strong, for now at least.

Google Cardboard provides me the convenience of hands-free induced vomiting. I recommend Google Cardboard to all my other bulimic friends.

Re: Google Open-Sources Cardboard

#107

Post by skocznymroczny » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 9:25 AM UTC

I played with Cardboard, and I didn't get any VR feeling from it. It was more like "a screen right in your face" experience, but I didn't get any 3D feeling out of it.

Re: Google Open-Sources Cardboard

#108

Post by ericflo » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 9:25 AM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #97

moron4hire wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not hard to solve. We've known the solution for years now. Don't do it. You can either keep your experience confined to the user's play boundary. You can teleport people to new locations. You can let people walk to the edge of their boundary and use a gesture of some kind (e.g. flicking one of their thumbsticks on their controller) to turn them around to do "redirected walking". You can provide a "strong stomach…

Or a treadmill. There's also that option (though obviously it won't be a mass-market thing).

That actually doesn't work as well as you would think - there's still the mismatch between your inner ear and your eyes, which is what causes discomfort.

Re: Google Open-Sources Cardboard

#109

Post by TuringTest » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 9:29 AM UTC

jimmaswell wrote: post #58

kayoone wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought an Oculus Rift devkit and later the full version and loved it, but I actually have doubts about it only being a content problem. VR has some inherent problems (lack of any outside visibility, motion sickness, space restrictions) that are hard to solve and keep many people away from it. For me it only really worked in racing games where i was not moving at all and even then it is quite exhausting.

I don't get why everyone jumped on this idea of VR where you're standing up and moving so much. I'd rather have games just like normal but with a VR headset and KB/M or controller controls.

Haven't you played the Goblins and Gnomes or HTC Lab magic store demos? Just walking around in a room full of things to explore is awesome; it's the same experience you get at theme parks, just enhanced with FX.

There's also the thrill of rhythm and sports games, though those aren't much different than their non-VR counterparts.

Re: Google Open-Sources Cardboard

#110

Post by laumars » Thu, Nov 07, 2019, 9:39 AM UTC

jimmaswell wrote: post #58

kayoone wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought an Oculus Rift devkit and later the full version and loved it, but I actually have doubts about it only being a content problem. VR has some inherent problems (lack of any outside visibility, motion sickness, space restrictions) that are hard to solve and keep many people away from it. For me it only really worked in racing games where i was not moving at all and even then it is quite exhausting.

I don't get why everyone jumped on this idea of VR where you're standing up and moving so much. I'd rather have games just like normal but with a VR headset and KB/M or controller controls.

The Playstation VR is essentially just that.