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Simula One: an office-focused, standalone VR headset built on top of Linux

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Re: Simula One: an office-focused, standalone VR headset built on top of Linux

#81

Post by Jeff_Brown »

KaiserPro wrote: post #71
dgellow wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you do with 8 terminal open at the same time? I can never focus on more than one or two at a time.

good question! depending on the project, it'll normally be browser for reference (or if its web based testing as well, but thats rare) then I have about between 1/2 and 2/3rds of the screen space left to have terminals in. I'll have one/two long terminals open with vim for the main file(s) I'm working on, then 1-4 smaller terminals for running the program/tests. if its a big project, then more terminals for reference…

My eyesight is bad, and I use a 15" laptop with about 300 views open at a time. I feel no need for a bigger screen.

I keep one window on screen at any time, full screen. I use 2 sets of 16 virtual desktops, tmix, emacs and brave. Maybe 10 instances of each app, and of within each maybe ten tabs. So that's a total of about 300 windows. It gives me zero visibility problems. I much prefer using my hands to change whatn I'm looking at instead of my neck.

Re: Simula One: an office-focused, standalone VR headset built on top of Linux

#83

Post by mekkkkkk »

andybak wrote: post #40
mekkkkkk wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have played around with it, and the resolution just isn't there. The desktop space in VR is ironically less than on a laptop, because every window has to be massive to be usable at all. In a future with 2x4K res or something in that ballpark, this might be interesting.

If you're anything like me, by your mid-forties you aren't going to need 4k per eye. The Quest 2 is already pretty much as sharp as my eyes can resolve - and that's with prescription glasses.

I suppose that's an alternative use case for the tech - to simulate and get an understanding of how to build UX that is friendly towards those with poor eyesight. Haha.

Re: Simula One: an office-focused, standalone VR headset built on top of Linux

#84

Post by mekkkkkk »

ilaksh wrote: post #74
onion2k wrote: post #28

It's important to remember that this is on the way to being an MVP. It's not a finished, polished product. This is HN. Don't we like people hacking on startups any more? I think it looks like a really positive first step. Yeah, the resolution is too low but that's solvable with a better headset. It's a bit laggy, but that's probably due to recording video of VR being hard. The windows are weird sizes, but that might…

I think the conclusion is unfair. It IS an existing VR option for work right now if you have a compatible headset. No it's not perfect and many people will not want to stay in there for a long time with existing headsets. But that doesn't mean it's not an option.

I think that viability of an "option" is assumed. It's not viable in general today. I'd be surprised if there is even a single person that has actually fully replaced their conventional workspace with a VR desktop like this.

Re: Simula One: an office-focused, standalone VR headset built on top of Linux

#85

Post by dpflan »

n_time wrote: post #63

They should probably talk to someone who knows something about ergonomics–the way his neck was craning to look at those vertical "screens" looked painful

This is what I started thinking about: what are the proper ergonomics for a VR-office, constantly rotated one's neck may not actually be good. It's like this would become like immersion in a curved display with a huge horizon for every subscreen you want, then a "window" into the real world when you completely turn around (180).

Re: Simula One: an office-focused, standalone VR headset built on top of Linux

#86

Post by nicholassmith »

It's the year of linux on your face.

This looks like a really neat project, I think not having pictures of the headset front & centre makes it feel very vapourware though, even if it's a hacked together development unit we still want to see it. Arguably, we might even want to see that more.

I struggle to envision this in my workflow though, my experience with VR headsets suggest that for a lot of text they might not be the best choice just yet. Excited to see where this goes though!

Re: Simula One: an office-focused, standalone VR headset built on top of Linux

#87

Post by agentultra »

Compiling Haskell in the background? Sold.

Jokes aside I've tried a few virtual desktops in VR and it _seems_ promising. The text clarity is a hard one, the weight of the headset for prolonged sessions would also be difficult.

A whiteboard app that works with non-VR users w/o 3D would be nice. Something like Miro but with nice feel in VR.

Re: Simula One: an office-focused, standalone VR headset built on top of Linux

#88

Post by Y_Y »

fouric wrote: post #77
chungus wrote: post #42

Fun note, almost all of it is written in Haskell. If I remember correctly they've also done a bunch of stuff that helps Godot, or at least something to do with the Haskell bindings. Very accessible guys, I once asked a question on the gitter, and got helpful replies almost immediately.

If it's written in Haskell, it's highly likely that it'll be far harder to modify than something written in, well, not-Haskell. Haskell might be easy when you get the hang of it, but the vast majority of programmers haven't, and the language ideas are alien compared to the mainstream ones (Python, JS, C++, Lua). The design of Haskell also encourages users to be very clever, which only makes code harder to read.

I don't think writing Haskell ever gets easy, at least it hasn't for me over about ten years. Writing good code in any language is hard, but Haskell makes it harder to write bad code.

I have to write object-oriented bullshit all day for my job, if I started a fun new project like this I'd happily choose Haskell. If people who only know JS and won't learn anything new can't contribute then that's a cost worth bearing.

Re: Simula One: an office-focused, standalone VR headset built on top of Linux

#89

Post by Stevvo »

GrigoriyMikh wrote: post #64

I have a question. Why? How it will improve my multi-monitor setup? I see only potential cons here. Wearing headset all day. It doesn't sound good for your neck and eyes, at all.

If you don't have the space for a multi monitor setup then virtual monitors could be an alternative.

Re: Simula One: an office-focused, standalone VR headset built on top of Linux

#90

Post by abrookewood »

One thing that worries me about wearing VR headsets for extended periods of time (whether for game or for work) is that your eyes are focusing at a single distance for so long. Not sure if there is any research to suggest extended usage is a problem, but it 'feels' like it could be. At least with a desktop or laptop, when you look around the room, you are actually changing your focal length.
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