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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

#121

Post by efsavage »

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…

Agreed, I'm happy to see people working on this, but with VR there are so many limiting factors/dealbreakers that I don't envy anyone playing in this space without massive resources to tackle them all.

For me, the MVP for working in VR is replacing my fairly standard monitor setup (3x24-27", 12-14px text size, 60hz). I don't really care about virtual meetings or whiteboards or environments, I just want to make the transition to having what would be unreasonable/impossible in hardware (dozens of resizable windows I can easily rearrange and fill my whole FoV with. Nail that and I will gladly drop a couple of grand on it.

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

#122

Post by eafkuor »

tuco86 wrote: post #15

10x more productivity. oh boy, can i work just an hour a day with this thing?

I'm glad someone pointed this out. What is it with this obsession to be 1000x productive all the time? I will not get paid more for it, will I? And how is this going to make me more productive anyway? By removing "distractions"? I doubt anything can make me solve problems twice as fast as I already do, let alone 10x. This is ridiculous.

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

#123

Post by fudged71 »

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.

You might have it backwards about neck movement.

Sitting at a desk looking at a monitor in one position sounds terrible for your neck.

With VR you don't have physical (and cost) limitations of having screens above and below you, they could be all around you. You could even program the screen(s) to slowly rotate around you to induce motion so your neck/body isn't in the same place all day.

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

#124

Post by amelius »

codezero wrote: post #120
amelius wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And to add to this: hardware without software is a feature, not a flaw.

Sometimes true, but sometimes not, it depends on how the hardware is designed to integrate with software. The Leap Motion failed miserably (my opinion) at this by expecting software to figure out where it fit as a human interface device rather than having a strong opinion based on software/reference drivers.

Well, you know what they say: fail fast, fail often.

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

#125

Post by MayeulC »

boomskats wrote: post #5

I've been following SimulaVR/Simula for a while now, but really did not want to buy a (legacy) HTC Vive headset. This idea of a standalone Linux machine in a headset is something I'd definitely put some money towards given a bit more detail and timelines. Also pretty excited by John Carmack's recent tweets on sideloading stuff to the Quest. It feels like that would provide a much bigger opportunity for this project (…

They're pretty cheap second hand. I recently got one for €200, including base stations (forward-compatible to a point) and "pro" audio strap. It's my first VR headset though, I understand not wanting to spend too much on something you already have a better version of.

Also, the Valve Index is pretty much last (tethered) gen.

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

#126

Post by moron4hire »

zokier wrote: post #94

I see many comments about resolution, which I guess is fair. But there are high-resolution headsets available on the market right now: Varjo VR-3 afaik is the top dog currently https://varjo.com/products/vr-3/ and Pimax also has some high res models. So don't dismiss the idea too hastily based on experiences of old and/or cheap HW.

I've never seen a Varjo headset in person, so I can't say anything about it other than it's extremely expensive, both to buy and to operate (you have to agree to a yearly service contract).

But everyone should avoid PiMax like the plague. Their hardware is super buggy with lots of weird lens distortions and colored static in the displays. Their drivers are weirdly front and present like a HP does with their printer drivers, making me wonder just what they hell they think they are doing (and also, very buggy as well). Whatever resolution advantage they claim is wasted on bad image compression and extremely bad optics.

But the worst part of all is that the business side is really scammy. They'll gladly taking your money and sending you a shipping notification long before they ever have an actual headset they can send you. I get that manufacturing delays are a thing, but for PiMax they've always been a thing, long before the global pandemic and chip shortage. Don't tell me I'm going to get a headset "any day now, it's in the mail" for 3 months straight, only to finally get your act in gear when I threaten to reverse the credit card charge.

Of all the people I've talked to who have eventually gotten their PiMax headset, only one says he likes it, but he's also super DPRC-nationalistic and has accused people of racism anytime they talk bad about PiMax.

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

#127

Post by amelius »

toyg wrote: post #96
amelius wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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? It doesn't need to be a finished product. Just give FOSS developers something to work with, and the finished product will automatically emerge ;)

> the finished product will automatically emerge "Finished"? No. Somewhat usable and constantly being updated or rewritten? Probably.

At least the software never deliberately works against the user, and never is defective by design.

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

#128

Post by vyrotek »

aero-glide2 wrote: post #93
nicholassmith wrote: post #86

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…

With steamdeck, I really think 2022 will be the year of linux.

I'm excited for the device and was able to reserve one. But honestly, I'll likely end up putting Windows 11 on mine.

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

#129

Post by krastanov »

jermaustin1 wrote: post #95
abrookewood wrote: post #90

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.

From experience, I can tell you that you aren't focused on a single point, and in fact your eyes will change focus to look at objects in the distance just like in real life. In my virtual office set up, when I want to relax my eyes, I can look over my right shoulder and look at the office wall, or out the window, and my focus shifts. You can also make your screens as big as you want and as far away as you want, there…

This statement does not make much sense to me. In VR everything is at the same focal distance, you just fake perspective/parallax/size/stereovision to make it feel 3D. You can not change the focal distance if you just have a screen and fixed lenses. Even actuated lenses would not be enough as they will change the focal distance for the entire scene.

"Perceived distance/depth" has little to do with "focal distance" in this situation.

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

#130

Post by fudged71 »

KaiserPro wrote: post #20

I'm very keen for this market to open up, but we need to talk about the quality of the desktop before moving on. On the website, the demo has the person drinking coffee, the youtube window is the wrong ratio, the text is too tall. For me, I really want picture perfect rendering before jumping. I don't want to look at badly rendered stuff, its part of the reason linux was so hard back in the day, getting your text to…

I would love to see VR/AR work cross paths with the concept of the "Memory Palace". Maybe groups of folders, websites, screens etc could be set up to be in different rooms of your house. Home automations could be configured to be in sync with your movement around the house.

Every time I stand up and walk to a different room the screens move to the periphery, and return when I sit. When a loud sound is heard, a notification identifies the sound and asks if you want to replay it. Etc.

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