Meta Quest Pro – Bad AR Passthrough

Slight nitpick:

Those would be the HTC Vive Pro headsets. The "HTC Vive" came out in 2016 and is a pretty shitty device by today's standards. Also, it retailed for $600.

> We had a 1 hour session with the goggles and I felt quite sea sick during and after gameplay.

This varies from person to person, but most people only get sick when playing games where the real-world movement doesn't match game-world movement. For example, most people can play Beat Saber with no motion sickness problems, but will feel sick almost instantly if they play a racing game or a game that lets you walk by using a controller input.

I've had VR since late 2016 and this still rings true. I can play PokerStars VR for 4+ hours and my only complaint will be the weight of the headset starting to feel overbearing. On the other hand, 2 minutes of Assetto Corsa and I feel like I'm gonna lose my lunch.

> The arcade was expensive. I paid nearly $100 for 1 hour for 2 people in a MCOL area. One of the reasons for the high cost is the arcade required an employee to help us cycle through games and explain gameplay and controls.

Shitty experiences in VR arcades are exacerbated by the fact that they're usually staffed by people that just needed a job, and not VR enthusiasts that care about sharing their excitement for the platform.

(EDIT: Also, as someone else mentioned, having IPD configured properly is crucial. If the staff aren't setting IPD, then it can create headaches and sickness.)

> solve the sea sickness problem

It's a difficult problem to solve because the core issue is the mismatch between movement in the worlds as mentioned above. When your eyes detect movement, but the vestibular system in your inner ear says your not, your monkey brain thinks you ate something poisonous and creates the urge to purge.

A company called Otolith Labs has supposedly created a device that potentially solves the problem (https://otolithlabs.com/vertigo/) by making your vestibular system essentially send static, but they're targeting it to sufferers of vertigo rather than VR players.

> and somehow bring down the cost so two headsets cost about as much as a current generation console.

As others have said, the Meta Quest 2 is $400. And it's PC VR compatible, so if you have a gaming PC, you can use it with that.

> I think it’s also very premature for Meta to go after the business market.

We're still years from business use for VR aside from maybe virtual meetings with avatars. I think the biggest limiter is resolution. Text needs to be decently large to be readable in VR. I have a 1440p monitor that only uses what, 45 degrees of my eyes' FOV? When I think of what I would use VR for, I'm thinking essentially unlimited monitors. I could have several pages of documentation visible at any time.

First of all, it works with phones, tablets, game consoles, computers, etc. Anything with a display output, so keep that in mind. The use-case isn’t just big desktop computers or even stationary devices.

1. Travel, you can use this on an airplane, which is nice for frequent travels, or if you want to watch a movie on a bigger screen on a plane. It also works in hospital beds, or anywhere else you may want to enjoy a screen but not bring monitors or TVs.

2. Ergonomics, you can lay down and use the glasses a lot easier than a mounted monitor overhead (and a lot less risky). This is useful both for finding ergonomic positions for general life, and also for people who may be disabled, or otherwise have some bodily issue that forces them to lay in bed (in hospital, elderly, etc).

3. It’s simply a bigger screen. It fills your vision, it’s a lot bigger than a 25” display, even if thats roughly the equivalent quality. If you want to Eg. Watch a movie or play games, it’s a better experience. I’ve heard YouTubers like it for their Steam Deck.

4. It’s a lot smaller than a monitor. If you live alone in a studio, this could save you space on having a dedicated desk and desk equipment. You can just work at your table, and it packs away to a backpack when you want to eat.

5. You could even walk and wear it as a HUD - theres a company that makes live translation software for the headset, where you can read “subtitles” of people talking.

I've never felt such a consistently visceral adrenaline response from a game before.