Will walled gardens rule VR? • Hacker News Board

Re: Will walled gardens rule VR?

#11

Post by trzy » Thu, Feb 02, 2023, 4:53 PM UTC

Yes, they will. The computer industry doesn’t want to repeat IBM’s loss of platform control. Mobile phones are walled gardens with very restrictive app models and one should expect VR and AR devices to be even more so.

As an example, camera access is available on smart phones (cameras on phones being an established killer feature even before iOS and Android) but are completely off limits on all standalone VR headsets (Meta, Pico, HTC) for “privacy reasons”.

Expect other big players to lean into this.

Re: Will walled gardens rule VR?

#12

Post by chamwislothe2nd » Thu, Feb 02, 2023, 5:00 PM UTC

trzy wrote: post #11

Yes, they will. The computer industry doesn’t want to repeat IBM’s loss of platform control. Mobile phones are walled gardens with very restrictive app models and one should expect VR and AR devices to be even more so. As an example, camera access is available on smart phones (cameras on phones being an established killer feature even before iOS and Android) but are completely off limits on all standalone VR headsets…

[dead]

Re: Will walled gardens rule VR?

#13

Post by yamazakiwi » Thu, Feb 02, 2023, 5:08 PM UTC

Eventually, but if it explodes in popularity I'll abandon it in a flash. I don't want ads directly beamed into my eyes. If the internet is any example, it will be muddled and sullied by business types.

Re: Will walled gardens rule VR?

#14

Post by yamazakiwi » Thu, Feb 02, 2023, 5:10 PM UTC

User23 wrote: post #4

Walled gardens rule all other gaming. It's not like I can take my rocket launcher from DOOM Eternal to Fortnite.

A better example is Epic creating exclusivity contracts preventing you from playing a game with your friends because they don't want to use a launcher outside of steam and won't be able to play it for another 12 months (BORDERLANDS WHY?)

Re: Will walled gardens rule VR?

#15

Post by yamazakiwi » Thu, Feb 02, 2023, 5:12 PM UTC

mlindner wrote: post #3

I at least personally refuse to use any walled garden VR system. Importantly no one should be using any Facebook VR system.

I'm glad that Meta is making the Metaverse look bad, it should give us a few more years of fun before VR gets ruined.

Re: Will walled gardens rule VR?

#16

Post by mrguyorama » Thu, Feb 02, 2023, 6:20 PM UTC

trzy wrote: post #11

Yes, they will. The computer industry doesn’t want to repeat IBM’s loss of platform control. Mobile phones are walled gardens with very restrictive app models and one should expect VR and AR devices to be even more so. As an example, camera access is available on smart phones (cameras on phones being an established killer feature even before iOS and Android) but are completely off limits on all standalone VR headsets…

My Valve Index exposes the cameras seemingly as standard Windows USB webcams. It will accidentally show up in video calls sometimes.

Re: Will walled gardens rule VR?

#17

Post by BizarroLand » Thu, Feb 02, 2023, 7:09 PM UTC

criddell wrote: post #9

rektide wrote: post #2

Reciprocally, how much likelier a chance of success, how much greater would the building be & how much larger the audience, if this industry had open standards & joint efforts? "Create more value than you capture" talks to knowing that you have to give over significant control; "if you love it set it free."

Chance of success? VR is here now and it's successful. The Quest alone has sold something like 15 million units. What more do you want?

That's about $600 million dollars in sales that Zuck spent $30 billion for. That is not a success.

Aside from that, there's still no killer app in VR. It's all amusing toys that lose their luster. Superhot VR was fun, sure. Beatsaber is cool. VR Chat has its ups and downs.

But nothing I think I could live in.

Re: Will walled gardens rule VR?

#18

Post by tinus_hn » Thu, Feb 02, 2023, 7:43 PM UTC

For a while; after some time probably an alternative store will appear that is full of crap.

Re: Will walled gardens rule VR?

#19

Post by criddell » Thu, Feb 02, 2023, 8:13 PM UTC

BizarroLand wrote: post #17

criddell wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chance of success? VR is here now and it's successful. The Quest alone has sold something like 15 million units. What more do you want?

That's about $600 million dollars in sales that Zuck spent $30 billion for. That is not a success. Aside from that, there's still no killer app in VR. It's all amusing toys that lose their luster. Superhot VR was fun, sure. Beatsaber is cool. VR Chat has its ups and downs. But nothing I think I could live in.

It's not a success for Meta, but it is for Superhot and Beat Games and some other studios. It's a success for consumers who have been using VR headsets for the past 30 years and benefit from Meta's investment.

VR will continue to get incrementally better and cheaper year-after-year. I think VR has established itself as the fourth big wave in gaming (after mobile games, console games, and PC games). I'm not sure why that isn't enough to be considered a great success.

Re: Will walled gardens rule VR?

#20

Post by davidburt » Thu, Feb 02, 2023, 8:35 PM UTC

trzy wrote: post #11

Yes, they will. The computer industry doesn’t want to repeat IBM’s loss of platform control. Mobile phones are walled gardens with very restrictive app models and one should expect VR and AR devices to be even more so. As an example, camera access is available on smart phones (cameras on phones being an established killer feature even before iOS and Android) but are completely off limits on all standalone VR headsets…

Even so, I do think we can expect a strong open web to emerge in VR. Some publishers & businesses will want to control the content & data they publish, which will push them to the open web. It's the same reason publishers don't publish all their content on Facebook.

That said, it will certainly take a while for an open web to emerge. And in any case, it seems likely that walled gardens will always have a powerful place in the ecosystem.