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Ask HN: Working in a VR Headset?

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41–50 of 257 posts

Re: Ask HN: Working in a VR Headset?

#41
post #38

With the Quest Pro I could actually see the feasibility. Just good enough to code in comfortably. The color passthrough means you can actually have coffee at your desk among a million small things it adds.

According to Linus, the Text is still not clear enough

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT1sps72_sE

Re: Ask HN: Working in a VR Headset?

#43

My main issue is using a keyboard while in vr. Feels like a keyboard that senses when fingers are near would be useful, so you know what key you are about to press. Most of the time i can tell particularly if i am used to that keyboard but sometimes its trial and error. That or accessible hand gloves. I suppose brain impulse reading is still far off as that would solve most input issues with vr.

The quest now has a feature whre it can passthrough a user defined portion of the bottom of the screen so that you can see your desk while in VR. You can also passthrough physical items such as just a keyboard and a cup or everything bar your virtual screens in apps such as immersed.

Re: Ask HN: Working in a VR Headset?

#44
post #17

> I am comfortable with at least two 27" monitors. I embraced a single-monitor workflow early in my career after experimenting and finding that having multiple monitors often makes me less productive than just switching workspaces with ⌘+tab. Now it's extended to a single-laptop workflow that's given me incredible flexibility to travel and move around the office. When do people really need multiple monitors? My only…

Windows has "alt+tab"?

Are multiple desktops well supported on Windows now? It's been a while since I've explored it.

Re: Ask HN: Working in a VR Headset?

#46
> Does anyone have any useful experience to share on working in a VR headset? Is it comfortable for longer periods of time? How is it on the eyes?

I bought the entry level Quest 2 to evaluate the feasibility of this about a year ago. These are some of my insights (that might not apply 100% to Quest Pro):

- The resolution was too poor to comfortably read anything on two displays arranged about the same way as two horizontal 27" monitors side by side. This ultimately killed the whole effort.

- Without good passthrough, using a keyboard and mouse is a bit difficult.

- There is finger tracking, but I found the controllers to be more accurate. So I needed to keep the controllers on my desk.

- There is a bit of motion sickness that either goes away after a few days of use or reduces a bit. For me, I could never get over the motion sickness. But it wasn't very bad after a couple days of use.

- The screen door effect was very noticeable for me on Quest 2.

- It was possible to up the resolution and refresh rate of Quest 2 using developer options on the PC with some third-party software. With that, the headset might become uncomfortably warm to wear.

- The WiFi 6 wireless VR was surprisingly much better than expected. But it will definitely not be a good experience with typical hotel Wifi - not even close.

I was pretty happy to spend about £300 on a Quest 2 to try it for work. I then sold it for about £250. £50 to try this work mode for a few weeks was worth it. I chose not to go with VR for work at the time. I would suggest trying it yourself in some way similar to this. Perhaps not buying it but borrowing someone's VR headset for a bit, or going to one of the VR venues and just seeing how comfortable it is and what kind of resolution you might get?

Re: Ask HN: Working in a VR Headset?

#47
post #17

> I am comfortable with at least two 27" monitors. I embraced a single-monitor workflow early in my career after experimenting and finding that having multiple monitors often makes me less productive than just switching workspaces with ⌘+tab. Now it's extended to a single-laptop workflow that's given me incredible flexibility to travel and move around the office. When do people really need multiple monitors? My only…

When I traveled I would sometimes bring just one monitor and it was unbearable. I need to see the result of my work, logs and code at once to debug the code comfortably. Even more so when I'm tired.

Re: Ask HN: Working in a VR Headset?

#48
post #39

I worked for about a month using the Immersed app and an Oculus 2. I judged it workable for me, but probably near the borderline. The positives were that the software generally worked (modulus some bugs), and I could code, attend Teams meetings (as an avatar with a VR camera) and have multiple monitors. Interestingly, Teams meetings with the other participants on a virtual monitor about 2 metres away were very notice…

> Teams meetings with the other participants on a virtual monitor about 2 metres away were very noticeably less psychologically stressful. How were you projected? Was everyone else looking at a person gazing vaguely in the direction of the camera and obscured by a bulky headset?

Immersed has a 'VR camera' - you position it in your virtual space and so your Teams partners see a floating avatar with hands (the Quest 2 has hand tracking as well). It provoked initial mirth but didn't disrupt much.

Re: Ask HN: Working in a VR Headset?

#49
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows has "alt+tab"?

Are multiple desktops well supported on Windows now? It's been a while since I've explored it.

Yeah, they are great! I usually have like three virtual desktops with two monitors, so it's 6 screens. Switching between them is also much better than it used to be couple of years ago.

Re: Ask HN: Working in a VR Headset?

#50
post #13

You can comfortably work in VR, but the trick is that you can't use any of the headsets as is. There are upgrades that you really need: A better head strap, ideally one with an adjustment knob at the back to easily loosen and tighten the headset. Also one with an extra battery that both gives you longer unplugged time but more importantly balances the headset front to back. And a better headset/face interface. You ca…

If you are working stationary, you might as well neutralize the weight with industrial pulleys, as they are used with robot cable packages and other situations were too much weight is in equipment for the work required.
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