Oculus Quest 2 • Hacker News Board

Re: Oculus Quest 2

#421

Post by na85 » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 3:39 AM UTC

someperson wrote: post #419

cwhiz wrote: post #404

Please, anyone, desperately anyone, literally anyone, please, for the love of god, make a competing headset that doesn’t have this deep Facebook integration bullshit. I do not want to see this become the Oasis.

At this point it's clear that Facebook have "won" VR. At least for the current generation that's mostly focused on gaming. The original Oculus Quest is already really good, and was constantly sold out for almost its entire lifetime, and now Facebook are selling a near-4K resolution headset with a top-of-the-line Snapdragon XR2 for $299. I have been considering starting an open firmware project for the Oculus Quest 2…

>Is anyone interested?

Honestly, I feel like you could position such a project as "Deconstructing Facebook's business models one step at a time: The corporation" and hire a lot of anarcho-hacker types while positioning the company as a social-good venture. I personally would love to get paid to gradually undercut and destroy facebook.

I worry that 2 things would happen:

1. The company would become what it set out to destroy (evil)

2. Anarchist hackers are passionate but you'd have a hard time getting funding from any of the big reputable players.

Still, that would be an awesome company.

Re: Oculus Quest 2

#422

Post by Ruthalas » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 3:43 AM UTC

jayd16 wrote: post #129

moh_maya wrote: post #6

We develop industrial training solutions using the rift S and quest. But the deep linking with FB, the battery downgrades on the quest, etc, all are going to push us away. For PC-based training sims, we'll probably get the HTC Vive. And the Pico for the quest equivalent.

>the battery downgrades I haven't seen anything about this. Only battery news I've seen is they have a new strap system with a battery pack in it.

My understanding is that the battery is the same, but that the new processor and screen draw more power, therefore resulting in less runtime.

Re: Oculus Quest 2

#423

Post by na85 » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 3:44 AM UTC

rektide wrote: post #418

msie wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t bet on Valve. They don’t have a killer business instinct. They take their sweet time to get anything done. Plus their Steam machine “console” idea was crap, anyone could see that from day one.

It's amazing how shortsighted & wrong one smarmy glib post can be. Valve is kicking ass, leading massive technical charged doing great & fantastic work with none of the typical Service-as-a-Software-Substitute slimeware that everyone else keeps falling to. Great novel hardware with very high bandwidth & compelling input, best if not only useful end user drivers out there as we see with projects like Monado XR that ar…

That's an interesting take. I don't follow the VR market at all, but from my perspective Valve has been resting on their laurels for years. I've read that gaben just sits in his office playing DOTA 2 all day. Until I read your comment I would never have considered describing Valve as "kicking ass". From where I sit they've basically done nothing innovative since Half Life 2.

Re: Oculus Quest 2

#424

Post by scsilver » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 3:48 AM UTC

CookieMon wrote: post #416

tomc1985 wrote: post #412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about Valve Index?

It costs 3 times as much and is tethered. Price aside, tethered is a different market. I like powering VR with a gaming PC, but a standalone headset with inside-out tracking like the Quest is where the mass market / oasis will be.

Furthermore, theres alot of moving parts in the tethered setup, easy to get bottlenecks in performance. I think right now this all in one device could compete on consistent day to day performance as well as dominating in flexibility and price.

Re: Oculus Quest 2

#425

Post by someperson » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 3:48 AM UTC

na85 wrote: post #421

someperson wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At this point it's clear that Facebook have "won" VR. At least for the current generation that's mostly focused on gaming. The original Oculus Quest is already really good, and was constantly sold out for almost its entire lifetime, and now Facebook are selling a near-4K resolution headset with a top-of-the-line Snapdragon XR2 for $299. I have been considering starting an open firmware project for the Oculus Quest 2…

>Is anyone interested? Honestly, I feel like you could position such a project as "Deconstructing Facebook's business models one step at a time: The corporation" and hire a lot of anarcho-hacker types while positioning the company as a social-good venture. I personally would love to get paid to gradually undercut and destroy facebook. I worry that 2 things would happen: 1. The company would become what it set out to…

Open-firmware has had a long history, with varied degrees of success. From RockBox for the iPod to the ReactOS open re-implementation of Windows.

I think now is different. I think crowd-funding has changed the economics of such projects from a few passionate hackers working in their spare time to now being able to fund people working on such a project full-time.

There's probably tens of thousands of users willing to pledge $100 into escrow on a Kickstarter-like service, paying out when somebody to creates an open Oculus Quest firmware capable of 6 degrees of freedom using inside-out tracking.

This funding model and skillsets are suprisingly close to what's required to provide Android security updates to older phones and tablets, so there's a broader business to be built.

Many of those users are probably willing to pay a few dollars a month so such software gets continued to be developed.

Re: Oculus Quest 2

#426

Post by cwhiz » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 3:49 AM UTC

rektide wrote: post #418

msie wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t bet on Valve. They don’t have a killer business instinct. They take their sweet time to get anything done. Plus their Steam machine “console” idea was crap, anyone could see that from day one.

It's amazing how shortsighted & wrong one smarmy glib post can be. Valve is kicking ass, leading massive technical charged doing great & fantastic work with none of the typical Service-as-a-Software-Substitute slimeware that everyone else keeps falling to. Great novel hardware with very high bandwidth & compelling input, best if not only useful end user drivers out there as we see with projects like Monado XR that ar…

Valve is hilariously stagnant. The Steam windows app went ignored for nearly a decade until Epic came in and started eating their lunch. The mobile app looks like a contracted out app from 2009. Seriously, go download the mobile app. Half the products or ideas they’ve come up with abandoned, never release, or are mediocre. They lack any clear vision, strategy or direction as a company. They seem like they would just absolutely rest on their laurels and do absolutely nothing if it weren’t for pesky competitors ruining their laziness.

The only reason Valve is in business today is because DRM forbids consumers from transferring their owned games to another platform. If I could abandon Steam I immediately would.

Re: Oculus Quest 2

#427

Post by amansidhant » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 3:52 AM UTC

someperson wrote: post #419

cwhiz wrote: post #404

Please, anyone, desperately anyone, literally anyone, please, for the love of god, make a competing headset that doesn’t have this deep Facebook integration bullshit. I do not want to see this become the Oasis.

At this point it's clear that Facebook have "won" VR. At least for the current generation that's mostly focused on gaming. The original Oculus Quest is already really good, and was constantly sold out for almost its entire lifetime, and now Facebook are selling a near-4K resolution headset with a top-of-the-line Snapdragon XR2 for $299. I have been considering starting an open firmware project for the Oculus Quest 2…

Interested! I’m really passionate about VR/AR and would love to work on something in the space. Currently an undergrad. How can I contact you?

Re: Oculus Quest 2

#428

Post by rektide » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 3:56 AM UTC

cwhiz wrote: post #426

rektide wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's amazing how shortsighted & wrong one smarmy glib post can be. Valve is kicking ass, leading massive technical charged doing great & fantastic work with none of the typical Service-as-a-Software-Substitute slimeware that everyone else keeps falling to. Great novel hardware with very high bandwidth & compelling input, best if not only useful end user drivers out there as we see with projects like Monado XR that ar…

Valve is hilariously stagnant. The Steam windows app went ignored for nearly a decade until Epic came in and started eating their lunch. The mobile app looks like a contracted out app from 2009. Seriously, go download the mobile app. Half the products or ideas they’ve come up with abandoned, never release, or are mediocre. They lack any clear vision, strategy or direction as a company. They seem like they would just…

What stodgy complainy whininess.

I can play 60%+ of games on Linux because Valve cares way more than anyone else.

Big Picture works great for a console like experience far better than anyone elses.

Valve Controller let's practically any game under the sun be couch & controller playable.

Remote Play, then Remote Play Together, now Remote Play Tablet blow everything else out of the water.

I'm sorry the you doesn't meet your high pop culture desires? It feels much less glossy-plastic & more direct to me than Epic. That's just me I guess. The thing is, that is way way way way down my list of concerns. Steam is a technical juggernaut. No one else is even playing. Steam is super under appreciated. The lack of mainstream highly visible overwhelming successes doesn't bother me. Steam is innovating at the edge in radical ways, & they are always always always trying to spread the love, not steal the sunshine.

Re: Oculus Quest 2

#429

Post by na85 » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 4:01 AM UTC

someperson wrote: post #425

na85 wrote: post #421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Is anyone interested? Honestly, I feel like you could position such a project as "Deconstructing Facebook's business models one step at a time: The corporation" and hire a lot of anarcho-hacker types while positioning the company as a social-good venture. I personally would love to get paid to gradually undercut and destroy facebook. I worry that 2 things would happen: 1. The company would become what it set out to…

Open-firmware has had a long history, with varied degrees of success. From RockBox for the iPod to the ReactOS open re-implementation of Windows. I think now is different. I think crowd-funding has changed the economics of such projects from a few passionate hackers working in their spare time to now being able to fund people working on such a project full-time. There's probably tens of thousands of users willing to…

Maybe, but I think the market for a Facebook-free Oculus is smaller than one might think. Your average xbox dudebro probably uses instagram quite prolifically and isn't in the "protect my privacy" camp.

Re: Oculus Quest 2

#430

Post by kipchak » Thu, Sep 17, 2020, 4:02 AM UTC

na85 wrote: post #423

rektide wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's amazing how shortsighted & wrong one smarmy glib post can be. Valve is kicking ass, leading massive technical charged doing great & fantastic work with none of the typical Service-as-a-Software-Substitute slimeware that everyone else keeps falling to. Great novel hardware with very high bandwidth & compelling input, best if not only useful end user drivers out there as we see with projects like Monado XR that ar…

That's an interesting take. I don't follow the VR market at all, but from my perspective Valve has been resting on their laurels for years. I've read that gaben just sits in his office playing DOTA 2 all day. Until I read your comment I would never have considered describing Valve as "kicking ass". From where I sit they've basically done nothing innovative since Half Life 2.

Digital item economics/lootboxes/items is a big one[1], they even hired Yanis Varoufakis for a bit.

They also did a good deal of the foundational work for VR working with HTC and Oculus. Then there's steam link, Steam controller/SteamOS/Steam Machines, Player created layers in Portal 2, Steak Workshop/Mod support (and paid mods) to name a few. There's a lot of not hits and a lot of not games, but they've been at least doing some stuff.

[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-I6Qn56QWI