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I've recently gotten a PC capable of VR and I'm interested in checking it out. I suspect that if I bought a headset, it would be mostly a novelty item, and I'd tire of it very quickly. I think hardware and software developers are still trying to figure out how to use VR... Just curious if anyone around here has a headset or has used one extensively and what for.
We use both VR and AR in the clinic (Rift & hololens), so my experience comes primarily from playing around with that. Tried using cellphone-driven headsets for watching movies while traveling but it was too unsocial for my tastes. I've tried out the Rift and the Vive but the game demos didn't really do anything for me. Some of the imnersive documentary type content (concerts, events, retelling of refugees' experiences, mountain climbing, flying, underwater exploration etc) were really compelling though.
My fave so far has been the Oculus Go and I'm thinking about buying that, but, again, it's kinda boring watching a movie while wearing a headset.
With all that said I'm pretty sure porn is still VR's killer app and you'd have to ask yourself whether you're titillated by the thought of being tethered to a computer with your pants down without being able to see or hear your surroundings. I think there may be some downsides with placing oneself in such a precarious predicament.
With games you can move around and experience things from different angles. But with movies - documentary, drama and porn - are you in a fixed perspective? I think VR won't really take off until people can interact in a VR environment. Like if you're watching a movie, if you can see, speak with, avatars of friends who are also watching. Or if the live chat room becomes you and whoever else in a VR room, talking, gaming, sharing video/ audio/ whatever, via individualized avatars. When you can do that, and do it over the internet, it seems that will be the next level.
i don't even like not being able to hear my surroundings. I don't wear earphones/headphones to listen to music or when playing games - only speakers. I'm obliged to use a headset for work for all my meetings, but only ever have one ear plugged in.
The thought of plugging into VR and cutting off my sight as well as my hearing is not a pleasant one. Even for porn.
I had a prototype Oculus and have a g1 Vive. The screen door effect on the Oculus was a bit much. The Vive was fine most of the time, but the screen door effect shows up again for anything that's too Red/Green/Blue.
There isn't enough of a VR market for really high quality games, so it's likely going to end up mostly as a novelty. There are some good games though - I liked Raw Data, but it's better if you have someone you can play with. FPS's are also a lot more tiring when you have to physically move around, duck, and swing your guns around, so it's best played in 20 minute sessions. Elite Dangerous, although a bit shallow when played normally, it's really great in VR. I've never used it for movies - I don't see the point.
You should also figure out how susceptible you are to simulator sickness. One of my friends really liked the game "Onward", but to move more than a few feet you have to use your controller to move your avatar, and that's instant nausea for me. I've never been able to play it because I can't stomach movement in that game. I have to stick to games that either allow teleporting (like Raw Data) or have you sitting in a vehicle (like Elite Dangerous).
I do classes/programs with the PSVR. I use the original PSVR at work and have the revision at home. My girls love it and we've recorded far to much time playing Job Simulator and the Playroom games. The AstroBot game is top notch, as much fun as I remember having playing Mario on my original SNES. At work we do CoolPaintrVR, some eagle flight and the Playroom. I haven't noticed the screen door effect while playing and no one has mentioned it to me. So maybe its not something your brain registers until you know to look for it. Lots of first timers have a hard time grasping the concept of painting in 3D and the older crowd usually compares it to the holodeck.
I know the PSVR can play 3D movies but I haven't tried it yet.
Sony has sold ~5 million headsets so far, according to r/PSVR stores are having trouble keeping the move controllers in stock. Valve just sold out of the Index within 30 minutes of it going on sale a couple of days ago. So I consider the concept more fledgling than novelty.
Fixed viewpoint but because you can look around (with the audio responding to your head movements) it is very immersive. Content creators are rapidly learning how to tell stories in this new format.Quote:
Originally Posted by EyeKhan
Think most of this is already possible, but prices are still a little too steep for widespread adoption. That's definitely going to change over the next few years; now that the porn industry has embraced VR with open arms, its success is inevitable :downcast:Quote:
I think VR won't really take off until people can interact in a VR environment. Like if you're watching a movie, if you can see, speak with, avatars of friends who are also watching. Or if the live chat room becomes you and whoever else in a VR room, talking, gaming, sharing video/ audio/ whatever, via individualized avatars. When you can do that, and do it over the internet, it seems that will be the next level.
I just realized the Oculus Quest has been released btw :up: looking very good. Not sure it's quite reached the point where you can replicate 60% of the experience of watching an IMAX 3D movie from the best seat in the theatre in the comfort of your own home, but it's getting there.
I got a PSVR.
Beat Saber is the game to get.
I'm sorry but this sounds like porn I advise against googling it on a work computerQuote:
Originally Posted by Khendraja'aro
When I pitched my VR program at work the first question from one of the committee members was if I was going to get beat saber as well. :haha:Quote:
Originally Posted by Khendraja'aro
Yeah. I get motion sickness even from the games where you have a fixed frame of reference (like Bow To Blood where you're the captain of a futuristic gun skiff) but Beat Saber I can play until I'm exhausted.
And I'm slightly in awe of the people managing Expert+. I have, however, advanced to a level where I find "Hard" is too easy.
Got the Oculus Quest 2 yesterday, and, guys, I was skeptical... but now I'm sold. Good lord this thing is fun! Our home isn't really suited to roomscale VR but it still works pretty well for a number of games. Set-up was a piece of cake. Using it is much more comfortable than I'd expected—I've used it for several hours straight, two days in a row, and I've had no real problems with it so far wrt pressure, neck strain, etc. The included headband is good. Not being able to fine-tune IPD hasn't really affected quality. The controllers are excellent—and far more convenient than the hand-gestures on HoloLens 2. The inside-out tracking works perfectly. I tend to get car-sick very easily, but I haven't experienced any motion-sickness at all. I've just been using the built-in bone conduction audio on the headset and it is aces—far better than my bone-conduction headphones. I'm honestly blown away by how immersive VR environments are on this thing—even environments that somewhat sparse and clearly digital are incredibly compelling, if the creator has paid attention to lighting etc. I've interacted with my laptop through a virtual desktop app (which was much easier to get started with than Oculus's own AirLink system) and it worked very well. I'm told it's surprisingly good with cloud-based VR gaming.
The experience is pretty good right out of the box, but you'll need apps to make the most of it. There are a number of video players for streaming movies straight from a NAS or another computer on your network, but I'm told streaming BluRay vids can be a hassle. YouTube VR hasn't been amazing so far, but I'm told there's good content there. The biggest selling point are the games; I really didn't expect them to be so much fun. The most tragic yet absurdly fun game is a VR fishing simulator—simple concept, almost perfectly executed. I've got a ton of games to check out but I've avoided many of the top sellers because I just wanna relax rather than fight things.
Wrt downsides, well, it's always gonna feel a little clunky, there is still a noticeable screen-door effect, black parts of the image look a little washed out b/c it's an IPS display, content can often be poorly lit for some inexplicable reason, the battery life isn't fantastic (although this is probably a good thing b/c otherwise you might end up playing for much longer than you should—I don't think I'll be getting the battery pack anytime soon :o), the UX design language is kinda all over the place in that every app has its own approach, you'll probably have to work a little to make it work well with glasses (I've switched to contacts), it's obv a little pricey (I got the 256GB b/c that's what was available for delivery but it's probably not gonna be worth the premium), and streaming services are kinda shit. That last issue was very disappointing as I thought that would be what I'd enjoy the most, but the video quality on the native Netflix app is atrocious, the Prime app is clunky, and there's no Disney+. One reason for this is that streaming companies haven't really invested in VR apps yet for obv reasons, but a bigger reason is that they've all implemented features to prevent—or discourage—recording, which also get in the way of the VR experience (eg. Netflix streams at 480p). There's a workaround involving the Virtual Desktop app and addons, but it's not great. Some of the coolest content is probably best if you're playing or hanging out with a group of friends, and I only have one friend who has a VR headset at the mo. Apart from that, the biggest downside is that you need a Facebook account to use it. This is shitty not only from a privacy perspective but also from a consumer rights perspective, as we saw shortly after it launched and a bunch of people got their headsets disabled (permanently) because FB thought something was dodgy with their accounts. As a regular user, if this happens, you may in practice have no recourse for redress—FB's support is more or less non-existent.
The Quest 2 is already pretty great for tech- and gaming enthusiasts who want a painless wireless VR experience without having to spend too much money. For mass-market appeal, I think you need a headset that can comfortably manage 8K displays at the same price-point, which is probably years away. No doubt competition from console VR headsets is gonna intensify, but I think this iteration can hold its own for a couple more years at least.
Do you get nauseous with it?
My only experience is I went to a liquor tasting event that featured Occuli. I don't know why they thought it was a good idea to liquor people up and then strap-on a VR headset to their drink-addled brains. And now I can't tell if I wanted to puke because of the liquor or the experience.
Both of my sons are gonna sell their Oculus (a gift from their father) as nearly new, rarely used. It's become their family joke about virtual reality as a lame replacement for real life interactions. :(
With some kinds of (in-app) movement, extremely—eg. if you move smoothly just by moving the joystick, that just fucks me up. If the movement is more like exaggerated walking (moves up and down a little) and you can move by choosing a location and then going there, then I don't feel nauseous at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreadnaught
What do you use it for? Gaming?Quote:
Originally Posted by Aimless
EDIT:
NVM, I see your prior post.
I can understand that -- sounds sort of like the problem with smooth motion in high definition TVs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aimless