How interested are you in Virtual Reality tech?
Displaying poll results.17162 total votes.
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VR again? (Score:4, Insightful)
This technology crops up every few years, but never catches on.
VirtualBoy, anyone?
There's a killer app out there somewhere, but I don't think we've found it yet.
Re:VR again? (Score:3, Interesting)
The problem isn't applications, it's quality. VR will catch when the visor shows a picture which covers the entire field of view. Hold your hands like you're simulating big binoculars and walk around for a few minutes: That's what the field of view is like, currently. It sucks, even with the resolution, dynamic range, true depth and zero lag of reality. Can you imagine driving a car, doing sports or walking through a crowded city like that?
Re:VR again? (Score:5, Funny)
Finally! I've been preparing myself for VR with a low field of view by squinting my eyes in everyday tasks! I knew this would pay off.
Re:VR again? (Score:5, Insightful)
Neck muscles tire easily. Constantly turning your head isn't really natural for most people. We move our eyeballs and bodies, and the head is moved only for short moments. Otherwise we avoid it.
Also, even with a full field of view, it tends to make people dizzy, because the inner ear doesn't agree with what you see. This is one reason why dome theatres never took off - people need to be comfortable.
My prediction is that it will meet the same fate as the Wii, which now is a basement filler, next to the George Foreman grill and VCR.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
You'll be pleased to know that Foreman grills are alive and well and--since you bring it up--I just bought one yesterday.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
You'll be pleased to know that Foreman grills are alive and well and--since you bring it up--I just bought one yesterday.
Come back in a year or two and tell us where it resides.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
It's a grill. It cooks meat pretty well. And it carries a 3-year warranty.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
Besides, what have you got against George Foreman? I kind of like him, myself--you can't say he's not an original
Re: VR again? (Score:2)
Go north.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
At my house the second one it still setting on the counter used regularly to grill borritos and chicken breasts we replaced our first one because after several years of consistant use it started to only grilling on one side.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
Mine's on the kitchen counter, where it's been cooking meat and toasted cheese sandwiches for 11 years now.
They rock. They're superb. They're easier to clean than a conventional grill.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
I got to play around with one of these last year at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo and I only used it for a few minutes and was feeling queasy. I don't get motion sickness. The only other place I've felt that was when I went to see the Tornado Alley movie in IMAX and was subjected to shaky cam in full IMAX glory. Not good.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
Have you ever watched the in-cockpit view of a stunt pilot? They turn their heads all the time in high (and negative ) g conditions. The use-case I see for this is a better virtual cockpit for a flightsim.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
My prediction is that it will meet the same fate as the Wii, which now is a basement filler.
Good to know that you think that it will be hugely successful that there will be about 100 million units sold.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
Off-topic about Doom's head bob: look up a video on John Carmack walking, and you will be enlightened. ;)
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
I'm one of those, and you still see games with "head bob" getting made for PC. Fortunately, you can usually turn it off.
Comment removed (Score:3)
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
I wonder if people who play with these things a lot, are going to turn their head more in real life as well. If you've been forced for several hours to turn your head instead of moving your eyes, you may keep that habit when going out for a walk afterwards.
That would be quite funny to watch :D
Comment removed (Score:2)
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
It's like someone in 1980 saying "I'm not interested in gaming until it's 100% realistic."
They can patch imagine in ou optic nerve, the technology is called: eyeball.
Comment removed (Score:2)
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
Given the advances in display tech in the ensuing 10 years, yes, we damned well could have fully immersive VR goggles, with a resolution high enough to make them close enough to "native" not to matter. As for game-specific support, unnecessary, for the most part - We've had games that support real 3d hardware since before the first Doom (any OpenGL or Direct3d game requires nothing more than rendering to two "cameras" approximately eye-width apart).
The real limitation for 3d games comes partly from the inputs (most games don't support 3d gyroscopic data as an "input" device), and the physical environment for the player. Go ahead and try playing your favorite 3d FPS with a VR headset in an uncontrolled environment without injuring yourself. I can tell you from my experience a decade ago that I bounced off the great big Nerf rails of the VR "tank" over and over and over and over...
Comment removed (Score:2)
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
Oh, we all know what the killer app is: the same one that vaulted the VCR and the internet to ubiquity.
But for VR, this app needs more than a pair of goggles...
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
There are a number of companies working on programmable or remote controlled sex devices. I believe some are already commercially available that go along with visual media. I'm sure once the VR headsets get good enough they'll be made fully compatible.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
The VCR became the leader due to licensing costs(small bit) and the amunt the home owner could record(large bit).
Porn doesn't matter. Porn goes onto every tech. Contrary to the myth, there was porn on Betamax.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
Oh, we all know what the killer app is: the same one that vaulted the VCR and the internet to ubiquity.
Why bother with VR goggles? Cut out the middleman/women and just develop a headset that directly stimulates the user's brain's reward center. With that you can corner not only the porn market but the cocaine/marijuana market and the flappy-bird market as well.
Re:VR again? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
There was still a lot of interest in it in the day. It was mostly the massive headaches it gave many people that make it fail.
Comment removed (Score:2)
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
At Comdex circa 1994, I played a 3D free roam space fighter game with a head tracking virtual reality headset...not so different than what I see with Oculus rift.
I guess cost is an issue. That setup was around $1,500 I think. Most people didn't know what the internet was, and fast internet speeds were 0.05Mb/s.
Oculus rift is targeting $300. Still...you'd think that 20 yrs would produce more breakthroughs.
Re:VR again? (Score:3)
When I was doing VR in the 90s, the biggest obstacle I ran into was people wanted the image to be perfect. The focus should have been on movement and tracking. Graphics only needed time. But you show someone a wire frame of four people moving seamless while tracking each other, no one cared. it was always give us better graphic and we will fund you.
sigh.
Re:VR again? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
Sure, why not. By the standards of mid-90s games, Virtual Boy was interesting (and Nintendo-specific meant "most of the good games" in 1995, IMO). However, despite the name, VB was not a VR headset, and wasn't intended to be: it was just a 3D headset.
You can't knock the VB for being monochrome in 1995! Remember, this was 3 years before GameBoy Color - the not just monochrome, but "pea soup" Game Boy was it for portable games in 1995 when the VB came out. The proper-monochrome GB pocket wasn't till 1996, and the GBC not until 98.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
In 1995 most good games were on the PC, same as today.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
I was excited by VR 20 years ago... grew weary of waiting for it to happen... (or maybe just grew up...) and moved on to other things.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
I think I still have my VRML book, somewhere. Unless the termites got to that one as well.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
I don't think the virtual boy is a good example. Plus it was released around 1995. There were multiple problems with its design. The biggest problem with it was you had to stand it on a table and lean forward to stick your head into it which was very uncomfortable. You wanted to put your hands on the table but you couldn't as you were holding the controller. The scan rate was very low so it was not only physically uncomfortable to use but it also was almost painful to look at. Then add a bunch of crappy games and you had a total failure.
Real VR is yet to mature but we are getting there. The main hurdle appears to be refreshrate and high resolution screens. But we are getting close.
I wouldn't write it off yet. But I am not jumping on any bandwagon until the tech is mature and not tied to a social behemoth.
Re:VR again? (Score:2)
VR perspective (Score:2)
I'm happy to see /. has a sense of perspective with VR...it's always seemed like a shell game to me
I think the gaming companies will make it work...then companies like Occulus (facebook) could license the technology.
I'm 99% sure that M$ and Xbox will announce they will use a new Occulus product soon.
facebook.com & M$ are in cahoots
about this:
**tell me about it**
I was in a great MS program that combined Telecom/IT networking/tech design into one program. It was awesome. We had tons of free stuff from doing WiMax research & a huge budget.
The downside was, my program's faculty was either old-school IT/Telecom guys who had come up in the 80s or CS people who've never been out of academia.
Great teaching professors, horrible at investing in new tech.
They had **rooms** full of the stuff...ex: digital whiteboard with motion sensors that tracked what you wrote & put it on a digital screen...never saw it used past the day it arrived & they demo'ed it...**never used**
When I can wear it past the TSA checkpoint, (Score:4, Interesting)
then I'll be interested.
Bad survey design (Score:2)
Open all the boxes. Open all the boxes. (Score:2)
Not to mention that the last four options are functionally identical.
And the lack of "I'm using it now!" option.
[Oh, and missing a "Cowboy Neal is my virtual boy" option is unforgivable.]
Oculus is the real deal, the others are hype (Score:5, Informative)
Sony's VR solution doesn't even come close in any of the specs needed to be a good experience. It is just going to be another failed VR device like all the VR in the past. Same for many of the other "me too" VR devices coming out. People are going to get all hyped up about them, then reviews will come out and people will actually use them and realize how much they suck and the devices will bomb.
I hope that all these crappy devices coming out don't ruin it for Oculus.
Re:Oculus is the real deal, the others are hype (Score:2, Insightful)
The Oculus Rift is the real deal. They've done their research and figured out what needs to be done to sell their company for a high price.
Re:Oculus is the real deal, the others are hype (Score:2)
The reason it isn't out yet is because the technology isn't there yet, and they are working on getting it there.
Or, it could just be a pump-and-dump scheme where they get a prototype working just well enough to woo some rich investors and then they take the money and run.
Not that that's never happened before in gaming hardware [wikipedia.org], no siree!
VR sucks because until it works like this [memory-alpha.org], you still just feel like an idiot with a glorified 3D TV strapped to your face [metacafe.com]. The future of gaming is likely more of this [forbes.com], not this [wikia.com].
Re:Oculus is the real deal, the others are hype (Score:2)
Re:Oculus is the real deal, the others are hype (Score:2)
You seem to have already made up your mind that there'll be one winner and it'll be Oculus Rift, because the competition sucks. But there's a third option, that they're all going to fail because in the end the tech doesn't work out or people don't want it. I'm sure somebody has the best desgn for a flying car too, but it doesn't go much good. I just don't see myself wearing any kind of headset for as long as I sit in front of a monitor, but YMMV. And for many games, looking around like that doesn't make much sense anyway.
Re:Oculus is the real deal, the others are hype (Score:2)
pfft, 640 x 800 pixels per eye??? you are silly, that's jaggy city
Re:Oculus is the real deal, the others are hype (Score:2)
> Without the headset meeting all of these criteria VR sucks. The reason it isn't out yet is because the technology isn't there yet, and they are working on getting it there.
As someone who worked for a military supplier of VR equipment in the mid 90s, I can say you're missing one key component - a consumer friendly price point.
We (Kaiser VR) had headsets that sold for $100k that we'd sell to the military for use in aircraft and flight simulators, and they were really good. 180 degree field of view, 60 fps refresh rate, input lag that was low enough to not cause people to get violently sick, etc. Part of that was due to good motion prediction algorithms (I passed on some tips to Abrash when he started working on VR), but a lot just had to due with being able to throw a lot of money at a solution.
Being able to get all those specs into something cheap enough for a consumer to buy would be a miracle, but who knows? With $2B in the bank, they might just be able to do it.
Re:Oculus is the real deal, the others are hype (Score:2)
Re:Oculus is the real deal, the others are hype (Score:2)
Yes.
Re:Oculus is the real deal, the others are hype (Score:2)
Neither. It seems a cogently argued point to me. Sony is a hardware company with its own fab resources and established relationships with manufacturer, and it controls a popular gaming platform.
What advantages does Oculus VR have that can match or overcome that?
Re:Oculus is the real deal, the others are hype (Score:2)
1. It's meant to hook to computers that aren't complete pieces of shit aka consoles.
2. It's was developed by a company that hadn't already proved itself completely untrustworthy. (I said 'was' not 'is').
Re:Oculus is the real deal, the others are hype (Score:2)
Re:Oculus is the real deal, the others are hype (Score:2)
The Oculus Rift is the real deal.
I'm still trying to figure out physical reality. The tech is way cooler; the biological ones called females have interesting potential.
call me when you add a python mod api to the to the universe
Re:Oculus is the real deal, the others are hype (Score:2)
Inner ears. Helicopter sims will be better/less pukey then fixed wing. Just because up generally stays up.
Cyberspace, William Gibson Style... (Score:4, Funny)
Cyberspace, William Gibson Style...
It's not actually cyberspace, unless you can torture someone to death there, and as a result, they die in real life.
Re:Cyberspace, William Gibson Style... (Score:3)
Re:Cyberspace, William Gibson Style... (Score:2)
The end result counts, how you got there is meaningless. Actually, getting someone to kill himself should net you a lot more points than killing them yourself, simply because you managed to get away with murder legally.
Re:Cyberspace, William Gibson Style... (Score:2)
I've been wishing for that for ages. A way to kill some idiot via the internet.
Darwin shall be right!
I would love to see this poll resurface... (Score:3)
Re:I would love to see this poll resurface... (Score:2)
There were people like you last time 3D started it's resurgence. You don't hear many 3D cheerleaders these days- the fad is now on its way back out again.
VR just doesn't interest me, in the same way as3D didn't- it's not that I actively hate the idea of it, it just doesn't excite me at all while at the same time it has all sorts of drawbacks (i.e., VR means having to buy and wear an expensive and cumbersome headset). Some people obviously are enthusiastic about it, but it will be interesting to see how the numbers pan out. This survey (unscientific as it is) seems to confirm that the majority of people are take-it-or-leave-it. Maybe we'll all be wowed when we actually have one of these things strapped to our face, but I doubt it.
Re:I would love to see this poll resurface... (Score:2)
Depends where you draw the positive/negative lines on the crappy poll answers. I'm reading it as "Keep it away from me"/"Not terribly interested"/"I'll evaluate it when they're out" as being negative (the last one because it's essentially "not enthusiastic yet"), and that equals 50%. Positive answers are "Looks amazing"/"I'm interested", which are only 30%. The remainder are "Vaporware"/"What year is this"- which are more negative than positive, although for different reasons.
If you put the "I'll evaluate it" one in the positive camp, that still only brings positive and negative to level pegging. And I'm of the opposite opinion to you in terms of what being pre-release does to these things. Your view is that people are positive about it without having seen the product, and their enthusiasm will go up when they've got something in front of them. I see it the other way around- that getting excited by hype is easy, and a lot of people's enthusiasm will wane when they see it in action- not to imply that it won't be good, but that it won't be good enough in reality to justify the expense and hassle. Just like 3D.
But you're right, I am jaded by novelty toys- they never live up to expectations. But I've got no control over anything- I'm just a guy writing things on the internet. We can wait and see what happens when it happens.
Re:I would love to see this poll resurface... (Score:2)
three years from now people wearing headset displays in public will still be considered goddamn idiots
Re:I would love to see this poll resurface... (Score:2)
and 20 years from now it'll be in contact lenses (Score:2)
And nobody will be able to tell that you're wearing augmented reality displays.
Re:I would love to see this poll resurface... (Score:3)
Knowing (Score:2)
you know this shit has been comercially available for less than 200$ for over 2 decades right?
You know that anything you could get at that price for the last two decades WAS shit, right?
VR has not taken off because there are certain technical specs needed to make it widely accepted that have not been available until recently.
Re:I would love to see this poll resurface... (Score:2)
you know this shit has been comercially available for less than 200$ for over 2 decades right?
wtf? 20 yrs ago $200 would by you:
4MB of RAM 20. Note MB not GB
or
a 200MB HD
Re:I would love to see this poll resurface... (Score:2)
Don't recall, but I'm pretty sure there was one about zeppelins.
Re:I would love to see this poll resurface... (Score:2)
And also puffins...
I think they go quite high too.
Re: I would love to see this poll resurface... (Score:2)
If you're interested, contact me for details.
That works better if you don't post as Anonymous Coward.
It's got a chance to drop in this time (Score:5, Interesting)
I've been watching the hardware since the 90s and I think it's finally got a chance this time. Back in the early days, neither displays nor computers could generate anything beyond proof of concept. The displays and headgear showed that you could strap a display to a person's head and track their movement but the pixel count was laughably low. Which did't really matter because the hardware could barely generate wire frame environments in real time. For the last 5 or 6 years, we've had the hardware to generate pretty decent environments but the display hardware was stagnant. Now we're finally getting decent quality headsets to plug into high performance hardware. We also have game engines that are pretty well tuned to serving up complete 3 dimensional environments with active "camera" tracking. The ingredients are all available. Of course, I'm looking at it from a gamer's POV.
I almost bought one of Sony's sets a while back but it was just a bit too pixelated. Now I've got the DK2 on order and I'm really hoping Facepage doesn't screw things up. I liked Oculus when they were a hungry company that had to listen to their customers to get money to continue to exist.
Virutal and/or Augmented (Score:2)
Re:Virutal and/or Augmented (Score:2)
I don't wear contacts and don't want anything touching my eyeballs, but I'd love to have something for VR that looks like regular sunglasses. Even something like Jordi Laforge's visor would be fine with me.
I've had som VR goggles for almost a year now (Score:5, Interesting)
I bought a pair of VR goggles almost a year ago for flying my drone. It permits me to see what the drone sees in real-time.
Re:I've had som VR goggles for almost a year now (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I've had som VR goggles for almost a year now (Score:2)
at least someone's confused.
How well VR works (Score:5, Interesting)
I see a lot of people online that don't get it, because they haven't tried it.
I have. You will be placed in a room that doesn't look real at all. It'll be blurry, the room could be made of web pages, whatever. There's a ledge. You can walk up to it. And you will know you have a silly thing on your head. You will know that there isn't really a ledge there. You will know if you step forward that you won't fall, and it will be fine.
But none of it matters, because you will freak at least a little, and you will see the ledge as real. Everyone does. It literally makes something not even trying be real, feel real. And it works for everyone, and it really, really does work. It's as revolutionary as the people watching the first movie and yelling as if the train is actually coming at them. Putting people with a fear of heights on rollercoaster demo does the same thing. It does work.
Curse the anti doughnut! (Score:2)
I'll believe the hype when I see the geeks using it turn buff. Not that I'd put down my doughnut and use it.
Expo88 - Hitachi pavillion (Score:3)
The killer app will be human-mimicking AI (Score:4, Insightful)
The killer app for virtual reality is AI able to act like and interact with humans.
There's a strong Oculus-in-Second-Life effort, because it's the only non-game, non-trivial virtual world left. Virtual worlds keep dying because there's no killer app for them, yet. Creative people build pretty spaces in virtual worlds, but nobody will visit because they aren't engaging enough. It's not enough to have things to look at.
People are more interesting than things. Virtual worlds won't be engaging until there are a lot of people there. They won't have a lot of people until they are engaging. Chicken. Egg.
To make matters worse, virtual worlds tend to become larger than is useful. Too much space, too few people. They become ghost towns. Creepy, empty and lonely.
The solution is AI. Fill those spaces with AI people, or monsters, or whatever, and they'll be much more interesting. Visuals aren't enough, though. You have to be able to interact with the AI.
The challenge is that virtual spaces will become so large you won't be able to find real humans. You can reserve spaces for real humans, but if you got there through first making virtual spaces attractive with AI, then that AI will be used to fake humans in human spaces. Second Life already has this problem, though the AI is nearly non-existent. SL seems empty and creepy, despite being full of avatars, because most of the avatars are bots.
But if you can have an engaging time in a virtual world, interacting with bots, will you care that they are bots? The time will come when the people with the best stories and the best jokes and the best advice will be AI.
Amblyopia ruins it (Score:3)
Re:Amblyopia ruins it (Score:3)
So-called "3D" (Score:2)
Call me when you've got a 24th century Federation-style holodeck. Until then you're just trying to steal money out of my wallet for a higher-tech version of a stereograph.
Comment removed (Score:2)
It depends ... (Score:2)
Hentai (Score:2)
The only thing stopping VR from becoming mainstream is realistic-looking tentacles rendering.
at least two valid answers for me (Score:2)
This was a tricky one to answer. "I'm interested, but wary of hype" and "Not terribly interested in gaming headgear" are both answers that apply to me. I'm not particularly interested in fancy, expensive gaming equipment in general. But I remain interested in the general notion of VR. I just don't want to invest in it purely for gaming! Games are fun, and all, but simply not that important to me.
Who wouldn't be interested? (Score:2)
Looking forward to it (Score:2)
My real interest is when the Google glass integrates a real time camera and audio system to create a minority report interface with voice control. Give me a full wearable PC, even if I probaly can't keep my arms in the air for very long. Also I'm hoping Google glass will get varaible focus at some point so you can overlay closer objects.
A wise sage once said (Score:2)
Futures made of VIRTUAL INSANITY
Now always seem to be governed by this love we have
For useless, twisting, all our new technology
Oh, now there is no sound, for we all live UNDERGROUND
Jamiroquai, 1996
So Facebook wants us to become mole people, QED
1994.. that's when I started waiting.. (Score:2)
I started waiting for VR tech in 1994 when my mom bought me the 'VR Madness' book from Sams Publishing. Oh how I tried to make the code work on my 486 Packard Bell (then later my 133mhz Gateway). While discouraged at the time I figured the future is right around the corner.. why not wait?
You know what, world? I am still waiting.
No Johnny Mnemonic come Shadowrun's Matrix navigation.. No Snowcrash-esque systems.. no VR controlled drones.. Nothing!
http://www.amazon.com/Virtual-... [amazon.com]
Summary of VR Tech. (Score:2)
It will be awesome as soon as it stops sucking. When we finally do get it right, it'll probably replace monitors for every new game released. If we can accessorize it with handheld guns and such, and somehow make movement mechanics feel natural while avoiding close encounters with household objects, we might just have video games that make kids want to exercise. (The holy grail of parenting..?)
Will never be "big" as long as it takes effort. (Score:3)
VirtualBoy, Sony's head mounted displays from the late '90s/early '00s, Oculus Rift - they all have the problem that they are something that separates you from reality, rather than replacing it.
We won't have "virtual reality" become truly mainstream/big until we have something either "full-immersion dedicated room" like the Star Trek holodeck or "so personal you don't even notice you're wearing it" like VR contact lenses. Until then, it will be the ultimate niche-within-a-niche. And the holodeck idea will be a destination, with only the rare person having one in their house. (See true "home theater" rooms now - they're still really rare.)
Re:Missing Options (Score:2)
I'm still very interested in VR. Just not this particular implementation of it anymore.
Re:V just joined the dark side. (Score:2)
I have to admit, I was somewhat interested in Oculus, but any interest I had disappeared the moment I heard they were bought by a social networking site. It's not anything to do with Facebook specifically, either. It's just, come on, a social networking site? What possible business do they have with technology as complex and difficult to implement properly like VR?
Then I remembered that TV show, Caprica, and how VR was used there. Then it made sense. Mark Zuckerberg wants to create cylons. That or some kind of virtual nightclub for teenagers to have freaky sex and murder each other.