All Things Virtual Reality

CB2001

Master Member
NOTE: I've recently updated the title of this thread and have opened it up to be all things Virtual Reality related. Below was the original text for the initial post, but the topic of the original post has long since moved on. So, everything below this point is out of date and no longer needs to be discussed (unless you just want to put in your two cents).

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As the old saying goes, "everything old is new again." This is not just true with movies and remakes and stuff like that, but in general. We look at 3D for an example, for years, it was the staple of comic books and movie theaters for years with the iconic blue and red lenses. Eventually, for a while, it disappeared for from the theaters, and then came back in full blast and, from what I've noticed, has died down yet again. I myself was alive for the Virtual Reality crazy of the 1990s, a lot of people having high hopes of having the ability to explore virtual environments with headsets. Movies, TV shows and various works of literature, all of them exploring virtual reality, the pros and cons and so on. Of course, as soon as the virtual reality craze began in the 1990s, it died out rather quickly because of the inability to achieve even the basic concept due to technology at the time. Like 3D before it, in the last few years, VR has once again popped back up. Those that were kids in the 1990s, kids who had first experienced the craze and hopefulness of the concept and tech taking off, are now adults and are saying that this time, Virtual Reality is here and its going to stick because of the advancements. Now, there's things such as 360 video on YouTube where people on mobile phones can look around a pre-recorded environment on their cellphones. Dozens of headsets are available, even some that can be made out of cardboard.

For me, I will admit, I don't think VR is going to take off and it's just another period of gimmickry that's going to die out. I've gone through the 1990s with the VR craze, and I was disappointed when it didn't take off right then. However, I have been wrong before (I believed that DVDs were going to be a temporary tech craze and weren't going to take off. I was in high school when they boomed, and I was completely wrong on that regard), and having to see some of those 360 videos (granted, not really VR, but still kinda interesting), it kinda makes me wonder if the the possibility of this being the starting point actually being plausible leading to actual. And being a long time PC gamer, my curiosity is on about this, especially with some games. But, I'm pretty much on the fence leaning towards another period of gimmickry with the possibility of leaning towards plausible.

So, I'm proposing the question here to other users, so to get a point of view. The current state of Virtual Reality: is it another period of gimmickry that will eventually die out, or is this a true starting point for the advancement of technology that may become common place?
 
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Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

It's really hard to say since the current craze is still in its infancy but I think that now that the tech has finally caught up it now has the potential to be a permanent thing. Or at least I hope so since my work has been investing pretty heavily into the idea that VR is going to be the next big thing.
 
Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

As someone who was all excited in the 1990's and tried early VR it was obvious there were some glaring problems - that we were far from the promise of a true VR experience.
The dying off of the fad had to do with the limits of technology. The images were so low rez, laggy and nauseating it was hard to enjoy.

The true hurdles have to do with what is required to trick the brain into thinking you were in a different place. When you don't have to stretch your suspension of disbelief in order to experience something immersive. You can read about all the things that went into Oculus Rift and why it is dramatically different. But don't dismiss it unless you've tried it.

I purchased a second generation developer's kit and was able to use it on a couple of demos before I sold it on eBay. There were some technical issues that made it tricky to fire up with everything on my PC and I didn't have time to solve them all. But what I saw was pretty amazing. I was able to turn my head and the image had no perceptible jagginess or latency. I felt like I was really there - albiet with lower resolution than reality.

Remember the early days of CG? When it was still amazing to watch but you could still tell where the seems were. It didn't stop you from enjoying it but you always knew you were watching CG. Then along came Jurrasic Park. I wasn't thinking "amazing CG!" - I was thinking, "OMG! Get away from that dinosaur!" That's the kind of improvement the new VR is.

The one difficult issue is moving in a VR world. I got nauseated when using a joystick because my body didn't feel the acceleration and movement that my eyes were giving me. Rotationally I was fine.

To to be honest I'm not in it for the gaming. I want to do two things:
1. Watch my movies in a virtual movie theater - maybe even IMAX.
2. Experience a spacewalk on orbit.

I placed my order in for an Oculus Rift.

But don't dismiss the technology until you've actually tried it. And I'm not talking about the cardboard, cellphone-based knockoffs that are trying to ride the hype of the Oculus Rift.
 
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Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

dascoyne - I get that the Rift is a good device and that it should be used, especially with judging it. However, I've done some looking around at DIY/cellphone methods since I'm always interested in DIY things, finding some that have been able to use the cellphone method in with hit and miss results. In fact, one person actually documented the pros and cons of doing the DIY/cellphone method, which was an interesting read: http://gizmodo.com/notculus-rift-how-i-hacked-together-my-own-serious-vr-1688354373
 
Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

It really depends on what they try doing with it. I've been in the Rift, and it's the real deal, make no mistake. But all I see them pushing right now are video games, and I don't think that's the true future of VR. As long as people look at it as just a "gaming" thing, it'll never become truly mainstream.

I think VR should a way to go to places that you can't go to in real life.. a virtual tour of the Louvre, stand atop the Great Pyramid, roam around the Sea of Tranquility. And that's just the "tourism" stuff.. for everyone else, I've got three words: NFL Virtual Ticket. That alone would turn VR into the sort of thing that's in every house.

And the porn, of course. That'll be huge, but people need some other excuse to buy it first.
 
Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

Porn will drive that industry... and I fear the future.

I'm not anti-porn by the way... hell I'll be a product tester if they'll let me, but I'm afraid because of what society could become.

I haven't even used Rift... While on a plane my buddy told me to try out his samsung doodad that he put his phone into and strapped to my head. So this is like entry level (or maybe a bit above cuz it wasn't cardboard and had controls on the side) but there I was, sitting on a plane, audibly saying "holy sh-t!" as I'm moving my head all around shooting a gun at starships in an environment that was a bit pixel-y, but holy crap, it was cool.

But knowing this was just the beginning...

I used to take a week off work because the new Zelda game would drop... I've kind of grown out of that, but if they make a Zelda where I'm walking around IN those dungeons - I'll end up quitting my job...

I mean have you seen this: (sorry if talked about above)

 
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Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

I thought the same thing. I said that about the table that lets you interact with an object remotely. Porn will be the first adopter.

I'm hoping VR is good and they actually come out with some good games (or whatever else) that will really make a more realistic experience. I grew up playing a lot of flightsims on my PC growing up and I would have loved being able to actually look around in the cockpit or over my shoulder for an enemy plane.

Of course that depends on whether it makes me puke or not. :lol
 
Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

To be fair, when it comes to the porn industry and the adoption of technology, if it wasn't for their choices, we would have had BetaMax and HD/DVDs instead of VHS and Blu-Ray. Basically, them adopting the tech helped decide which formats and technology would be widely used in society. Hell, they even adopted Polaroids before Polaroids became widely accepted in social norms. And, BTW, porn already has accept it.

But for me, VR and gaming definitely is within my wheelhouse. There's some that I know of that are being developed solely with VR in mind. Hover Junkers is a good example. Honestly, with as simple as Five Nights at Freddy's is, I wouldn't be surprise if the creator of that game didn't develop a VR version of the game. And I know a few users who have actually used the Rift with Grand Theft Auto V, so there may be some games already that may allow for its use.
 
Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

Well porn actually backed hd DVDs at first... So everyone considered the war over. It was Sony putting blu into all the PS2s that turned the tide.
 
Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

Well porn actually backed hd DVDs at first... So everyone considered the war over. It was Sony putting blu into all the PS2s that turned the tide.

Porn killed Betamax and Video2000 because VHS was cheaper. There were interactive porn movies available in the early 90ies. But the concept of immersive story telling never really took off and IMO never will because people want to sit down and listen to a story rather than develop one of their own, except for really playful people. You can´t have a collective experience with an interactive story in the same way that you can with a story that´s told in a linear fashion. But I digress.

I think that we will see more augmented reality (what the Rift actually is). Glasses and such have always created some kind of threshold regarding the believability. I personally always get that feeling of "helplessness", i.e. someone could sneak up on me. I am sure that´s probably just me who still has that primal fear. But when you can only sleep really well Leon the professional -style ...

What I can´t stand is that the perspective shift still IIRC does not match our natural fov. And that always pulls me out and gives me motion sickness. Or has that already changed?
 
Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

Every technology will always be limited by the human body -- until we start to modify the human body itself to fit technology.

Before the optics in the stereoscopic goggles are advanced enough that you will be able to focus your eyes on far and near objects -- they will still be completely unusable for a large number of random people whose eye sight deviates in ways from the norm in one way or another. Some people can use them but get headaches.
I worked with VR / augmented reality R&D for a brief period at the end of the last craze and witnessed those effects then. People are affected in the same ways by 3D movies.

Also, some people get nauseous more easily from lag between movement and image updates -- but at least that is a problem that is being addressed with requirements that software have fast frame-rates and with motion-compensating hardware stabilising the image right before it it sent to the screen(s).
BTW. The first first-person 3D game to take off: Doom had view bobbing when walking (simulating the gait of the lead programmer...) - and even though that was in low resolution and on a 2D screen even that made some people nauseous.
 
Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

Well porn actually backed hd DVDs at first... So everyone considered the war over. It was Sony putting blu into all the PS2s that turned the tide.

Really? I guess I need to recheck my sources again. :/
 
Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

Folks, we're one step closer to making Brainstorm (1983) a reality.

sextape_io9.jpg
 
Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

so ive been watching some of the V.R. game announcement's and I think its gonna be pretty damn cool. the p.c. versions are gonna be best but way outta my price range. 800 to 1000? the PS4 version looks like how I will go. the ace combat 7 looks fantastic. and battlezone!! its still abit gimmicky but if the games are there and they TRULY support it I can see it sticking around. now they announce new PS4.5 and XBOX 1.5. to help boost the V.R. graphic's and frame rates, I think there really gonna try to support these headsets!!
 
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The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start?

I know I've been told to avoid the VR on smartphones, but I decided to try it anyway. I ordered a couple of 25mm lenses off of eBay and printed out Google Cardboard 2.0 templates, and assembled one. I downloaded some apps from the Apps store and tried it. I think the smartphone VR is pretty good, but I know it's not close to what the actual headsets are. I had my Dad and my Mom try it out, playing this game where you're repairing neurons in a brain. My Mom thought it was pretty cool. My Dad told me that after trying the Cardboard, he's now interested in trying out actual headgear, like the Rift. Though the Cardboard I did, I may redo it because of the difficulty I had with putting it together (may even change the material, maybe use foam core or even plastic).

I have seen more tutorials on how to do VR headsets for gaming for $20+, which one of them used their smart phone in a housing designed to have head tracking with LED lights. To me, as much as I like the commercially available VR headsets, I do like seeing the DIY ones, because I think building VR helmets is the better way to go for people who want to design VR helmets for specific purposes (I'm thinking in similar terms of commercially available computers like MacBooks and customizable IBM compatibles. Yes, you can buy a computer already made and ready to go, but you can also buy a computer where you can swap out parts and customize it for your own needs).
 
Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

The difference between the smartphone and the higher end like, Oculus or Vive, is that the smartphone will have rotational tracking but no translational tracking. It mostly makes a difference at medium to up close where you can lean in and take closer looks at things with translational tracking. If you did that with the smart phone the world would just shift away from you. Also our heads aren't perfectly rotational so even looking around with the Oculus or Vive is going to be a lot more realistic with media and software that support translation.
 
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Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

The difference between the smartphone and the higher end like, Oculus or Vive, is that the smartphone will have rotational tracking but no translational tracking. It mostly makes a difference at medium to up close where you can lean in and take closer looks at things with translational tracking. If you did that with the smart phone the world would just shift away from you.

True. Wouldn't head tracking resolve that issue if you were trying to do it on a budget?

Anyways, now it's making me want to try out one of the higher end helmets, just to see how much better is. It's making me a little hopeful about the future of VR. Granted, it still has a long way to go, but the potential is there.
 
Re: The current state of Virtual Reality: another period of gimmickry or a true start

True. Wouldn't head tracking resolve that issue if you were trying to do it on a budget?

Anyways, now it's making me want to try out one of the higher end helmets, just to see how much better is. It's making me a little hopeful about the future of VR. Granted, it still has a long way to go, but the potential is there.
I have been using my Oculus rift for a few weeks now. I'll post my impressions when I get a few moments later. Definitely some staggering experiences to be had but has room for improvement. When perfected it will ultimately make 3D movies completely obsolete.
 

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