oculus vr headset

[mcbpete]

 

Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe just told an audience at TechCrunch Disrupt about one lofty possibility for the pair: building a massively multiplayer experience for one billion simultaneous users.

"This is going to be an MMO where we want to put a billion people in VR," he told attendees.

 

Obviously, the billion-person MMO is a long ways off, but the company has its eye on a stepping stone: Oculus hopes to convince players that they're having a "real conversation" with another person.

 

"f you let go, you can have a real conversation with a person. That's the holy grail we're trying to get to."

http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/5/5684236/oculus-wants-to-build-a-billion-person-mmo-with-facebook

 

 

Just one billion?! Pah aiming low - Sega already smashed that years ago:

 

[logakght]

 

[zazen]

My friend got an Oculus Quest 2 about 18 months ago.

I tried it - absolutely blown away, really slick intro and demo where you throw paper aeroplanes and dance with a robot. Really impressive, I don't think a piece of hardware has impressed me as much since the first smartphones. The way it knows where your hands are is just really slick. And the experience of being in decent VR was sublime. Like experiencing something completely different that stands apart from all the rest of the experiences in my life. I would liken it to the first time I took acid, or the first time I went on a scuba dive and looked up at the surface of the sea from 10 metres down and thought 'I have never been here before'.

And the technology is bonkers, it doesn't (primarily) use accelerometers, its got low-fi black and white cameras that are used to track movement in relation to the surroundings, and track where your hands are and even what gestures you are making (thats kindof beta).

So then I went and bought one for myself. Played with it a bit, tried a few games (Beat Saber is good - rhythm game where you slice things with lightsabres to music)

BUT I find myself not going back to it. It just sits in a box. I'm not much of a gamer, might be that. But also just the hassle of strapping something to your face, and the faceache and nausea that comes if you use it for too long or in the wrong sort of way. And the icky facebookyness of it, I suppose.

But there's something there, that first experience of it was epic, I can see why Zuckerberg wanted to bet the farm on it. Maybe it needs to get 10 times better and slicker and lighter to wear before it really takes off.

 

Edited February 4, 2023 by zazen

[zazen]

video-1620850436~2.mp4

I went to the international space station. This video doesn't really capture it, you've got to imagine it wrapped around you 360 in every direction

edit: I know its a bit graphiccy but you've got to remember this is being done by a standalone device just slightly bigger than a phone

Edited February 4, 2023 by zazen

[logakght]

Yeah. Fuck Meta, but VR technology is pretty cool.

[T3551ER]

On 2/4/2023 at 3:48 PM, zazen said:

My friend got an Oculus Quest 2 about 18 months ago.

I tried it - absolutely blown away, really slick intro and demo where you throw paper aeroplanes and dance with a robot. Really impressive, I don't think a piece of hardware has impressed me as much since the first smartphones. The way it knows where your hands are is just really slick. And the experience of being in decent VR was sublime. Like experiencing something completely different that stands apart from all the rest of the experiences in my life. I would liken it to the first time I took acid, or the first time I went on a scuba dive and looked up at the surface of the sea from 10 metres down and thought 'I have never been here before'.

And the technology is bonkers, it doesn't (primarily) use accelerometers, its got low-fi black and white cameras that are used to track movement in relation to the surroundings, and track where your hands are and even what gestures you are making (thats kindof beta).

So then I went and bought one for myself. Played with it a bit, tried a few games (Beat Saber is good - rhythm game where you slice things with lightsabres to music)

BUT I find myself not going back to it. It just sits in a box. I'm not much of a gamer, might be that. But also just the hassle of strapping something to your face, and the faceache and nausea that comes if you use it for too long or in the wrong sort of way. And the icky facebookyness of it, I suppose.

But there's something there, that first experience of it was epic, I can see why Zuckerberg wanted to bet the farm on it. Maybe it needs to get 10 times better and slicker and lighter to wear before it really takes off.

 

Ok, so this is coming from a guy who did a startup when the Oculus DK2 came out for VR education (me and a buddy went around to school's and did educational VR experiences with our DK2's and massive, massive PC's - it never went anywhere mostly d/t big ideas but little business acumen, sloth, etc.): I feel the exact same way. The first few experiences with it are mind blowing - it gives you a peek into a completely new paradigm, and the Quest 2 does what is does extremely well (competent VR in a standalone fashion). Tilt brush lets you paint in 3d which is something that is just inimitable in any other context. 

But. but. Mine sits in a box in the 2nd bedroom, and has been there for about a year. I enjoyed what I played immensely (the Vader series was great, multi-brush/tilt brush amazing, virtual virtual reality bonkers good), but I never seem to make the decision to dig it out of the box any use it any more. 

I think it's just that even though the barrier to entry is extremely low - take it out of the box, turn it on, and clear away some clutter from the other room - it's still somehow big enough that I default to traditional gaming, movies, or music making. when I have 30 minutes to spend on these things, even 5 minutes of setup and breakdown seems like forever. Plus, as good as it is, the headset still gives me a bit of a headache / is uncomfortable after about 5-10 minutes. And, frankly, they need to solve the locomotion issue. The vestibular disconnect doesn't necessarily give me VR sickness (on occasion it does) but there is something that feels like it's missing when it comes to the locomotion aspect. Dunno what's going to fix that - treadmill, short electric pulses on your legs to provide the sense of movement, whatever. 

I'm still a huge advocate/believer in the tech - but, and only if the market is willing to continue to support it, we are probably 5-10 years from VR tech I will, like, day 1 buy and enjoy. That product will have to be slim, lightweight, with good passthrough, haptic feedback, and the locomotion problem solved. If that happens? I'll be first in line... but it's gonna take a whiiiile (if it happens at all).

[luke viia]

same here - absolutely love VR, fell in love with it when I got my CV1 years ago. just insanely impressed. now own a quest 2, and yeah while it's fantastic to play, I don't dig it out of the box that often (though I do still use it). I don't mind the short ritual of putting on the headset, getting a little clutter out of the way etc -- but my theory is that I often decide against it is because it literally feels like going somewhere else. there's something mentally exhausting about it before putting on the headset. imagining the other world that I'll be going to gives me this real sensation that i'll be leaving whatever comfortable space I'm currently in. "do I really want to go downtown and shoot robots?" "do I really want to float around a space station?" "do I really want to go pilot a mech right now?"

that said, the games that keep me returning usually aren't actually very gamey. I love the art programs (Vermillion was my most recent fascination) and I'd soak up all sorts of educational stuff (4D Toys is amazing), and among the actual games, the really repetitive ones were the ones that always brought me back. Rhythm games, and oddly, fishing games lol. (modded Skyrim being the exception here, omg so good.) I'd probably play more if I was a social gamer; VRchat is honestly a lot of fun, and Pavlov/Contractors/etc are a really good time when you're in the mood for it

also anything even slightly horror based in VR is fucking heart-stopping. man.

[iococoi]

impossible spaces galore

https://void-room.itch.io/tea-for-god

 

[logakght]

1 hour ago, luke viia said:

same here - absolutely love VR, fell in love with it when I got my CV1 years ago. just insanely impressed. now own a quest 2, and yeah while it's fantastic to play, I don't dig it out of the box that often (though I do still use it). I don't mind the short ritual of putting on the headset, getting a little clutter out of the way etc -- but my theory is that I often decide against it is because it literally feels like going somewhere else. there's something mentally exhausting about it before putting on the headset. imagining the other world that I'll be going to gives me this real sensation that i'll be leaving whatever comfortable space I'm currently in. "do I really want to go downtown and shoot robots?" "do I really want to float around a space station?" "do I really want to go pilot a mech right now?"

that said, the games that keep me returning usually aren't actually very gamey. I love the art programs (Vermillion was my most recent fascination) and I'd soak up all sorts of educational stuff (4D Toys is amazing), and among the actual games, the really repetitive ones were the ones that always brought me back. Rhythm games, and oddly, fishing games lol. (modded Skyrim being the exception here, omg so good.) I'd probably play more if I was a social gamer; VRchat is honestly a lot of fun, and Pavlov/Contractors/etc are a really good time when you're in the mood for it

also anything even slightly horror based in VR is fucking heart-stopping. man.

There's a game inside VRChat called "Smiley Room" which is hardcore terror—you should try it: (me playing): 

 

[T3551ER]

On 2/6/2023 at 3:21 PM, luke viia said:

same here - absolutely love VR, fell in love with it when I got my CV1 years ago. just insanely impressed. now own a quest 2, and yeah while it's fantastic to play, I don't dig it out of the box that often (though I do still use it). I don't mind the short ritual of putting on the headset, getting a little clutter out of the way etc -- but my theory is that I often decide against it is because it literally feels like going somewhere else. there's something mentally exhausting about it before putting on the headset. imagining the other world that I'll be going to gives me this real sensation that i'll be leaving whatever comfortable space I'm currently in. "do I really want to go downtown and shoot robots?" "do I really want to float around a space station?" "do I really want to go pilot a mech right now?"

that said, the games that keep me returning usually aren't actually very gamey. I love the art programs (Vermillion was my most recent fascination) and I'd soak up all sorts of educational stuff (4D Toys is amazing), and among the actual games, the really repetitive ones were the ones that always brought me back. Rhythm games, and oddly, fishing games lol. (modded Skyrim being the exception here, omg so good.) I'd probably play more if I was a social gamer; VRchat is honestly a lot of fun, and Pavlov/Contractors/etc are a really good time when you're in the mood for it

also anything even slightly horror based in VR is fucking heart-stopping. man.

This is fascinating - probably the first time I've heard someone voice this as a barrier to use (not saying it's not been said, just first time I've personally heard it articulated). It's particularly interesting b/c the promise of VR is sort of dislocating to fantastical spaces - but now that you say it, I wonder if I have a similar mental block. Like, after a long day of work when I just want to kind of unwind, maybe these experiences are too intense/asking too much. 

I will say that this thread has renewed my interest a bit - I never tried Tea for God (downloaded it, never got around to it) and that VR Chat thing looks bonkers.

It's funny, being a parent now, I'm a little stoked b/c some day in the future my daughter will be like "dad, can we get the MetaQuest 5?" and I'll be like "fuck yes we can" and I imagine it'll be mindblowing because I'll have skipped liked at least 2 generations of iterations/improvements/etc.