" If not from the hardware perspective, but then the future potential if Valve gets properly onboard with a major title at launch. "
This should not be a worry. Valve announced last year an API called SteamVR, which will act as an 'interstitial' API to abstract away different HMDs from the game. You write the game to target SteamVR, and SteamVR handles talking to the HMD (by it HTC's Vive, Oculus's CV1, etc).
I'm suspecting Microsoft's hololens will end up being the more common everyday household and school item. While this and the oculus rift will supplement, and once the technology evolves, potentially replace TVs, consoles, entertainment activities. Imagine virtual exercise classes, with other real participants you can see and interact with, although this may require something like a Xbox Kinect to work.
VR will turn out to be possibly the biggest scam of the 21st century--even though people are putting (in some exceptionally stupid cases) billions of $ into prototype designs. VR is already out of date--obsolete, really, and back in the 80's and 90's when we used to imagine it--people were still bound to CRTs. Long story short, the LCD, OLED, etc., has forever changed that and now we can get gigantic flat screens with wonderful color fidelity for a fraction of the cost and size and weigh of CRTs of comparable screen measurements--assuming you could even buy them (I mean, ever seen a 50"-100" CRT? Lol...) So, I believe all of this stuff will be still born and many companies are going to mightily wish they'd never copied everyone else and mindlessly gone after VR R&D to the tune of mega, mega bucks. The problems with it that seem insurmountable to me are: 1) Motion sickness/epilepsy will affect some people because of the design of VR--very close to each eye--separating the images and relying on the brain to reassemble them 2) People who have trouble in one eye but see fine out of the other will be automatically disqualified from using VR (like they are with current "3D" glasses, etc.) My wife is one such person. 3) A proper control mechanism that will seem natural and not tiresome--have yet to see one 4) An inevitable psychological, claustrophobic reaction after a certain amount of time with a VR headset on that will affect *everyone* who puts on a headset, only the amount of time for the reaction to occur will differ among individuals...
I think VR will be obsolete before the first commercial headset hits the market. Notice that I haven't even brought up the technical problems inherent in the current Headset-VR design...!
I'm not clear on your use of "obsolete". That would suggest that something better will be around. All you're saying then is that you see obstacles for its adoption, you never mention anything that can be better than VR. You example of display technologies just strengthens the idea that we'll get VR right at one point. After all, we're still using rectangular screens which show an image, they just use a different technology.
As for the obstacles, I agree with jkostans, most of them are in your mind, they are not real all encompassing problems. And yes, some people will have problems with VR. Some people feel seasick playing shooters on a monitor. That doesn't mean that playing shooters on a monitor is not viable.
The question is, will enough people be comfortable with VR, and will enough people feel that it has enough value for its price that the market could take off. It's hard to answer at this point, but it certainly has more value for immersion than stereoscopic 3D, and in my experience most people don't seem to have a problem with it, at least for short periods, so there's potential.
Completely agree, this is yet another fad like 3D that will never take off. Maybe flight sim junkies will love it but I suspect most PC gamers or console gamers won't bother.
Ian, the main thing I wondered about the Vive, and for some reason wasn't answered here, is how it felt going around with a tethered headset, and what kind of cable arrangement was there. Even the final version is supposed to have an HDMI cable (which is better than I have expected, it's just a step away from wireless), and I'd love to know how conscious you were of the cables when using the device.
For this setup, they had a bundle of thick cables coming from both controllers and some more from the headset, so it was not representative of what they hope the final product would be like. I did notice them for a good portion (other times I was oblivious because they were all behind me), as they asked me not to fall and break everything when I walked around as they were providing demos every 30 minutes through the day. That being said, for the slow paced demos provided, it didn't break immersion to the point of noticing significantly. There will always be one cable attached due to bandwidth for the screen - you have trouble transmitting 1080p120 wirelessly, let alone 2x4K120 or higher, depending on the final specifications.
I can't see myself using this sorta headset for extended periods. And then those that have weak vision will definitely have problems with this. MS hololens seems a much more natural solution but honestly none of these bulky headsets will appeal to a mass audience. It might work for niche uses and in certain games but I'd rather have a nice big display in front of me to game with.
Do people actually believe VR won't take off? That is a silly mindset. With Sony getting into it and Valve it will take off. Sony will get the PS4 users to buy it and Valve will attract enough PC gamers. Oculus will attempt to appeal to your every day user. Your opinion doesn't reflect the majority, but it's cute you believe it does.
"I don't like VR so clearly nobody likes VR" ~ Said some armchair exec
This would be a perfect evolution for those laser-tag type places.
You have a big room set up with padded obstacles in a warehouse or something of that nature. Then you use 3D mapping software to map that space. Then you create some levels using different environments that correspond to the actual layout of the space.
Players bring/are provided their "military backpack" and "helmet" - Ie. a backpack containing the computer & battery, and a VR headset with integrated audio. Then they run around in there and have their war games or whatever in the virtual environment. If they're trying to play something like CoD or Battlefield, maybe they're also given a prop weapon that interfaces with the game.
If a player dies, they are represented to everyone else in the VR world as a ghost that you can shoot through (but obviously can't run through since the person is still actually there), and their own screen changes to fade out the rest of the world and show an illuminated path away from the combat zone and back to their "respawn" area.
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nathanddrews - Wednesday, March 4, 2015 - link
Half-Life 3, Left 4 Dead 3, and Portal 3 CONFIRMED!ET - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
Or at least Portal 3D.omgyeti - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
You forgot Team Fortress 3. :-PBrett Howse - Wednesday, March 4, 2015 - link
But DID YOU HAVE LEGS?!?edzieba - Wednesday, March 4, 2015 - link
" If not from the hardware perspective, but then the future potential if Valve gets properly onboard with a major title at launch. "This should not be a worry. Valve announced last year an API called SteamVR, which will act as an 'interstitial' API to abstract away different HMDs from the game. You write the game to target SteamVR, and SteamVR handles talking to the HMD (by it HTC's Vive, Oculus's CV1, etc).
Scabies - Wednesday, March 4, 2015 - link
>I mean more creative than microwaving wineAnandtech needs more of this
Devo2007 - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
No kidding! I totally envisioned throwing the steak across the room and putting the bottle of wine into the microwave!Nightwolf1 - Wednesday, March 4, 2015 - link
Who other than life prisoners on death row, will sit with this on the head and shut reality out!eanazag - Wednesday, March 4, 2015 - link
CIA operating drone robots in Afghanistan.sr1030nx - Wednesday, March 4, 2015 - link
I'm suspecting Microsoft's hololens will end up being the more common everyday household and school item.While this and the oculus rift will supplement, and once the technology evolves, potentially replace TVs, consoles, entertainment activities. Imagine virtual exercise classes, with other real participants you can see and interact with, although this may require something like a Xbox Kinect to work.
WaltC - Wednesday, March 4, 2015 - link
VR will turn out to be possibly the biggest scam of the 21st century--even though people are putting (in some exceptionally stupid cases) billions of $ into prototype designs. VR is already out of date--obsolete, really, and back in the 80's and 90's when we used to imagine it--people were still bound to CRTs. Long story short, the LCD, OLED, etc., has forever changed that and now we can get gigantic flat screens with wonderful color fidelity for a fraction of the cost and size and weigh of CRTs of comparable screen measurements--assuming you could even buy them (I mean, ever seen a 50"-100" CRT? Lol...) So, I believe all of this stuff will be still born and many companies are going to mightily wish they'd never copied everyone else and mindlessly gone after VR R&D to the tune of mega, mega bucks. The problems with it that seem insurmountable to me are:1) Motion sickness/epilepsy will affect some people because of the design of VR--very close to each eye--separating the images and relying on the brain to reassemble them
2) People who have trouble in one eye but see fine out of the other will be automatically disqualified from using VR (like they are with current "3D" glasses, etc.) My wife is one such person.
3) A proper control mechanism that will seem natural and not tiresome--have yet to see one
4) An inevitable psychological, claustrophobic reaction after a certain amount of time with a VR headset on that will affect *everyone* who puts on a headset, only the amount of time for the reaction to occur will differ among individuals...
I think VR will be obsolete before the first commercial headset hits the market. Notice that I haven't even brought up the technical problems inherent in the current Headset-VR design...!
jkostans - Wednesday, March 4, 2015 - link
You have no idea what you're talking about. Try a DK2 and your mind will be changed on all points.kyuu - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
While I don't agree with the poster's rambling nonsense about being obsolete before they even hit the market, I have tried the DK2. My experience was:1) Really distracting screen-door effect, and
2) Nausea.
VR definitely has some hurdles to overcome, and the Oculus Rift hasn't overcome them as of the DK2.
jmke - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
depends on the demo and control scheme, as well as the PC it's hooked up to and configuration.it's a dev kit, you need to set it up correctly for the nausea effect to be gone and play the correct games/demos.
going into an FPS on a midrange system using DK2 and aiming with the mouse will have you throwing up in <5min;
ET - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
I'm not clear on your use of "obsolete". That would suggest that something better will be around. All you're saying then is that you see obstacles for its adoption, you never mention anything that can be better than VR. You example of display technologies just strengthens the idea that we'll get VR right at one point. After all, we're still using rectangular screens which show an image, they just use a different technology.As for the obstacles, I agree with jkostans, most of them are in your mind, they are not real all encompassing problems. And yes, some people will have problems with VR. Some people feel seasick playing shooters on a monitor. That doesn't mean that playing shooters on a monitor is not viable.
The question is, will enough people be comfortable with VR, and will enough people feel that it has enough value for its price that the market could take off. It's hard to answer at this point, but it certainly has more value for immersion than stereoscopic 3D, and in my experience most people don't seem to have a problem with it, at least for short periods, so there's potential.
jmke - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
where is that downvote button?5150Joker - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
Completely agree, this is yet another fad like 3D that will never take off. Maybe flight sim junkies will love it but I suspect most PC gamers or console gamers won't bother.ET - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
Ian, the main thing I wondered about the Vive, and for some reason wasn't answered here, is how it felt going around with a tethered headset, and what kind of cable arrangement was there. Even the final version is supposed to have an HDMI cable (which is better than I have expected, it's just a step away from wireless), and I'd love to know how conscious you were of the cables when using the device.Ian Cutress - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
For this setup, they had a bundle of thick cables coming from both controllers and some more from the headset, so it was not representative of what they hope the final product would be like. I did notice them for a good portion (other times I was oblivious because they were all behind me), as they asked me not to fall and break everything when I walked around as they were providing demos every 30 minutes through the day. That being said, for the slow paced demos provided, it didn't break immersion to the point of noticing significantly. There will always be one cable attached due to bandwidth for the screen - you have trouble transmitting 1080p120 wirelessly, let alone 2x4K120 or higher, depending on the final specifications.medi03 - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
Pathetic name for the article.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of...
Other than that, thanks.
5150Joker - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
I can't see myself using this sorta headset for extended periods. And then those that have weak vision will definitely have problems with this. MS hololens seems a much more natural solution but honestly none of these bulky headsets will appeal to a mass audience. It might work for niche uses and in certain games but I'd rather have a nice big display in front of me to game with.Jaosn - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
Do people actually believe VR won't take off? That is a silly mindset. With Sony getting into it and Valve it will take off. Sony will get the PS4 users to buy it and Valve will attract enough PC gamers. Oculus will attempt to appeal to your every day user. Your opinion doesn't reflect the majority, but it's cute you believe it does."I don't like VR so clearly nobody likes VR" ~ Said some armchair exec
Shadowmaster625 - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
Anything is better than oculus after you-know-what got ahold of it. Oculus is dead.twtech - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
This would be a perfect evolution for those laser-tag type places.You have a big room set up with padded obstacles in a warehouse or something of that nature. Then you use 3D mapping software to map that space. Then you create some levels using different environments that correspond to the actual layout of the space.
Players bring/are provided their "military backpack" and "helmet" - Ie. a backpack containing the computer & battery, and a VR headset with integrated audio. Then they run around in there and have their war games or whatever in the virtual environment. If they're trying to play something like CoD or Battlefield, maybe they're also given a prop weapon that interfaces with the game.
If a player dies, they are represented to everyone else in the VR world as a ghost that you can shoot through (but obviously can't run through since the person is still actually there), and their own screen changes to fade out the rest of the world and show an illuminated path away from the combat zone and back to their "respawn" area.