The term Mixed Reality with these products is a misnomer because it is basically VR, but without external sensors and somewhat cheaper.
Why I searched on the fora for 'mixed reality' and found this thread was because I had the thought what it would be like to have the cockpit displayed on your actual desktop, the real one, not the windows desktop. After all, we are supposed to believe that all these things we see in our ship are holograms.
I wonder what novel things are possible with true mixed reality. VR always fascinated me because I was always interested in dreaming. VR seemed to promise a waking dream of sorts and the immersion in alien worlds is what I always hoped for. The technology isn't up to speed yet with the immersion you get in dreams unfortunately.
And then there was MR. And somehow I am more interested in that then VR. VR will always have the issue of tracking and the size of your room. And how not to stumble about. As a friend told me - he seems to live 75% of his days in Sony VR and buys just about every game that becomes available - he was playing shufflepuck and actually got so into it he fell forward crashing on the floor.
I suppose someone might tell me that you learn how to deal with that and if you set your work space up well it might not be a real issue. But I believe that none of us can get so deeply involved in a VR experience that the subconscious believes they are there. There must always be part of the self that is alert in the same way when we sleep we wake up when we hear possible threatening sounds.
In any case, MR avoids this issue and to be honest, I think it might be more healthy than VR because reality isn't shuffled under the carpet. It won't take long before we hear the first reports of Japanese people found dead with VR sets up who forgot to take care of themselves. And what this is about the intensity by which Japanese people can sometimes lose sight of themselves and game themselves pretty much to death is a sociological miracle all by itself.
It seems that it might be better to mix reality because it is more functional and mixes what is best about reality and what is handy in virtuality experience. That is, that reality is uncompromisingly solid and reliable and the virtual overlay through using the hardware and software adaptable and changeable and thus, surprising.
So what would MR do for a game like ED?
I imagine the holographic cockpit features will become like true holograms sitting on the desktop right before you. Or maybe parts of it can be transplanted in from or behind your keyboard and if needed, grabbed and pushed aside. It might also be possible to project the maps on a wall next to you, have bobble heads placed around or see the contents of your cargo bay listed along your elbows.
People build their own cockpits sometimes. They can still do that but would have to create actual space for things to be projected. I would prefer this above using VR, which means to have your senses separated from your body while your body still feels the pressure of you sitting in a chair, feeling the hardware in your hands and the tugging of a cable or an itch you might feel someplace.
MR doesn't have this awkward separation. Since you are still in your room, an itch, your cup of coffee and body remain present.
Anyway, this is what I want. I think VR might become a gimmick and remain a niche market, a bit like Nvidia 3D. I own this version 2 set but barely use it. It is a hassle. The goggles need to be charged, the games must support it or you get artefacts and usually interface elements don't work right. Dishonored was awesome with it, but it annoys when the system doesn't catch it. It won't turn 3D, so you have to close the game again, go through the 3D setup and then for some reason it catches as you start the game again. It feels flaky. The goggles are heavy and get uncomfortable after a while. All in all it is a project. And when I want to play a game it shouldn't feel like a project.
I think that MR is going to be more accepted and widely used than VR.
So what else could ED and MR be offering? Any takers?
![[VR] Mad Mike](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/27/27910.jpg?1553527108){kind=avatar}
