How this is going to go from here...

[TheoJones]

Had an interesting discussion in the office yesterday waiting for the pre-orders to open - and still debating whether to go for it or not - essentially, this goes one of three ways now;

1) It's a duff, like 3D TV - some people love it, but it's kinda niche, and doesn't become an all pervasive thing

2) It takes off, and one of the technologies from the start just flat out wins - the "Betamax vs VHS" scenario - and as with then, it's probably the cool marketing kids that will win it rather than a straight technical "who is best" discussion.

3) It takes off, and becomes a marketplace with competition like AMD/Ati vs nVidia

having a chew on it overnight - I think that the maturity of tools designed to abstract away the underlying hardware into a programmers API, combined with the likelihood that there will be an ecosystem of components being involved in some people's VR rig - hand recognition, smart suits, infinite treadmills, Augmented reality options and not a single targetable config that everyone will have... I am kinda hopeful for option 3.

What do you guys think?

 

[dementia]

Neither really. I think it will be very popular but will remain a niche product as few games and applications will be suitable. Additionally I think the hardware requirements in terms of PC as well as additional peripherals will be out of a lot of people's reach/justification.

FPS games will only really be properly useful when you add in a rig where you can walk about. These exists but are expensive. Flight sims are where VR will get its initial following.

I'm hoping the HMD makers can agree on a vendor neutral API layer (like DirectX) so the consumer is free to choose HMDs on their hardware merits and not on which will be compatible with their existing kit. I know this is the direction that the industry seems to be going in already but there are still competing APIs out there (Nvidia have theirs, Steam have theirs, etc).

 

[Thetele]

VR will be like electric cars. Expensive compared to normal car, but pairs with expensive cars. 10 years and then they could start appearing in every home.

 

[grammatonfeather]

Neither really. I think it will be very popular but will remain a niche product as few games and applications will be suitable. Additionally I think the hardware requirements in terms of PC as well as additional peripherals will be out of a lot of people's reach/justification.

FPS games will only really be properly useful when you add in a rig where you can walk about. These exists but are expensive. Flight sims are where VR will get its initial following.

I'm hoping the HMD makers can agree on a vendor neutral API layer (like DirectX) so the consumer is free to choose HMDs on their hardware merits and not on which will be compatible with their existing kit. I know this is the direction that the industry seems to be going in already but there are still competing APIs out there (Nvidia have theirs, Steam have theirs, etc).

No.

VR has already proven to be enormously successful in the Oculus era. Oculus already has a pretty big library of games and support from three big game engines. That is hardly "few games and applications suitable".

Now we have Dice, Ubisoft and the Myst developer and these are names who would certainly be the last onboard unless they knew VR was going to be big.

We are already seeing the phenomenon of people telling developers they only play games that support VR. That is a shift in thinking we will see a lot more of.

DK2 is very well supported with games and apps. Vive is the product that's much weaker on support at this time since far fewer developers got hold of it.

VR won't be a niche or a gimmick. The infrastructure and new industry around it extends far beyond games. VR is here to stay and for good reason. It beats any imax experience and less bulky than any imax theater.

 

[Dread Lord]

in 20 years VR is soo part of every persons life you will feel stupid looking back not knowing by now!

I will be lining up again when they can put a port at the back of my head to directly plug into VR! And you are a fool if you dont see that coming!
Cant wait!!

 

[Spam]

We will look back at this time and laugh at ourselves for watching stuff on a 2D panel on a wall.

VR is the difference between watching a moving picture of it and being in it.

And that time isn't that far away.

 

[Dread Lord]

We will look back at this time and laugh at ourselves for watching stuff on a 2D panel on a wall.

VR is the difference between watching a moving picture of it and being in it.

And that time isn't that far away.

yep totally... being inside game worlds or looking at them on a flat Panel... some People dont get how Things are changing and think ist an accessory they dont see the big Picture where Technology is going...

 

[vic]

I think it will take time to be mainstream (due to lagging technology and cost), BUT VR is definitely here to stay and prosper.
I used to play ED on HD 46" monitor 5feet in front of me but once I got the oc dK2 almost a year ago, there is no way I could play ANY game let alone ED on normal monitor. I tried for fun few weeks ago and it felt like going back to the dark ages for me, even with the monitor's much better resolution. It was not fun at all on the monitor anymore!!
For me it's VR or nothing now that I've taken the "red pill"!!

 

[dementia]

No.

VR has already proven to be enormously successful in the Oculus era. Oculus already has a pretty big library of games and support from three big game engines. That is hardly "few games and applications suitable".

Now we have Dice, Ubisoft and the Myst developer and these are names who would certainly be the last onboard unless they knew VR was going to be big.

We are already seeing the phenomenon of people telling developers they only play games that support VR. That is a shift in thinking we will see a lot more of.

DK2 is very well supported with games and apps. Vive is the product that's much weaker on support at this time since far fewer developers got hold of it.

VR won't be a niche or a gimmick. The infrastructure and new industry around it extends far beyond games. VR is here to stay and for good reason. It beats any imax experience and less bulky than any imax theater.

Hmmm. Wasn't that also said about 3D (in the cinema and at home) and all the big studios dove straight into that. It has all pretty much run out steam now and is seen as a gimmick that had its day.

The problem with 3D movies though is that they over used the technology and you had 3D movies where the 3D part didn't fit well with the story so people were put off by it rather than using it only for those movies that actually paired well with it and where it added to the experience in line with the story (Avatar as an example).

I fear the same will be true for VR. It will be over used and I guarantee it will be in every FPS which is sad because it is not a good fit for that in my opinion unless, as I said, you have a lot more peripheral kit to support the experience.

 

[Dread Lord]

Movie 3D and VR are two completely diffrent Things... watchign something with some added 3d isnt even remotely what the experience - of being in a different reality is like! Puzzles me every time People bring up that comparison... really not comparable at all!

 

[horizone]

I'm most fearful that every smartphone manufacturer is going to have VR as a feature for a while and since smartphones is certainly mainstream, the only VR the general public will only ever come in contact with are mostly cheap simple viewers for phones tacked on as a sales argument (Google Cardboard being low end and Samsung GearVR top end). That may poison the well for real professional positional tracked, motion controlled VR which I considers the new Rift (with Touch motion controllers) and Vive to be.

I also think the reason 3DTV faded away, is that they put it in cheap "small" (<50") TV's just for sales boost even if (imho) 3D only shines on a big screen projection in a light controlled [home-]theatre. Preferably with bright dual projectors (no flicker, or resolution loss) and Infitec or Dolby filters (passive glasses and no silver screen with hotspots). The worst they did was building in converting 2D to 3D which is a gimmick just as I think even GearVR is a gimmick at this point in time.

 

[Decado]

No.

VR has already proven to be enormously successful in the Oculus era. Oculus already has a pretty big library of games and support from three big game engines. That is hardly "few games and applications suitable".

Now we have Dice, Ubisoft and the Myst developer and these are names who would certainly be the last onboard unless they knew VR was going to be big.

We are already seeing the phenomenon of people telling developers they only play games that support VR. That is a shift in thinking we will see a lot more of.

DK2 is very well supported with games and apps. Vive is the product that's much weaker on support at this time since far fewer developers got hold of it.

Disagree slightly. True there are a quite a few demos on Oculus Share and other VR sites (if you are prepared to pay for demos and "experiences") but not much at all which is a full game with full VR optimized support.

The proper games which have VR "modded" support are games like Elite Dangerous, Alien Isolation, Dirt Rally, FSX, Half Life series i suppose.

So i dont know where you see this BIG LIBRARY of games because right now it does not exist. Content undoubtedly will come but it isnt here yet.....

 

[NoshDaMinsk]

The price has made me wait - I have the money - and have the money to get both the CV1 and the HTC; however, I think the CV1 has been overpriced, for whatever reason.

I will sit back and read the reviews carefully once peeps have used it. I know a mate who will almost certainly buy it, so at least I can also try before I buy.

But the price has really put me off just pushing the button and ordering.

In closing, I must say that the DK2 experience within ED has been excellent (and IRacing for that matter) and I am happy to even put up with some of the niggles....so, need to go and get popcorn....

Nosh

 

[ziddan]

I really believe that VR will start as an enthusiast thing but eventually grow to replace the way we use the internet.

When i tried New Retro Arcade my feeling was that it might just as well be a retro gaming webpage i had stumbled onto in the future, there would be other people hanging out, playing games, watching movies together and just socializing oblivious of the geographic distance between them.

Since facebook owns oculus i think it will eventually mean that you profile page will be a door to a virtual space filled with whatever you want to put there, that people can visit and experience things you have decided to share instead of seeing a list of interests, movies music and such.

As someone mentioned it, to me, seems likely there will be a watered down "VR lite" through mobile phones but that will change once get mobile input devices that allow us to experience the full thing on the go.

I dont think its impossible that the "snap phone into visor" things will eventually have a sort of radar or more likely lidar that will map our whole environments and overlay digital media on top in real time, thats more of augmented reality but i do think its coming.