Now that Facebook and Sony are both in the VR race... are you interested ?

[WCP]

Actually, I know that the Facebook thing turns a lot of people off, but at the same time, you have to admit that it adds a huge dose of credibility to the whole concept of Virtual Reality headsets as a real product for consumers. At first, we just had this small start up, Oculus Rift, that was trying to evangelize about the return of Virtual Reality to the gaming industry. Sure, they made some noise here and there, but did anybody really stand up and take notice ?

Then you had Sony come out last week with Project Morpheus, and at that point, obviously we know that this is a real thing, and that this is going to be coming to a theatre near you pretty soon, if you know what I'm talking about. Sony isn't going to spend millions of dollars researching this thing, to not release an actual consumer product. VR is back, and it's here to stay.

Then, yesterday, the huge bomb that was dropped, that Facebook purchased OR for 2 billion dollars.


Despite the Facebook factor, the fact that 2 billion dollars was spent says a huge amount about the power of Virtual Reality. Mark Zuckerberg tried a demo of the Oculus Rift, and he walked away from the demo thinking to himself.... " I'm buying this company. Virtual Reality is going to be HUGE! I've got to have this company. This is going to revolutionize entertainment, and I'm going to take advantage of the situation and snatch up this company".

He spent 2 billion, which isn't exactly a drop in the bucket. But the thing is, that's how powerful that demonstration was. I've yet to be anywhere near an Oculus Rift demo kit, so I have no idea what the sensation is like. Maybe it's absolutely amazing. Maybe it will really change the way we experience all entertainment. Who knows, but I can tell you one thing. It sure as hell is going to be interesting. It's nice to have the VR from the 90's resurrect like this. I remember when Sega was talking about a VR headset, and Atari Jaguar was going to have a VR headset, etc, etc. Obviously, those efforts were about 20 years before their time, and now, their time has come.

Well, at least in 2015 one of these things should be available at retailers.

[Niku-Sama]

Oculus is totally dead now, before it was carmak running his mouth and doing what he wanted because he wanted to throw his money around and to get people off his ass about rage.
but now its a lost cause.
I don't think sony's is going to get much further than the testing process, if they are smart they would wait till they refine HDCP as to get rid of a lot of problems one would have with VR and its odd lag and quirks.

its pretty much going the way it did in the mid 90's

[Tupin]

We shall see what the Facebook partnership does. Apparently the guy who founded Oculus is still in charge and the Facebook integration/rebranding thing has been confirmed as false by Facebook themselves.

Regardless, this and the Morpheus will change some things. I guarantee Microsoft and Apple are going to get in somehow, and possibly Valve as well. And shit, why not have Nintendo go for what they wanted the Virtual Boy to be almost twenty years ago?

[Bojay1997]

Oculus is totally dead now, before it was carmak running his mouth and doing what he wanted because he wanted to throw his money around and to get people off his ass about rage.
but now its a lost cause.
I don't think sony's is going to get much further than the testing process, if they are smart they would wait till they refine HDCP as to get rid of a lot of problems one would have with VR and its odd lag and quirks.

its pretty much going the way it did in the mid 90's

Disagree. I've actually used the latest Oculus Rift prototype and while it's not perfect, it is light years beyond anything that has been done in the VR space previously. I have heard good things about Sony's prototype as well. I predict that with the next iteration of Oculus Rift and the next iteration of Morpheus, we are finally going to have good quality VR for entertainment and possibly other purposes at a consumer friendly price point. VR failed in the 90s simply because the technology wasn't there regardless of the price point. Today, the technology all exists and the price point can be very attractive and all it's going to take is a will among technology companies to create some killer apps for the technology.

[Greg2600]

I didn't care before, don't now, won't in the future.

[StealthLurker]

I've got an Occulus Rift, 2 actually... one at home and one to mess around with during down times at work. It's pretty darn neat. Hopefully an FB money infusion will accelerate the release of an improved consumer version.


.

[Ze_ro]

Sony has been making HMD's for quite some time now. They've never managed to make a good community around them though, and I'm not sure they can do it now unless the Oculus guys generate enough of a push that they can ride the wake.

As for Oculus, I was very excited about it, but with the Facebook tie-in now, you can count me out. I don't trust Facebook enough to strap it to my face.

--Zero

[WCP]

Sony has been making HMD's for quite some time now. They've never managed to make a good community around them though, and I'm not sure they can do it now unless the Oculus guys generate enough of a push that they can ride the wake.

As for Oculus, I was very excited about it, but with the Facebook tie-in now, you can count me out. I don't trust Facebook enough to strap it to my face.

--Zero
Yet, if Sony or Microsoft or Nintendo had a VR headset you'd trust them?

I don't know why trust would be necessary when you're just playing a video game. I don't trust Sony or Microsoft anymore than I would any other huge company like that. (Maybe I'd trust Nintendo, but not because they are altruistic or anything, mostly because they are too inept to know how to do anything evil with my info).

Also, the year is 2014, and legit privacy no longer exists. It's unfortunate, but it's a tradeoff for todays information based society.

[Ze_ro]

Yet, if Sony or Microsoft or Nintendo had a VR headset you'd trust them?
Well, pretty much ANYBODY but Facebook. Their whole business model basically amounts to data mining and targetted advertising, and god only knows how much data they're sharing with the NSA or selling to other companies. I don't want ANY part of that. At least Oculus on their own was a pretty benign company... I could have given them the benefit of the doubt.


Also, the year is 2014, and legit privacy no longer exists. It's unfortunate, but it's a tradeoff for todays information based society.
There are levels of survival I am willing to accept.

--Zero

[Tupin]

Still interested, don't really care. Apple and Google already spy so much, and it's even worse when the latter uses activism to cover it up. Really, being on a forum where you have to register says a lot. You'd think everyone was an anon who was using Tor.

They already have said integration won't happen, and based on what happened with Instagram, I'm willing to wait.

[JSoup]

Nope.

[BlastProcessing402]

I didn't care before, don't now, won't in the future.

This.

Call me when there's a true holodeck, until then I'll be playing my games on TV screens, as God intended.

[CDiablo]

I think it would be fun for certain games, but I couldnt see myself spending more than $100 for one. Im not that big into FPS games, but I feel a game like Fallout 3 would be a blast in a VR helmet

[kupomogli]

I'm not really interested in virtual reality as it is now because there's no reality to it. Real virtual reality would be something like the player actually being in the game and everything would feel real. Like a dream. That's probably never going to happen in this lifetime though.

Maybe I'll try it at some point if there are games that I'm interested in that are compatible with it, but so far no interest.

[YoshiM]

Facebook or not, I could see this or even Sony's VR being similar to the Wii- great potential for a new level of interactivity but a majority of the softs won't fulfill that potential.

[Tupin]

Facebook or not, I could see this or even Sony's VR being similar to the Wii- great potential for a new level of interactivity but a majority of the softs won't fulfill that potential.
Oculus Rift already has a lot of support, and regardless of the level of control Facebook exerts over it (proported to be minimal, similar to their role in Instagram) people will find cool things to do with it. The technology is more capable, even if it does need an external camera.

[Ze_ro]

I'm not really interested in virtual reality as it is now because there's no reality to it. Real virtual reality would be something like the player actually being in the game and everything would feel real. Like a dream. That's probably never going to happen in this lifetime though.

Maybe I'll try it at some point if there are games that I'm interested in that are compatible with it, but so far no interest.

Well, there's stuff like the Virtuix Omni (http://www.virtuix.com/) on the way, which might help with that:

http://i.minus.com/iuwTf4Ygv6A4V.gif

--Zero

[JSoup]

Oculus Rift already has a lot of support, and regardless of the level of control Facebook exerts over it (proported to be minimal, similar to their role in Instagram) people will find cool things to do with it. The technology is more capable, even if it does need an external camera.

Yes. Like the Wii. Which is the point, neat tech that may or may not pan out once software rolls out.

[ProjectCamaro]

I only care if this means they'll start making Virtual Boy games again.

[Griking]

I have zero interest in wearing a mask or glasses to play a game. I already get a headache if I wear headphones for more than a half hour. I can't imagine these being any more comfortable.

Besides, my wife thinks that I'm a geek enough as it is.

[JSoup]

I only care if this means they'll start making Virtual Boy games again.

Didn't think of that, now I'm slightly more interested than I was five minutes ago. Granted, that's not much, but still.
Do we have VB emulators yet? Edit: Yep, looks like we do.

[Gameguy]

Virtual reality? My view on the subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ICY6FgJOHc&t=9m39s

[Niku-Sama]

Disagree. I've actually used the latest Oculus Rift prototype and while it's not perfect, it is light years beyond anything that has been done in the VR space previously. I have heard good things about Sony's prototype as well. I predict that with the next iteration of Oculus Rift and the next iteration of Morpheus, we are finally going to have good quality VR for entertainment and possibly other purposes at a consumer friendly price point. VR failed in the 90s simply because the technology wasn't there regardless of the price point. Today, the technology all exists and the price point can be very attractive and all it's going to take is a will among technology companies to create some killer apps for the technology.

I wasn't really talking about the actual tech being used when I say oculus is dead. I get the feeling they just bought it so google wouldn't and because carmak ran out of money

[Bojay1997]

I wasn't really talking about the actual tech being used when I say oculus is dead. I get the feeling they just bought it so google wouldn't and because carmak ran out of money

While it might have been a strategic acquisition to prevent others from getting the technology and product, they were far from out of money. Beyond the Kickstarter, they had over $90 million that they had raised in two rounds, $75 million of which was raised less than three months ago. I also doubt Facebook is going to gut the technology or let the product die after spending over $2 billion. It's not some little set of IP and patents that they acquired for pocket change to prevent competition down the road. Indeed, Valve and Sony among others have already made substantial investments in VR and there will undoubtedly be multiple VR headsets and related products in the next five years.

[Tupin]

Time will only tell if they treat this like Instagram.

[Greg2600]

For now, he added, you shouldn’t worry about others snooping on your memories or forcibly extracting information. “This sort of technology can only read active parts of the brain. So you couldn’t read passive memories – you would have to get the person to imagine the memory to read it,” Cowen said. “It’s a matter of time, and eventually – maybe 200 years from now – we’ll have some way of reading inactive parts of the brain. But that’s a much harder problem, as it involves measuring very fine details of brain structure that we don’t even really understand.” Damn 200 years! Now this is a tech I'd love to experience. http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/03/28/know-what-youre-thinking-scientists-find-way-to-read-minds/

[parallaxscroll]

I think Sony's VR will be testbed, so to speak, on PS4.

If successful, I'll become interested in Sony's VR when there's significantly more powerful base hardware backing it up, with enough performance to handle next generation graphics at a framerate / Hz level that's needed for a completely smooth unjarring VR experience.


Meaning PS5.

[mailman187666]

I was able to try 2 tech demos of the Oculous rift at Pax east this year. one was an FPS which essentially just had you carrying a gun and walking around using a little nub on the bottom of the gun. There were no enemies to shoot at, just an environment to walk around in. When all was said and done, it was broken. It didn't track my head movements well, if at all. and the gun I was holding would move in the opposite direction I moved it, and that hardly worked either.

The other demo I tried, I sat in a chair while wearing the Oculous. I was in a classroom of dolphins taking a quiz. Now the object was to look at your classmates' quizes to get the answers. I was looking over the dolphin in front of me's shoulder for answers, turned a complete 180 and saw the paper on the desk behind me, and even leaned to the left and right to see thier answers too. I had to do this all while making sure the teacher didn't catch me, so I was looking out for that as well. The only downside was, it was a low resolution model of the Oculous. I could see exactly what the words on other student's tests were.

All in all, there is some work left to do on these things, but I think some of these devs are moving in the right direction

[BHvrd]

The only thing I care about is that Chris Roberts is on-board and as long as it doesn't compromise his original vision as Star Citizen was and is the only game i'm interested using the headset with, if he isn't in i'm not in, Sony and Facebook be damned.

http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/PEW.gif (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/04/star-citizens-chris-roberts-still-supports-a-facebook-owned-oculus/)

[AceAerosmith]

Didn't give a shit before, don't give a shit now, won't give a shit in the future.

By the time this is truly mastered, I'll be way too old to care.

However, if someone in the porn industry thinks they can make money by getting a loner to pay top dollar to fuck a VR porn star with a champagne bottle, we'll have this by the end of the decade.

[DigitalKarma]

VR would be a nice advancement for gaming.

a few concerns though:

- the price(it won't come cheap)

- developer support(will it be complicated to develop for, and how will it affect quality)

and how much time can I play until motion sickness kicks in?

I love realism just as much as the next guy, but i'll pass. traditional gaming for me.

[WCP]

VR would be a nice advancement for gaming.

a few concerns though:

- the price(it won't come cheap)

Well, I'm guessing the PS4 headset will retail for $299.99, and will likely be released November of 2015. The actual release version of the Oculus Rift will likely be at least $299.99, but could end up as much as $399.99.

Both will likely include a couple of free VR games and demos.

Now, I'm not sure I'd call $299 or $399 cheap, but if we think back to the mid 90's, and here we are 20 years later with some legit VR for $300 or $400 ? I don't think that's too bad. Now, of course the Sony thing requires you own a PS4, and Oculus requires you own a gaming PC. So, if you consider the true cost, yes, very expensive. But we are in the Stone Ages of VR, so this is to be expected. All things get affordable in time...




- developer support(will it be complicated to develop for, and how will it affect quality)


Yeah, the good news here is that I think the Indy studios are the ones that are going to migrate towards VR, because I think they are specially equipped to take the most risks, and to think the most out of the box. Big companies like E.A. and Ubi Soft and Rockstar, will probably take a wait and see stance with VR. It will be the chicken and the egg scenario. Sell enough units, and they will all make games. Don't sell enough, and none of the big companies will bother. There are enough indies that will have cool, short, cheap experiences, that I think that VR is pretty much a can't miss phenomenon. It's only a matter of time before somebody releases some killer experience on VR that just has the entire industry buzzing with excitement. I'm talking like Doom in 1993 levels of excitement.





and how much time can I play until motion sickness kicks in?


I love realism just as much as the next guy, but i'll pass. traditional gaming for me.


Yeah, the motion sickness thing is definitely a concern. How good will the screens be ? They are going to be so close to your eyes, that if they are super high resolution, super low lag, maybe it will be ok, but I'm thinking the first retail examples of VR are probably going to be a bit rough around the edges for the first couple of generations. If one could wait another 10 years, and then see whats going on with VR, it will probably be a much better experience for them, but for me, I'm not sure I can just sit on the sidelines like that.

Of course, I have to admit that the closest I've got to VR is the Virtual Boy back in like 1996 or something. Had it for a very short time, didn't like it because of the migraines. Of course, that is ancient technology compared to what they have now. Still, I've never tried any of these headsets, and have no idea what the experience is going to feel like.

I might hate it.

Maybe I'll love it.

Who knows...

I definitely want to try it, but I guess I'll have to wait for the consumer version to come out, and I'm guessing they will have demonstrations at Best Buy and stuff like that. I look forward to actually trying it first hand.