VR is fun, but I wouldn't invest in it due to so many wires and technical set up. Maybe in the far future, when it becomes more wireless and safe to use.
VR is the future of media consumption. That's not a hope or a wish, it's a concrete fact I have seen for myself when it comes to playing a game in VR or on a flat screen, or watching family and friends try mine for the first time. There is no comparison between being inside a world and simply observing it through a monitor.
I will admit, I am willing to put up with the lower resolution, discomfort, wires and flat out hassle, but that's because I know these are things that will be improved and forgotten one day. VR will become more affordable, accessible and comfortable. I just wish I was younger so I could watch it evolve in the way I watched gaming evolve from playing SMB1 on a NES to zooming around in the cockpit of a racer like Wipeout in this first real wave of high quality VR. To write it off as a novelty after never using it, or trying it once is absurd. It would be like writing off gaming after trying an Atari 2600 for a few hours.
I'm surprised that the poll isn't more negative, but the only reason why is because most people simply haven't tried VR yet, and a lot of people are just against change, even if they've experienced it many times in their life.VR has this phenomenon on ERA where rather than just being good medium to some people it courts 'cheerleaders' here.
Which is fine, I understand the future Ppeal of the technology but I feel in cases like this poll it distorts the true position of the tech in the market.
VR needs mass market adoption in the coming years but if you read a poll like this as being indicative it would suggest it was already there.
The thing is I just don't see 58% of consumers outside of places like ERA even close to considering VR. If you asked me for a percentage based on anyone who has bought gaming hardware in the last 7 years I'd guess around 5% or less with any real interest.
It's odd. On the one hand, I find the Quest super convenient to use (no wires and all), and it's awe inspiring tech that still impresses me every time I wear it. With that said, there is still a commitment factor to playing VR titles even if it's just for thirty minutes or so. Just the simple act getting off the sofa, moving some small furniture around, grabbing the headset and controllers, and putting the device on my head for more than 10 minutes is enough for me not to bother (this is especially true if other people are in the room and don't care about the tech). I would compare it to the commitment of playing a fitness game.
Until the hardware becomes as light as eyeglasses/sunglasses (where I hit a button to enter and exit VR mode), I think it will always be a niche medium.
I'm confident the Half Dome 3 form factor would be enough to be mass adopted among gamers. I do think we need a Ready Player One visor (using waveguides most likely) to reach mass adoption among general non-gamers.As a VR enthusiast, I still get where you're coming from. I don't think, however, that it has to be at sunglasses level to become mainstream. I would say the ergonomics do need improvement, but moreso the software/experience needs to just be more "worth it" to push the user to be motivated enough to use it. In other words, the totality of the user experience needs improvement, not just hardware ergonomics. A bunch of things getting improved from accessibility to quality/breadth of content is what will cause disruption.
Something like the Half Dome 3 prototype should be good enough for mass consumption as long as other things I mentioned are pushed forward as well:
Have you tried it? It creates a believable illusion of you being inside the game's world. Your couch is a cockpit, the controllers you hold in each hand are guns or a sword and a shield and in front of you is a mutant spider the size of your house. That is what your eyes see. The room you were in does not exist anymore, you are inside the game. I get some negative opinions about VR but how one can't see the appeal of it is foreign to me. If you haven't tried it then I encourage you to. You may not end up loving it like I do but you certainly will see why some find it appealing.
I'm confident the Half Dome 3 form factor would be enough to be mass adopted among gamers. I do think we need a Ready Player One visor (using waveguides most likely) to reach mass adoption among general non-gamers.
However, even beyond that, we're certainly going to get a wide range of ergonomic designs for VR. I can see the Panasonic CES Cyberpunk goggles being the 'Oculus Go' of the future, a very low-entry, low-cost, super-small 6DoF Grandma device with a FoV that can eventually be where we are today, whereas a fully immersive thin visor would be almost like a Pro version of products today.
Have you tried it? It creates a believable illusion of you being inside the game's world. Your couch is a cockpit, the controllers you hold in each hand are guns or a sword and a shield and in front of you is a mutant spider the size of your house. That is what your eyes see. The room you were in does not exist anymore, you are inside the game. I get some negative opinions about VR but how one can't see the appeal of it is foreign to me. If you haven't tried it then I encourage you to. You may not end up loving it like I do but you certainly will see why some find it appealing.
True, I think if anything it's a big perception thing. People's perceptions are hard to get through from a marketing standpoint. Advertising an ultra-compact design with less immersion can definitely help get past that faster, I'd say.Well, as Abrash said, AR is going to be the thing that replaces smart phones, whereas VR is going to replace the PC. From that standpoint, I don't think mass appeal will initially require ultra-thin VR. As long as it is light and comfortable (and not too bulky), it won't be a problem beyond gaming. My thinking is that the OS Facebook is working on will be a mix of 2D and 3D elements, which will eventually render 2D screens obsolete in many scenarios (workstation/media flexibility and control, social presence, etc.). Many of these things will be done seated, with hand dexterity being the primary method of input (rather than full body/arm movement). In that case, the headset doesn't have to be ultra-slim; it just has to be non-invasive spatially and comfortable enough to wear for extended sessions. But yes, there will be a range, and the ultra-slim/light weight things will exist for more active purposes.
Fair point. My commitment reference was mostly about the active, full-body VR games that are popular right now. I definitely see a bright future for VR in other applications.As a VR enthusiast, I still get where you're coming from. I don't think, however, that it has to be at sunglasses level to become mainstream. I would say the ergonomics do need improvement, but moreso the software/experience needs to just be more "worth it" to push the user to be motivated enough to use it. In other words, the totality of the user experience needs improvement, not just hardware ergonomics. A bunch of things getting improved from accessibility to quality/breadth of content is what will cause disruption.
Something like the Half Dome 3 prototype should be good enough for mass consumption as long as other things I mentioned are pushed forward as well:
HP Reverb has more than double the angular resolution of DK2. I do agree we need even higher still. 60-70% more angular resolution than HP Reverb and we'll have mainstream acceptable resolution.It's all sounding pretty good but after trying DK2 with racing games and elite dangerous, when I look into the distance I see the pixel grid. I need way higher resolution, so for me, I'm holding off.
HP Reverb has more than double the angular resolution of DK2. I do agree we need even higher still. 60-70% more angular resolution than HP Reverb and we'll have mainstream acceptable resolution.
VR exclusives are justified more than any other exclusives.I like the idea but don't like how big games are VR only. Exclusives tied to consoles are something I don't like but I could get one at much less that it requires to buy into VR (which needs a system to run) and I don't need a room dedicated to it.