VR - Is it really going to be a success? Or, thanks Time for starting a discussion!

Games
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VR is currently being used in the medical field to treat phantom pain in amputee victims, as therapy for soldiers with PTSD, in psychological practices help patients overcome certain phobias and in treatment of children with autism, and in labs to simulate or model everything from human anatomy to the behavior of viruses and infectious diseases.

In engineering VR is used to model all sorts of structures and designs, create and test concepts and designs and simulate user interactions. It’s the ideal creative and test environment because you don’t have to fabricate expensive prototypes to test a design or concept. Ford has been using the Oculus Rift for awhile now in it’s design and manufacturing processes.

In education VR represents a whole new frontier of how to educate people in a way that allows them to process more information in less time than ever before. While it’s obviously not ready to be incorporated into the U.S. public school system just yet, there are many places where VR is being used to educate and train people. Surgeons in training use VR to practice operations, pilots use it to log flight hours and England has plans to use the Oculus Rift to train it’s battlefield medics. VR simulations are being used to assist in the education of kids with physical disabilities, learning disorders and even autism. It may not be in every school by next year, but it’s gaining momentum very quickly.

Consumer VR will be successful when someone combines better technology (cheaper and less bulky) with the social aspect. Yes, right now you can Skype or Facetime someone and have a real time face-to-face conversation, but can you Skype or Facetime two other people at the same time? Four? Forty? With VR and an online environment people will be enchanted by the idea of hanging out together in virtual space. Sure, it sounds like the pitch for Second Life, but that software had you still bound to your chair, staring into a screen, clicking and typing. With VR you are there, interacting, speaking, BEING. That’s the difference that will sell to consumers.

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While I think the younger generations are more comfortable with video-based communcation my anecdotal experience suggests that texting is their preferred form of communication many times over. People now text instead of voice calling, it has even taken over dating and courtship-based communication.

While I have been reluctantly dragged into texting myself, since that is everyone’s primary means of communication around me I do think there is an austere elegance to text and writing (especially since it is asynchronous). That is why a community like QT3 exists primarily as a forum even when so many other modes are available now (especially to the geeks that congregate here). It is hard to imagine the QT3 community strapping on VR headsets and chatting in a second-life environment when this forum is perfectly adequate at achieving the same effect.

Also, strapping on an Oculus Rift at your work desk to chat with fellow QT3ers is much more conspicuous than a forum open in a browser tab. ;-)

-Todd

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Nobody really wants videophones. No one wants to worry about what they look like when they get a random or unplanned phone call. Or one that shows them multitasking instead of giving their total attention to the caller.

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Yup, which is exactly the main reason why it never became a thing.

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However, how many relationships have been culminated via the magic of Skype sex? I mean, it’s got it’s place in modern society. . . it’s just a place with a LOT of nudity.

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This is both completely correct … and completely misses the point.

Yes, you’re right: no one wants to be forced to answer a videophone when they’re wearing nothing but a towel.

But no one is forcing you and there’s no reason you have to use the tech that way. And there are plenty of people who do want to use videophone tech sometimes. There are 15 million Facetime calls every day, for example.

“But that’s dwarfed by the number of voice calls, text messages, and e-mails sent every day!” Yep. So what? The question isn’t whether video calls are used by everyone all the time. The question is whether they’ve found a successful niche, which they have.

“But I don’t use video calls, and I don’t know anyone who does!” You know what? Me either. Doesn’t interest me. But again, so what? I’m sure the 15 million people who use Facetime don’t care whether two random guys on the Internet approve. They know why they want a video call, and that’s all that’s required.

An anecdote. My niece got married this summer, but my sister/her aunt was away and couldn’t be there. We did a Facetime call so my sister could see the ceremony from 5,000 miles away. And it was awesome that she was able to participate. Did we look like dorks aiming a tablet at the ceremony and carrying it around during the reception? Yes, yes we did. Were any fucks given? Not a one. Videophone tech is useless and annoying … except when it’s awesome.

You see where I’m going here. The question is not whether you’d rush out to buy VR, or whether there are some people are so acutely self-consciously they’ll feel dorky even when using VR in the privacy of their own home, or whether VR will completely overtake regular gaming in just a couple of years (which is the implicit benchmark in most of these threads, Lord knows why.) The question is whether it can carve out a niche amongst hobbiests, and then expand from there. Which seems extremely plausible to me.

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Facetime/Skype is all over the place.

And I absolutely have never argued that VR won’t have a place as a niche product. People use TrackIR and build huge racing chair setups to experience gaming their way, so VR will totally find an audience.

My argument is that the amount of money being poured into VR right now is out of proportion to the return. I don’t think the billions being invested will ever pay off in the way the investors are being sold on it. VR will never be a consumer product like the iPhone or the TV. It’s always going to be a niche of a niche.

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Another point worth mentioning is who is investing in this tech:
Google
Facebook
Valve
These are not dumbasses with their first startup, nor are they small companies about to run out of money. These are big players with the deep pockets required to push technology fast and wide. Do you really think they will give up in a few years time?
Do you not think that the current vive/occulus setup can be made consumer-friendly with 5 or 6 BILLION dollars of research and investment?
Everyone is looking for the next mobile phone. A lot of very deep-pocketed billionaires think this may be it.

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Well, Google already invested time and money in many projects that failed - Wave, Google+, Google Glass, to give some examples. No one knows if Valve’s investment in Steamboxes (or whatever its name is) and related things will succeed, but it might well be another failure (though I secretly hope that’s not the case). As for Facebook, they haven’t made any big mistake, which doesn’t mean that their investment in VR can’t be their first.

People - smart or dumb - make mistakes. They make wrong calls, and suffer the consequences. Am I saying that’s the case here? Maybe. If it is a failure now, does that mean it’s not important? Not at all. AR must happen, and VR is a stepping stone towards that. Maybe they’re all visionaries that might lose lots of money, and their work and their mistakes AND successes will mold the future. But that doesn’t mean VR will succeed NOW.

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Yeah true, and I’d be more swayed by that argument if I didn’t have some VR goggles next door :D.
This isn’t the first go at VR, I tried some in an arcade when I was a teenager. I’m 45 now. The tech is a fair bit better now :D

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No doubt the tech is pretty cool these days. But I wonder what’s the killer app? Why do I need VR?

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Oh, there’s no argument there, the tech is worlds better than before. And we know a lot more about a lot of things, which helps a lot. It’s less a question of whether the tech is here, but more a question of “is there really a market for there in the context of our world today?”, and that’s why VR is bound to be relegated to a certain number of niche uses until the need for it arises.

Thing is - we’re building the tech, but there’s no “killer app” for that tech outside of certain specific niches. Now, when the VR tech is good enough to transition to full-blown, inexpensive, unobtrusive AR, then we have such a HUGE number of “killer apps” that it will be the biggest thing until augmentation and transhumanism become a thing. If we don’t destroy yourselves first, that is. ;)

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I agree with folks expressing skepticism about VR making it into many living-rooms or gaming dens any time soon, but also agree with folks who are saying that it will eventually happen. I think it’ll start to happen within a couple of years.

I predict we’ll start seeing it enter the workplace first, though. As a couple of people pointed out upthread, the potential for office applications is enormous and exciting.

But before those things start happening, I think mall game rooms, gaming cafes, barcades and theme parks will be where we see some serious action. For example: The VOID: a VR theme park coming to Pleasant Grove, Utah.

Virtual Reality is becoming highly accessible, but you can only do so much when using your consumer-optimized VR headsets. The real dream is to have complete immersion, and for that you need a dedicated area (a large one) and more advanced systems. Call it a VR arcade, if you will.

For Pleasant Grove, Utah residents this is becoming more than a far-fetched geeky idea. The VOID will be a virtual reality theme park where attendees can play games in full immersion. People would use a Rapture HMD (head-mounted display), a Rapture Vest and Rapture Gloves. This combination of devices would provide visuals, audio, haptic feedback and hand control.

That is not where the immersion ends, though. The VOID team is going all out with this one, providing full 4D elements. There will be smells, temperature control, changes in air pressure, moisture alterations and more. They are creating a complete experience that will make you feel as if you are really in the game.

Gaming experiences will also alternate. As you can see in the video, there will be war, flight, scary and even medieval fantasy experiences. At launch, there will only be 3 experiences, but more are to come as The VOID team and other studios create content.

But what about those darn lines?! Well, The VOID team is glad to tell you there will be no such nuisance at their theme park. Users will schedule their date and time beforehand. The company relates the experience to that of an IMAX theater – it will be full of great technology, impressive experiences and a much more organized system.

You can be sure I will take that road trip to see what this is all about! Will you? Sadly, we will have to wait a bit before we get to enjoy these high-tech experiences. The VOID is set to launch in the summer of 2016.

The video in that article really caught my attention.

Disney tried this for a while with some success, right? The timing of their shutting DisneyQuest down is pretty interesting. Disney World to Close VR Theme Park DisneyQuest.

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The Light Field Stereoscope - SIGGRAPH 2015

Stanford researchers unveil virtual reality headset that reduces eye fatigue, nausea

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I can see using VR as a way to relax after a stressful day at work. Put on the goggles and take a virtual tour of Jurassic Park, with some light rain falling… yeah, that would be cool.

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That does look like it might have legs. I’ve thought that sort of thing might be viable ever since it was sort of foreshadowed (in this sort of feasible form as opposed to the more spitballed versions in earlier s-f) in a Charles Stross story years ago.

Personally speaking, part of the reason I play games is to not have to exert myself physically while I adventure :)

But I think there are plenty of strapping types and young folk who would probably enjoy the physical exertion + the virtual aspect, as well as people already into LARP and the like. Also, it’s really only an increment along from paintball, in a way, and that’s fairly popular.

Also it gets around the inner ear problem with sedentary VR.

I can see it being a thing.

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Star Wars lightsaber battles, of course.

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So a consumer product is a niche of a niche unless, like the smartphone or the TV, most people use it most days? That’s an absurdly high standard.

A better example would be, say, movies - another form of concentrated entertainment designed to be consumed in discrete chunks with a minimum of distractions. Some people watch movies regularly, others hardly any at all. Some people go to a special venue - a theater - to watch a movie, others do it at home. Some people are big movie fans, others enjoy them but don’t consider them a hobby. Some people watch movies intently, other people choose to ignore the whole “designed to be consumed with a minimum of distractions” part and text/chat/surf away while they watch.

Movies have been a big part of pop culture for more than a century. But it’s never been the case that almost everybody watches movies almost every day. Are movies a niche of a niche?

(And imagine if you applied the same standard to videogames when they first appeared. Talk about niche! Though of course VR will be hitting commercial shelves at a much more mature state of the tech/art than Pong was.)

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Those bastards. I’m in.

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I don’t think it’s going to be the “next big thing”, like personal computers and smartphones, but I also don’t think it’s going to be just a small niche. I think there is a big gradient between these two positions, and it will fall somewhere in the middle.