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[rofif]

I have a HTC Vive, Rift CV1, Rift S, PSVR x2, and an Oculus Quest. I also invested in a hair brush to fix my ruined hair after I wear a headset or a hat or anything that fits on my head.

I am not saying VR does not have flaws, of course it does, I am taking issues with your Ruined Hair comment, It's weak man.

Finally we talk. OK ok, it's not a good argument with the hair.
The sweat was the worse problem but only in summer obviously. the S fixed my glasses need as I've said before... might need to rebuy it for Alyx...

 

[Clear]

More like what's the deal with the enthusiast press who seemingly are only ever able to blow super-hot or ice-cold on anything, and almost invariably pick the wrong contender to annoint as the "next big thing".

 

[Romulus]

Finally we talk. OK ok, it's not a good argument with the hair.
The sweat was the worse problem but only in summer obviously. the S fixed my glasses need as I've said before... might need to rebuy it for Alyx...

Aren't you the that guy said you have awful motion sickness limiting you to teleportation movement only?

 

[rofif]

Aren't you the that guy said you have awful motion sickness limiting you to teleportation movement only?

Yes. Not that awful but it kicks in after a while in some games. Like in Doom 3 vr mod after 15-20 minutes with normal analog walking

 

[Hostile_18]

I think current VR is a solid step to an exciting future.

At the moment its rough though, at least at entry level . The idea of a camera at the front of the unit is a good one, to check phone, pick up a drink etc.

Astrobot is the killer VR app IMO, closely followed by Resident Evil 7 VR.

 

[Heebie Jeebies]

Hasn't VR recently started growing at a faster rate than ever before? Really poorly timed article.

The article is centred around the lack of new technology on show at CES, not on adoption rates. It talks about VR use outside of gaming and where it has been successful.

 

[Alexios]

The article is centred around the lack of new technology on show at CES, not on adoption rates. It talks about VR use outside of gaming and where it has been successful.

There's constantly new VR technology innovated in and out of gaming, new haptic gloves and other haptic feedback devices, new localized or full body motion tracking tech, new display devices, lenses, light fields, chipsets/soc with features specifically geared toward VR, the works.

Not that it all has to go to market every other month or something, people and companies don't buy shit to replace them that fast, lots of stuff are worked on but products have to be polished and well thought out to last regardless of what's on the horizon. And they are.

It doesn't seem like BBC researched this enough but that's how it usually goes for mainstream media when they try to discuss anything that requires specific knowledge or at least a passing interest to properly and thoroughly engage with it, just like gaming.

The idea of a camera at the front of the unit is a good one, to check phone, pick up a drink etc.

Cameras have been there since near day one with the Vive and since then improved (Vive's wasn't dual for stereo 3D view) and made standard across popular consumer (and not only) devices. It doesn't seem like you know much of what's available to judge VR or what its best and worst is really.

The primary problem of VR is two fold. People who get motion sick or whatever are super vocal about it and will whine forever if you give them the chance (often not admitting the problem is their motion sickness but rather claiming that there are no good games or whatever when their choices are severely limited or hampered by their affliction and lack of research based on it) and it's made worse by the fact the experience is really not something you can easily convey to someone if they can't try it so they will latch on the vocal bad accounts they can understand and ignore the good impressions they can't (often even try to, why bother, huh) understand. Thankfully as more devices like the Quest come along to stores and easily offer a good glimpse at the possibilities of VR to replace cheap shit like cardboard or mobile VR or PSVR and whatever has next to none of the primary platforms' features that someone may have tried and thought that's all there is to it, like watching dodgy looking 2D panoramic videos or having limited 3dof controls, the problem is lessened over time until VR becomes more widespread. Until then, enthusiasts already can have a great old time with it as existing hardware in different price tiers based on personal choice offers pretty sweet experiences and there's plenty mature, well designed and polished fun software out there too (after all, non VR game design know how still applies, even if the interface changes). It's kinda how PC is often frowned upon in certain communities but those who dabble in it know the problems are exaggerated and they can more often than not just turn it on and play even if some random persons or mobs on a forum are adamant that the experience is worse than it was in the days of DOS, lol.

 

[xellos2099alpha]

Oculus Quest is a step in good direction.

 

[xellos2099alpha]

honestly, the Oculus Quest might have saved VR... that thing is by far the most user friendly device on the market, and it doesn't need any external hardware to run.
and now you even have the option to use it on PC as an option...

this is the device that could make VR Mainstream and it completely sold out last month, so that's a good sign.
now we need the must have game, and that could be Half Life Alyx.

User friednly, yes, comfortable..... a big no. Honestly, not sure hoe they went from oculus go, the most comfortable to quest, the least comfortable.

 

[Romulus]

Astrobot is the killer VR app IMO, closely followed by Resident Evil 7 VR.

Agree. Great games, I own them, but if you like VR that much, give PCVR a try. I did and it's a massive step up over psvr. A full generation.

Another problem with VR. When people go out of their way to convince themselves "VR sucks" they're missing out on some of the best experiences in gaming. The several handfuls of really good games are just awesome.

RE7 PSVR is something else. Even on that low resolution screen, lack of motion controls, subpar tracking it is better than playing it on a maxed out PC. The immersion factor is just totally superior and absolutely proves VR's worth.

 

[Tomeru]

Virual Reality: What went wrong with the BBC

 

[Romulus]

User friednly, yes, comfortable..... a big no. Honestly, not sure hoe they went from oculus go, the most comfortable to quest, the least comfortable.

That'll be a big focus on the next gen quest I'm sure. Not to mention theres already a successor processor that's 2x gpu/cpu power of the one in the current quest. Probably even more powerful by release.

 

[UltimaKilo]

VR tech is still incredibly early, same as AR. Is it the future? Of course, without a doubt. Will that come in the next 2-3 years? Unlikely.

10 years from now and we could have 210 degree FOV, 16K per eye, 240hz, wireless and in a slim form factor at a reasonable price.

For now, the new Pimax 8KX looks really impressive.

 

[xellos2099alpha]

I mod mine with das so it is better now. Quest now can both be independent function or connect with link to pc. It is like it got all the power of the pc vr but none of the weakness.

 

[mariosbrother]

It looks dumb. It's anti social. It's expensive (the decent ones are not that silly PS toy.) It's a pain in the ass to set up and the games are mostly shit.

On the flip side of that coin, I tried out the Oculus Quest over the holidays - it was stand alone, super simple to use, and we (a group of people) had a gloriously hilarious time playing around with it...

 

[Romulus]

I mod mine with das so it is better now. Quest now can both be independent function or connect with link to pc. It is like it got all the power of the pc vr but none of the weakness.

It's a great kit, but the max framerate is still pretty low compared to some other sets.

 

[Woo-Fu]

Nothing has gone wrong with VR. The technology progresses at a reasonable pace. It could be that certain people had/have unreasonable expectations for the current state of the tech.

 

[cryptoadam]

VR will take off once streaming hits mainstream. Then you can have a wireless lightweight headset.

 

[magnumpy]

nm

 

[PleaseWaitStation4]

I noticed a niche sub culture in gaming that attack new technology. VR have the same people push invalid arguments against it and also recently, ray-tracing. Yes people attack ray tracing and, I guess, feel threatened by it somehow...?

 

[JLB]

Oculus Quest is a success as far as i can tell. psvr is also right there.

 

[Makariel]

VR is a massive fad. People don't like wearing "anything", let alone any type of vr apparatus on their heads. In general, wearing anything in your face sucks, compared to not wearing anything in your face, just like wearing glasses (people wouldn't do it if they didn't have to).

So I guess you don't wear clothes? I know plenty of people who prefer wearing glasses over having contact lenses, see plenty of people wear baseball caps or beanies even though there is no need for them etc.
I personally don't mind wearing stuff, including helmets (while climbing, snowboarding, riding my bike, or to play in VR), beanies, headphones, whatever, but I guess I'm weird.

 

[Punished Miku]

The problem is that even with all the advancements we've made the tech still isn't ready.

VR needs 4 things to finally land for mainstream success.

1.) it needs to be powerful (by powerful I mean the experience needs to be vivid. The graphics need to be good, the screen resolutions need to be dense so that it is very effective at transporting you to another place)

2.) it needs to be Lightweight (It can't be a huge clunky and weighty looking thing. It should look comfortable and easy to put on and take off)
like this:

3.) It needs to be Wireless (When I opened up my PSVR I couldn't believe the clusterfuck of cables it came with. it can't be that cumbersome for a consumer product. Wires detract from immersion)

4.) And It needs to be affordable
Relatively speaking, everything above should cost as much as a fancy phone in order for it to be attainable.


PS5 VR is the best bet. If Sony can hit all of these points it will be an out of nowhere smash hit!

On PS4 the VR effect is surprisngly decent but it should be something to behold with the power of PS5. And with it being an add on to a console it would be the most attainable price wise for people. Sony just needs to land points 2.) and 3.)

You can do it Sony.

Yep. And if it's not all those things, then it's just too early.

The price will come way down eventually.

 

[ruvikx]

VR negated the expensive 4k televisions people had just invested in. VR is also an extremely solo hobby where family/friends/household pets are excluded from the experience (try waving your arms around whilst a dog is next to you...). It just limits the appeal.

 

[Makariel]

VR negated the expensive 4k televisions people had just invested in. VR is also an extremely solo hobby where family/friends/household pets are excluded from the experience (try waving your arms around whilst a dog is next to you...). It just limits the appeal.

I guess you never had a beat saber party?

 

[lukilladog]

You would be thinking that VR would be the selling point of next consoles and it is not, most players putting their headsets on the closet after playing a couple of games have told sony and MS everything they need to know.

 

[jufonuk]

The lawnmower man is what went wrong.

 

[Fnord]

Anyone who thought that VR would just jump onto the scene and be "mainstream" in this short amount of time was delusional. Even Sony didn't expect PSVR to fly off shelves. It will take time and may (probably won't) ever reach the same level of consumer uptake as traditional gaming. Everything about it presents an obstruction to just plopping down and playing a game. But it doesn't have to be the primary form of gaming, or even close. And the rewards for going to the extra trouble of pulling out a headset and strapping it to your head are paid off in spades. And that reward will only get bigger as tech advances. And the level of obstruction will get smaller.

 

[Karppuuna]

That whole article is full of shit and is misinformation and has nothing to do with reality, those people doesn't know nothing about VR.

People how are saying that VR isn't ready are dead wrong, it is more than ready.
You have to try VR to understand what it is, it's a lot more than traytracing, we are talking about next level of gaming, it will blow you mind when you test it.

 

[Matt_Fox]

The lawnmower man took the blue pill, and spent the next 3 hours tripping his balls off with his flymo!

 

[magnumpy]

luddites will never get it. that's fine, leave them to be trampled underfoot by the future generations.

 

[Tranquil]

Headset ... that's where it went wrong. In a number of years when its VR glasses, then its going to be interesting.

Yes, it needs to be like putting on a pair of sunglasses. I have an Occulus and had a PSVR (Sold it) I never use them since it's so uncomfortable to wear and all the WIRES, everywhere is WIRES.

The tech is there but the comfort factor is not, and until then I'm not touching VR.

 

[Paracelsus]

Glad to see a lot of people basically cut the thread short by going to the root of the problem:
Too expensive and primitive.
A good quality FFB racing wheel, possibly with stick, totally changes how you play a racing.
VR itself only complements that kinda racing setup, and some spook simulator like RE7, but other than that, not much.
You're in the game, but the way you control your character takes you out of the game because it's far from realistic.
They can't even provide full blown 1:1 arms mapping in the most advanced games, so they're still a long way.

 

[Elysion]

I think VR won‘t become mainstream as long as we need bulky, goofy looking headsets that cover half of our face. These things need to be trimmed down a lot before they become attractive to more casual audiences. The ideal headset should cover as much of the face as a pair of aviators. They probably also need some internal, adjustable optics, so that people with bad eyesight don‘t have to wear the headset over their glasses (unless that‘s already a thing?).

Another big hurdle is the whole motion sickness phenomenon. I‘m not sure if any solution to this is on the horizon (if there even is one). Do we know what causes it, and how it could be mitigated?

 

[Airola]

I think one problem will also be that the main type of gameplay is first person type of games. Until more quality games come that aren't about "you" moving around in games I think this won't become a casual mainstream hit. It's still catering towards the taste of people who are looking for immersive first person game experiences and I'm not sure that is popular enough to drive sales in VR tech's current state (motion sickness, bulky system, a bit too uncomfortable especially for people who need glasses, not easy and simple enough to set up etc).

For a lot of enthusiasts it's surely good enough already, but to have that casual mainstream success it's not there in terms of the system itself and the games.

 

[KINGMOKU]

It looks dumb. It's anti social. It's expensive (the decent ones are not that silly PS toy.) It's a pain in the ass to set up and the games are mostly shit.

And I will add expensive. VR needs to be at a price point that is for the masses matched with a solid experience.

I've tried out the high end ones recently and I'm not really all that impressed and I agree it's mostly due to the games being kinda crap. I've always waited for a true VR experience ever since I worked with it in its infancy.(Old arcade units. Hilariously bulky and massive compared to today's units)I'm sure it'll get there one day but for me it's just not good enough yet.

I'll check it out again in a few more years and I hope it continues to grow and the tech advances as well. These early adopters will keep it afloat and fund its improvement.

 

[mckmas8808]

I think people need to start telling us what "Mainstream" means. So far, this author and some of YOU PEOPLE are just tossing that word around and it can mean anything. So are we calling mainstream Gamecube and Xbox sell numbers? Or Sega Dreamcast and PS Vita sell numbers?

 

[magnumpy]

I think VR won‘t become mainstream as long as we need bulky, goofy looking headsets that cover half of our face. These things need to be trimmed down a lot before they become attractive to more casual audiences. The ideal headset should cover as much of the face as a pair of aviators.

from CES 2020:

 

[Elysion]

from CES 2020:

Now that‘s more like it. Something like that, just designed with a bit more style, and VR might go mainstream yet.

 

[OmaeWaMouShindiggity]

"What went wrong with cars? While cars have gained a small foothold, horse drawn buggies still seem to be the main form of transportation years into cars release."

 

[Elysion]

I think people need to start telling us what "Mainstream" means. So far, this author and some of YOU PEOPLE are just tossing that word around and it can mean anything. So are we calling mainstream Gamecube and Xbox sell numbers? Or Sega Dreamcast and PS Vita sell numbers?

I think the term ‚mainstream‘ is a bit like the term ‚pornography‘: it’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it. I think the advent of 3d (polygonal) gaming is also a good analogy. There were early 3d games in the eighties and early nineties, but that didn‘t mean 3d gaming had become ‚mainstream‘ yet, which didn‘t really happen until the Saturn and the PSX hit the market. I think VR is currently right on the cusp of becoming a big thing, kind of like the Jaguar and 3DO showed the future of 3d gaming (at least for consoles).

 

[zcaa0g]

I have bought a ton of gimmick devices over 30 plus years with many I knew would be a failure and others that would stand a good chance of being successful and I feel VR is definitely in the latter category. It has tons if use cases beyond just gaming.

But for gaming, it has never gotten old to jump in the cockpit in DCS or IL2 and get involved in virtual dogfights. It's a game changer.

 

[Shizumapower]

Gaming + any major news outlet = outdated, ill informed data. Always.

All my kids friends want to do is play VR we they are over.

They don't have access normally due to cost but they will in the coming years.

Isn't PC gaming dead? Who buys a desktop anymore? - Any mainstream news site.

 

[magnumpy]

we are rapidly approaching the time when VR glasses are a just a basic pair of sunglasses you wear to play video games. we've got close with the likes of oculus quest; not quite there yet but that future is tantalizingly close. you don't have to stretch your imagination too far to see that we're almost there

 

[Romulus]

 

[Deleted member 774430]

1) Too expensive. Right off the bat it sent the message to the casual audience that is a niche expensive product. Nobody freaking listened when people was asking for more effort for cheaper devices. To the point were still recently Valve preferred to release a very expensive high-end VR headset (Index) over something more affordable.

At a $1000 dollars nobody would care about consoles too.

Google was the one who went closer when they announced Cardboard, that was an amazing reveal which shocked the public, everyone could have made their own VR headsets for their phones.

Unfortunately Google has never invested as much into software development cause their plans were to do that with Daydream (their premium VR offering) which bombed.

Also Oculus Quest was perfect but arguargbly should have been released a year before, it came out when the interest was already fading.

2) All the big studios were not on board. This is Sony's fault too cause for a while (and arguargbly still today to some extent) all their biggest first party studios were not working / not interested on making VR games. Not to mention Oculus and HTC/Valve which launched their products with only indie games to buy and not much else. To this day the VR catalogue on all systems is just okay, the plans were poor right from the start.

3) All the manufacturers considered VR as a gimmick platform you may want to try for that one game, instead of your main platform for gaming, meaning there has never been an interest to make VR a primary system in the future.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

- Price

- Needing to have a brick strapped to your face

- Can have extra cables everywhere

- Most games are demos, compared to full budget games

- Hardly anyone on forums talks about VR. And hardly any game sites talk about VR or review the tons of games out for them

 

[wordslaughter]

I always have and still do believe that VR will continue to become more and more popular until it is completely mainstream. I own a DK2 but haven't bought anything since. I'm still waiting.

But it is a difficult technology to get right.

But we are seeing that the prices are going down while the quality is going up. Just last month ( and maybe still today ) you couldn't buy a Quest or Index anywhere. They were completely sold out and backordered. $1000 for the Index ALONE and they can't make them fast enough. And now REAL games ( and not just interesting tech demos ) are starting to be released.

It's a slow burn, but it IS happening.

 

[mrdeiz]

It could be fun

 

[Shmunter]

What went wrong with journalism?