7 ms·

> Virtual reality. Other than for games, it won't be big. Why? Effective and realistic VR has reach far beyond games, it could nearly eliminate most business

> Virtual reality. Other than for games, it won't be big. Why? Effective and realistic VR has reach far beyond games, it could nearly eliminate most business travel and recreational travel. No need for a real office or commuting when a company can have a virtual office that feels real enough for workers to collaborate with presence. No need to blow large amounts of money travelling to real places that are either perfectly imitated in VR or blown away by cooler places that only exist within VR. VR ain't just for gaming.

logicrook 11y ago
Yes. VR is for porn.
- gnaritas 11y ago
  lol, that too.
- jhallenworld 11y ago
  AR will also be for porn.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
nwjtkjn 11y ago
I don't understand the idea that VR will make business travel unnecessary. What problem does VR solve that video conferencing doesn't? The ability to turn your head? The reason business travel, and in general non-remote work, is worthwhile isn't necessarily the pre-planned meetings, it's also the familiarity developed by meeting somebody in person, shooting the shit over lunch, and being able to casually mention an idea or anecdote without the overhead of a "call."
- gnaritas 11y ago
  It adds presence, which is the main reason business types currently don't like video conferencing and still choose to travel when they really don't need to. People want to be around other people, in their actual presence, they don't get that from video conferencing. Lack of presence is why telecommuting hasn't really taken over and why companies still bother with the overhead of a real office. People are social animals, they want to be around other people, not around screens with other people's faces on them. Presence is far more than just turning your head. > it's also the familiarity developed by meeting somebody in person, shooting the shit over lunch, and being able to casually mention an idea or anecdote without the overhead of a "call." Yes, that's called presence, and that's what VR brings that video conferencing doesn't.
  - mortenjorck 11y ago
    I see this sentiment echoed every now and then and it completely baffles me. How on earth do you see VR ever working as an evolution of videoconferencing, no less a substitute for in-person meeting? HMDs obscure the most important part of face-to-face interaction, the myriad nonverbal cues and visceral connection we get from the eyes. Talking to a person wearing a brick over their face in VR with perfect presence is still talking to a person wearing a brick over their face.
    - gnaritas 11y ago
      That depends entirely on the quality of the virtual avatar. Facial expression capture is already used heavily in character animation for movies, such technology will be a core part of the VR experience in the future. It is quite inevitable that the VR experience will continue to improve until it's basically the Matrix and being in VR will be a perfectly fine substitute for being in the real world. For business, it won't need to be nearly that good to kill most business travel. My company has remote workers in 5 states and offices in 2, when VR is good enough we can eliminate lots of unnecessary business travel that only exists because to satisfy the human social urge for presence. Nothing is accomplished by this travel that couldn't be done over Google video other than making people feel better. I suspect this is the norm for a large amount of business travel.
      - c22 11y ago
        Does it matter how well the system analyzes and recreates facial gestures when anyone can just > load poker_face.vrscript?
        bsenftner 11y ago
        Yes it does matter. It's presence, and the interactive responsiveness between participants. Loading a script / playing a script won't have that. What you're describing will be the new bot, and identifying them will be like having street smarts.
        11y ago
Animats 11y ago
If VR was going to be a big success, there would be a killer demo for the Oculus Rift by now. There isn't. "The Chair"[1] is considered one of the best demos. Whatever. GTA V in VR is pretty good, but that's because GTA V is pretty good without VR. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8c3dAWZ7No https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8c3dAWZ7No
- gnaritas 11y ago
  We aren't talking about today, we're talking about the near future. Nor are we talking about games, but other uses beyond gaming. The Occulus is akin to the iPhone 1, in a few years it'll appear clunky and outdated but it's certainly the first step in consumer quality VR.
- dcre 11y ago
  You clearly haven't tried very many demos (if any). To give just one example, Windlands is incredible and is not anywhere near as good outside of VR.
- ZenoArrow 11y ago
  I've not used a VR headset before, but I've heard the games that provide the most immersive VR experience (at the moment at least) are 'cockpit'-based games such as Elite Dangerous. There seems to be some recognition of this from Oculus, as they're bundling EVE: Valkyrie with the CV1: https://www.oculus.com/en-us/rift/#eve-valkyrie https://www.oculus.com/en-us/rift/#eve-valkyrie
- nopzor 11y ago
  Oculus hasn't even shipped the consumer version of the Rift yet. Isn't it a bit premature to write of the success of VR?

logicrook 11y ago

Yes. VR is for porn.

gnaritas 11y ago
lol, that too.
jhallenworld 11y ago
AR will also be for porn.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

nwjtkjn 11y ago

I don't understand the idea that VR will make business travel unnecessary. What problem does VR solve that video conferencing doesn't? The ability to turn your head? The reason business travel, and in general non-remote work, is worthwhile isn't necessarily the pre-planned meetings, it's also the familiarity developed by meeting somebody in person, shooting the shit over lunch, and being able to casually mention an idea or anecdote without the overhead of a "call."

gnaritas 11y ago
It adds presence, which is the main reason business types currently don't like video conferencing and still choose to travel when they really don't need to. People want to be around other people, in their actual presence, they don't get that from video conferencing. Lack of presence is why telecommuting hasn't really taken over and why companies still bother with the overhead of a real office. People are social animals, they want to be around other people, not around screens with other people's faces on them. Presence is far more than just turning your head. > it's also the familiarity developed by meeting somebody in person, shooting the shit over lunch, and being able to casually mention an idea or anecdote without the overhead of a "call." Yes, that's called presence, and that's what VR brings that video conferencing doesn't.
- mortenjorck 11y ago
  I see this sentiment echoed every now and then and it completely baffles me. How on earth do you see VR ever working as an evolution of videoconferencing, no less a substitute for in-person meeting? HMDs obscure the most important part of face-to-face interaction, the myriad nonverbal cues and visceral connection we get from the eyes. Talking to a person wearing a brick over their face in VR with perfect presence is still talking to a person wearing a brick over their face.
  - gnaritas 11y ago
    That depends entirely on the quality of the virtual avatar. Facial expression capture is already used heavily in character animation for movies, such technology will be a core part of the VR experience in the future. It is quite inevitable that the VR experience will continue to improve until it's basically the Matrix and being in VR will be a perfectly fine substitute for being in the real world. For business, it won't need to be nearly that good to kill most business travel. My company has remote workers in 5 states and offices in 2, when VR is good enough we can eliminate lots of unnecessary business travel that only exists because to satisfy the human social urge for presence. Nothing is accomplished by this travel that couldn't be done over Google video other than making people feel better. I suspect this is the norm for a large amount of business travel.
    - c22 11y ago
      Does it matter how well the system analyzes and recreates facial gestures when anyone can just > load poker_face.vrscript?
      - bsenftner 11y ago
        Yes it does matter. It's presence, and the interactive responsiveness between participants. Loading a script / playing a script won't have that. What you're describing will be the new bot, and identifying them will be like having street smarts.
      - 11y ago

Animats 11y ago

If VR was going to be a big success, there would be a killer demo for the Oculus Rift by now. There isn't. "The Chair"[1] is considered one of the best demos. Whatever. GTA V in VR is pretty good, but that's because GTA V is pretty good without VR. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8c3dAWZ7No https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8c3dAWZ7No

gnaritas 11y ago
We aren't talking about today, we're talking about the near future. Nor are we talking about games, but other uses beyond gaming. The Occulus is akin to the iPhone 1, in a few years it'll appear clunky and outdated but it's certainly the first step in consumer quality VR.
dcre 11y ago
You clearly haven't tried very many demos (if any). To give just one example, Windlands is incredible and is not anywhere near as good outside of VR.
ZenoArrow 11y ago
I've not used a VR headset before, but I've heard the games that provide the most immersive VR experience (at the moment at least) are 'cockpit'-based games such as Elite Dangerous. There seems to be some recognition of this from Oculus, as they're bundling EVE: Valkyrie with the CV1: https://www.oculus.com/en-us/rift/#eve-valkyrie https://www.oculus.com/en-us/rift/#eve-valkyrie
nopzor 11y ago
Oculus hasn't even shipped the consumer version of the Rift yet. Isn't it a bit premature to write of the success of VR?