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Ask HN: What will happen to make VR finally explode, if anything?

8 points by Fission 10y ago

MylesHildebrand 10y ago
Once 1. Magic Leap/Microsoft HoloLens for Mixed Reality + 2. Google Soli for hand gesture control become low cost and developers release cool apps for them.
LordWinstanley 10y ago
Using Samsung batteries might do it. (I'll get me coat!)
- CaptainSwing 10y ago
  Going by usernames we should probably be friends Mr Winstanley
dudul 10y ago
Porn? I'm serious. The Porn industry has been leading technical changes and innovations more often than not.
- mikestew 10y ago
  Would you seriously use it? Seems like a bit of bother to me versus just firing up a fave on the ol' 2D 27" monitor, but perhaps my personal tastes don't run parallel to the market in question.
  - dudul 10y ago
    I wouldn't no, I don't think so. But I think the industry has been exploring this option for a little while now. TBH, like you, I feel that most of my personal tastes don't seem to mach the actual market (be it for movies, video games, etc).
afarrell 10y ago
Cheap high-powered graphics cards are one prerequisite. If industrial history in general is any indication, than some sort of heavy use by militaries, probably for training.
taylodl 10y ago
VR - virtual reality, isn't really all that interesting outside of gaming/simulation and training. AR - augmented reality, is where the real money-making opportunities lie. Lots of companies have field services/technicians who would benefit greatly from AR. It's not hard to see the transportation and distribution sectors also benefitting. Even healthcare. The upshot of it all being AR is where the action is, not VR.
- tdb7893 10y ago
  What would the benefits be for the services/technicians or the transporation and distribution centers?
  - ceejayoz 10y ago
    A technician might see an overlay highlighting a malfunctioning part, or annotations provided by a more senior remote person. A picker at a distribution center could fill multiple boxes with the correct products and boxes highlighting in their vision in real-time. I suspect someone in the fields could come up with better ideas than I could.
    - tdb7893 10y ago
      My perspective is that for most of the applications people tell me about in AR the more impression part to me is the computer vision necessary to get them to work than what I consider the AR functionality. For example overlaying a box over something is very easy but figuring out what part is malfunctioning via video is hard so do you consider both of those functionalities to be part of AR? In my mind they are separate things so that might be why I'm less hyped about AR. Hopefully I don't come across as sarcastic or antagonistic because I'm just trying to understand the hype.
      - ceejayoz 10y ago
        Figuring out what's malfunctioning is getting into AI territory (although some malfunctions might be detectable via sensors), but something like a checklist for assembly/disassembly to get at a component would be valuable.
axvk 10y ago
When someone figures out how to move around inside VR. Right now you're stuck in a tiny room, but how awesome would it be to play FPS games where you run around and duck behind objects. Most htc vive games i've played have mastered shooting but I'm always stuck on a tiny platform or standing in one place.
GFischer 10y ago
My own belief is that retail will benefit from the VR revolution the most, but mostly for using the VR headsets to access an in-store experience using live 360 video / AR . (edited because mentioning my Y Combinator application didn't come across well)
dontJudge 10y ago
Plug into your brain, so it looks more like reality.
mikestew 10y ago
Answering the open questions would be a good start. I'm a geek and a man of means. Maybe I'll go get one of those HTC Vibes. Seems popular, Steam supports it. Look, all I want to know is how much is it going to cost me to walk into a store and walk out with everything I need. If I get home and find out I need to place an emergency order to NewEgg to get it working, it's getting boxed up and returned. If I have to go digging through video card specs, no deal. Do I even need a computer to hook it to? If so, what OS? Will my 2012 Macbook Pro do? Not a single one of those questions is answered by the HTC Vibe web site, at least not that I could find. So me, a tech worker with loads of disposable income and a willingness to take a bit of a chance on new tech, won't be dropping $800 on your new device. How in the hell does one expect the proverbial Joe Sixpack to jump on board?
EJTH 10y ago
Price of entry has to be lower. A vive + a gaming rig that can actually handle VR decently is quite expensive for the avarage consumer.
jetti 10y ago
More computing power in the headsets that allow it to be used without needing a relatively beefy computer. When there is the ability to use the headset without a computer then it will be able to reach a broader audience

8 points by Fission 10y ago

Once 1. Magic Leap/Microsoft HoloLens for Mixed Reality + 2. Google Soli for hand gesture control become low cost and developers release cool apps for them.

LordWinstanley 10y ago

Using Samsung batteries might do it. (I'll get me coat!)

CaptainSwing 10y ago
Going by usernames we should probably be friends Mr Winstanley

dudul 10y ago

Porn? I'm serious. The Porn industry has been leading technical changes and innovations more often than not.

mikestew 10y ago
Would you seriously use it? Seems like a bit of bother to me versus just firing up a fave on the ol' 2D 27" monitor, but perhaps my personal tastes don't run parallel to the market in question.
- dudul 10y ago
  I wouldn't no, I don't think so. But I think the industry has been exploring this option for a little while now. TBH, like you, I feel that most of my personal tastes don't seem to mach the actual market (be it for movies, video games, etc).

afarrell 10y ago

Cheap high-powered graphics cards are one prerequisite. If industrial history in general is any indication, than some sort of heavy use by militaries, probably for training.

taylodl 10y ago

VR - virtual reality, isn't really all that interesting outside of gaming/simulation and training. AR - augmented reality, is where the real money-making opportunities lie. Lots of companies have field services/technicians who would benefit greatly from AR. It's not hard to see the transportation and distribution sectors also benefitting. Even healthcare. The upshot of it all being AR is where the action is, not VR.

tdb7893 10y ago
What would the benefits be for the services/technicians or the transporation and distribution centers?
- ceejayoz 10y ago
  A technician might see an overlay highlighting a malfunctioning part, or annotations provided by a more senior remote person. A picker at a distribution center could fill multiple boxes with the correct products and boxes highlighting in their vision in real-time. I suspect someone in the fields could come up with better ideas than I could.
  - tdb7893 10y ago
    My perspective is that for most of the applications people tell me about in AR the more impression part to me is the computer vision necessary to get them to work than what I consider the AR functionality. For example overlaying a box over something is very easy but figuring out what part is malfunctioning via video is hard so do you consider both of those functionalities to be part of AR? In my mind they are separate things so that might be why I'm less hyped about AR. Hopefully I don't come across as sarcastic or antagonistic because I'm just trying to understand the hype.
    - ceejayoz 10y ago
      Figuring out what's malfunctioning is getting into AI territory (although some malfunctions might be detectable via sensors), but something like a checklist for assembly/disassembly to get at a component would be valuable.

axvk 10y ago

When someone figures out how to move around inside VR. Right now you're stuck in a tiny room, but how awesome would it be to play FPS games where you run around and duck behind objects. Most htc vive games i've played have mastered shooting but I'm always stuck on a tiny platform or standing in one place.

GFischer 10y ago

My own belief is that retail will benefit from the VR revolution the most, but mostly for using the VR headsets to access an in-store experience using live 360 video / AR . (edited because mentioning my Y Combinator application didn't come across well)

dontJudge 10y ago

Plug into your brain, so it looks more like reality.

mikestew 10y ago

Answering the open questions would be a good start. I'm a geek and a man of means. Maybe I'll go get one of those HTC Vibes. Seems popular, Steam supports it. Look, all I want to know is how much is it going to cost me to walk into a store and walk out with everything I need. If I get home and find out I need to place an emergency order to NewEgg to get it working, it's getting boxed up and returned. If I have to go digging through video card specs, no deal. Do I even need a computer to hook it to? If so, what OS? Will my 2012 Macbook Pro do? Not a single one of those questions is answered by the HTC Vibe web site, at least not that I could find. So me, a tech worker with loads of disposable income and a willingness to take a bit of a chance on new tech, won't be dropping $800 on your new device. How in the hell does one expect the proverbial Joe Sixpack to jump on board?

EJTH 10y ago

Price of entry has to be lower. A vive + a gaming rig that can actually handle VR decently is quite expensive for the avarage consumer.

jetti 10y ago

More computing power in the headsets that allow it to be used without needing a relatively beefy computer. When there is the ability to use the headset without a computer then it will be able to reach a broader audience