5 ms·

I was at Facebook's F8 conference this year and to say they are pushing hard on VR is an understatement. Personally, I find VR and its potential applications ve

I was at Facebook's F8 conference this year and to say they are pushing hard on VR is an understatement. Personally, I find VR and its potential applications very intriguing and I welcome this, but it all still feels.. I don't know.. very much top down and too early. I'm not sure if it's consumers driving demand for this, or the industry desperately looking for the 'next' platform 10 years on from the iPhone. In contrast, it feels like the whole mobile app paradigm was a more emergent trend that rose from the hardware getting better and it being an 'obvious' thing to do with software on that hardware. Like, smartphones weren't designed specifically with apps in mind, but they emerged as a phenomenon naturally, in response to demand. But maybe that's just hindsight talking, maybe it too was ultimately pushed from the top down by companies building apps and promoting them. Hard to say I guess. If any company can push VR into the mainstream, or at least accelerate the process, Facebook has to be one of the best positioned, and I hope it works. I just wonder if the hardware doesn't need to get dramatically (5 years) better before it becomes obvious that ordinary people will want to incorporate it into their daiy routine (and then, possibly more in AR form than VR form) - indeed, to be fair, at F8 a very similar message was delivered in some talks.

aracari 9y ago
> to say they are pushing hard on VR is an understatement. Well they do own Oculus, so they have a vested interest in making sure VR succeeds, whether it is a demand or not.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
pishpash 9y ago
The issue is at the content side. 360 videos may give it a good push. That's user created content so it doesn't rely on studios like the 3D TV.
- was_boring 9y ago
  360 videos are a rather poor experience (currently). You cannot tell narrative content on them because you cannot control the view like you can with movies or shows. So what you are limited to is static scenery type of experiences.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Theater has survived for thousands of years without being able to control the view like you can with movies or shows. In terms of VR, I think the shark demo of PSVR already shows more than static scenery type of experiences can made.
    - bonesss 9y ago
      Theater is almost exclusively carried out with pre-determined views: the audiences seating arrangements. Motion on stage is used to guide attention and frame the narrative. The form of presentation impacts blocking and scene-changes. Theater in the round would result in different staging than a traditional auditorium, for example. A 360 degree movie is essentially the inverse of the theater experience. Instead of fixed locations pointing towards the action, the viewer is in the center of the world with potential for action all around.
      - icebraining 9y ago
        Theater is much more than the stereotypical dark square room. Round arenas, street performances, they're pretty common. And even immersive plays are being done in many places nowadays. People will pay attention to what's happening, there's no need to worry too much about someone simply ignoring the action. Besides, even casual YouTubers do positional sound nowadays, which can be used to "lead" the spectator.
  - jpindar 9y ago
    Do you play modern computer games? There are "live" narrative sections in many games now. Cut scenes don't freeze the player anymore. You can turn around and stare at the scenery if you want to. In some cases the story keeps happening when you aren't watching, in some the action pauses at strategic moments and waits for you.
prostoalex 9y ago
The chicken-and-egg problem with VR is numbers and quality content. So far the sales numbers of VR headsets to consumers did not convince major developers to make a major push. As a result, 95% of Steam VR titles are versions "My First Unity VR Project". You'd think that device manufacturers would then subsidize content development to differentiate, but that didn't seem to pan out either http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/oculus-story-studio-shutting-down-1202409809/ http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/oculus-story-studio-shu...

aracari 9y ago

> to say they are pushing hard on VR is an understatement. Well they do own Oculus, so they have a vested interest in making sure VR succeeds, whether it is a demand or not.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

pishpash 9y ago

The issue is at the content side. 360 videos may give it a good push. That's user created content so it doesn't rely on studios like the 3D TV.

was_boring 9y ago
360 videos are a rather poor experience (currently). You cannot tell narrative content on them because you cannot control the view like you can with movies or shows. So what you are limited to is static scenery type of experiences.
- icebraining 9y ago
  Theater has survived for thousands of years without being able to control the view like you can with movies or shows. In terms of VR, I think the shark demo of PSVR already shows more than static scenery type of experiences can made.
  - bonesss 9y ago
    Theater is almost exclusively carried out with pre-determined views: the audiences seating arrangements. Motion on stage is used to guide attention and frame the narrative. The form of presentation impacts blocking and scene-changes. Theater in the round would result in different staging than a traditional auditorium, for example. A 360 degree movie is essentially the inverse of the theater experience. Instead of fixed locations pointing towards the action, the viewer is in the center of the world with potential for action all around.
    - icebraining 9y ago
      Theater is much more than the stereotypical dark square room. Round arenas, street performances, they're pretty common. And even immersive plays are being done in many places nowadays. People will pay attention to what's happening, there's no need to worry too much about someone simply ignoring the action. Besides, even casual YouTubers do positional sound nowadays, which can be used to "lead" the spectator.
- jpindar 9y ago
  Do you play modern computer games? There are "live" narrative sections in many games now. Cut scenes don't freeze the player anymore. You can turn around and stare at the scenery if you want to. In some cases the story keeps happening when you aren't watching, in some the action pauses at strategic moments and waits for you.

prostoalex 9y ago

The chicken-and-egg problem with VR is numbers and quality content. So far the sales numbers of VR headsets to consumers did not convince major developers to make a major push. As a result, 95% of Steam VR titles are versions "My First Unity VR Project". You'd think that device manufacturers would then subsidize content development to differentiate, but that didn't seem to pan out either http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/oculus-story-studio-shutting-down-1202409809/ http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/oculus-story-studio-shu...