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I think it depends on what VR ends up looking like. If it turns out to be just 3d immersive worlds, it will probably be dominated by the big players for the for

I think it depends on what VR ends up looking like. If it turns out to be just 3d immersive worlds, it will probably be dominated by the big players for the foreseeable future. We will probably have building blocks that individuals can use to make something acceptable in that catagory, but the fundamantal value proposistion of that seems to me to be the visual wow factor, which is already dominated by the big players and really does require a large investment of customized art. On the other hand, I also see a use-case of "VR" as more of a light canceling monitor, to complement current noise canceling headphones. Think about being able to sit down on an airplane and pop on your VR goggles and a pair of noise cancelling headphones to watch an old-fashion 2D movie. Or to have a full giant-display that can replace your 3 monitor desk. These types of VR as a monitor use-cases shouldn't be more difficult then their traditional counterparts (although the tooling and ecosystem isn't as good on VR yet), so there should be room for solo developers to compete.

davnicwil 7y ago
That's a good example of a VR usecase I hadn't considered, but to be fair this kind of thing perhaps shouldn't be considered VR at all from the app developer's perspective. By which I mean, the developer wouldn't ever have to know or care that a user would use their regular 2D app in this VR setting, it should just work like any other monitor / web browser etc. I was more talking about applications that are 'native' VR, for want of a better term. Apps that couldn't exist or wouldn't make sense in other formats than VR.
- gizmo686 7y ago
  I certainly agree that this usecase isn't really "virtual reality" in concept, but it is "VR" as far as platforms go, which I think is what is relevent here. I think that, at least in the near future, developers would need to be aware of the VR platform when working on such apps. Ignore toolchain and issues, developers would still need to design a VR first UI. There is probably a lot of room to innovate around how to take advantage of head gestures; how to take advantage of virtual vs absolute coordinate systems [0]. And, the more mundane fact that VR developers have far more screen real estate to work with then desktop developers, who typically assume that the entire monitor is visible at the same time. [0] I'm not sure what the correct names for this are. Bassically, the fact that there can be an image that is always in the same spot in your vision as you move your head, as well as images that appear to be "static" and therefore whose location in your vision changes as you turn your head.
  - davnicwil 7y ago
    You're right, of course. In the same way that with mobile it's not just making the content fit into the screen but making sure it plays nice UX-wise with a touch interface. You have convinced me - this monitors-in-VR thing could be an exciting area for development, and is definitely open to individuals and startups with little capital. Good shout.

davnicwil 7y ago

That's a good example of a VR usecase I hadn't considered, but to be fair this kind of thing perhaps shouldn't be considered VR at all from the app developer's perspective. By which I mean, the developer wouldn't ever have to know or care that a user would use their regular 2D app in this VR setting, it should just work like any other monitor / web browser etc. I was more talking about applications that are 'native' VR, for want of a better term. Apps that couldn't exist or wouldn't make sense in other formats than VR.

gizmo686 7y ago
I certainly agree that this usecase isn't really "virtual reality" in concept, but it is "VR" as far as platforms go, which I think is what is relevent here. I think that, at least in the near future, developers would need to be aware of the VR platform when working on such apps. Ignore toolchain and issues, developers would still need to design a VR first UI. There is probably a lot of room to innovate around how to take advantage of head gestures; how to take advantage of virtual vs absolute coordinate systems [0]. And, the more mundane fact that VR developers have far more screen real estate to work with then desktop developers, who typically assume that the entire monitor is visible at the same time. [0] I'm not sure what the correct names for this are. Bassically, the fact that there can be an image that is always in the same spot in your vision as you move your head, as well as images that appear to be "static" and therefore whose location in your vision changes as you turn your head.
- davnicwil 7y ago
  You're right, of course. In the same way that with mobile it's not just making the content fit into the screen but making sure it plays nice UX-wise with a touch interface. You have convinced me - this monitors-in-VR thing could be an exciting area for development, and is definitely open to individuals and startups with little capital. Good shout.