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Has anyone tried using VR for work? What, if anything did you discover that worked, and what didn't? I know of some VR companies that do all their meetings in

by iamwil 6y ago

Has anyone tried using VR for work? What, if anything did you discover that worked, and what didn't? I know of some VR companies that do all their meetings in VR, whether its their own, or in a game.

cj 6y ago
No experience using it for work. But I bought a Quest when it first came out, and used it for about a week before shelving it. Wearing it for longer than 10-15 minutes is physically difficult. Dizziness, nausea, headache. This is a common issue people have with VR. Also unsure if it’s a fixable problem. Until then, I cant imagine it seriously used to facilitate remote work.
- tikhonj 6y ago
  From what I've heard, having a consistent high framerate helps with this a lot. I've seen people who report feeling sick with older generation of headsets, but feeling comfortable with the Valve Index.
  - Kiro 6y ago
    The same applies for Oculus Quest. Most of my friends have an Oculus Quest and I read the Quest subreddit a lot. This is the first time I've ever heard anyone experiencing those problems on it, while it was very common on older headsets.
  - wlll 6y ago
    The quest is ~72Hz. We (the VR community) moved on from 75 Hz many years ago through 90Hz, and my Index currently does 120, with an experimental 144Hz mode. Research (mostly by Valve I think) has shown that the higher the framerate the less the incidence of sickness. 72Hz just isn't enough.
- Kiro 6y ago
  It used to be common but the problems causing it for most users were fixed and are not present in Oculus Quest. I don't doubt there are still people experiencing it but saying it's common is not correct. Regarding 10-15 minutes max I use mine for 1-2 hours at a time on most days and only stop because I get physically exhausted playing Beat Saber.
- wlll 6y ago
  While some people will never be able to handle VR, the choice of equipment can have a massive impact on the comfort of the user. One of the worries repeatedly expressed by people on subreddits such a /r/vive|valveindex is that companies releasing cheaper, less capable headsets "poisons the well" by convincing people that VR just doesn't work well, or makes them sick etc. Believe it or not, some people claimed VR was dead in the water and a gimmick after trying the Google cardboard. In the case of the Quest, it has several issues: 1. Hand tracking - using cameras on the headset means it's easy to occlude your hands leading to un-tracked areas 2. Compute Power - You need a really powerful GPU to get the most out of even relatively complex scenes. I have a GTX 1080ti and will probably upgrade to a 3080ti when these are released later this year. It's not overkill. The Quest was at first standalone. Unless you're strapping a large power supply and a GPU to your head you're not getting the power you really need. 2. It operates at 72 Hz - Research that companies like Valve have done (they've been working on this stuff a lot) has shown that refresh rates are a huge component in the sense of realism felt, and importantly sickness. The Oculus DK2 was 75Hz (ISTR). The Vive was 90Hz because it turns out people het less sick at 90. The Index is 120Hz with an experimental 144Hz mode, because the higher you push it the less people get sick, and at the very high resolutions people feel more "attachment" to the scenes they see. 72Hz is woeful. 3. Head tracking - The inside-out tracking method the Quest uses is (anecdotally, from user reports over time on reddit) inferior to the lighthouse style outside-in tracking of the Index. Knowing where your head is is very important to not making people feel ill, so better tracking here is critical. Points 2-3 there are critical for your comfort, and the Quest just doesn't do VR justice. Sure, some people handle it fine, and the "real" equipment (and Index and a PC powerful enough to drive it) are substantially more expensive, but it would be unfair to bucket all VR after an experience with only the Quest.
  - Kiro 6y ago
    While Valve Index is clearly superior I don't think you should dismiss the Quest. Not a single person I've shown it have thought it was a bad experience. On the contrary they finally "get" VR after it and many bought one immediately after so I truly believe the Valve Index community is wrong here lumping Quest together with subpar experiences such as Cardboard. Don't get me wrong, Quest is suited for completely different games than Index but for titles like Beat Saber and Superhot it's the perfect hardware and they are also the kind of games that will bring VR to the masses. Also of course the fact that you can just put it on and start playing without any setup whatsoever. Subjectively I disagree with "Hand tracking" and "Head tracking" (you have duplicate bullet points for 2). I haven't noticed inside-out tracking being inferior at all when comparing. It works much better than I ever would have expected. I also think talking about feeling ill being something common is doing VR a disservice. It used to be a common problem most people experienced but not anymore. I'm not saying people can't get ill or feel dizzy nowadays but the problem is not in the same ballpark as before. However, if people do experience the same even on the Quest they should definitely try the Valve Index before dismissing VR completely. I'm planning on getting a Valve Index myself soon so I'm not a fanboy.
mhh__ 6y ago
It's probably doable these days (Pixel Density) but what's the point. The most productive way to use VR in such a context (remote work I assume) would be to work normally for a bit, thrash around in beat saber for 30 minutes to burn some calories (Mind and Body etc.) have lunch and get back to work.
nradov 6y ago
Why would anyone do that? What's the point? If you're not a perfect touch typist then it's difficult to take notes or edit a shared document while wearing a VR headset.
- mkl 6y ago
  I think if you tried it for a couple of weeks you'd probably become a perfect touch typist. It's not a difficult skill to pick up. Being in VR all the time would kind of suck though IMHO.

by iamwil 6y ago

Has anyone tried using VR for work? What, if anything did you discover that worked, and what didn't? I know of some VR companies that do all their meetings in VR, whether its their own, or in a game.

cj 6y ago

No experience using it for work. But I bought a Quest when it first came out, and used it for about a week before shelving it. Wearing it for longer than 10-15 minutes is physically difficult. Dizziness, nausea, headache. This is a common issue people have with VR. Also unsure if it’s a fixable problem. Until then, I cant imagine it seriously used to facilitate remote work.

tikhonj 6y ago
From what I've heard, having a consistent high framerate helps with this a lot. I've seen people who report feeling sick with older generation of headsets, but feeling comfortable with the Valve Index.
- Kiro 6y ago
  The same applies for Oculus Quest. Most of my friends have an Oculus Quest and I read the Quest subreddit a lot. This is the first time I've ever heard anyone experiencing those problems on it, while it was very common on older headsets.
- wlll 6y ago
  The quest is ~72Hz. We (the VR community) moved on from 75 Hz many years ago through 90Hz, and my Index currently does 120, with an experimental 144Hz mode. Research (mostly by Valve I think) has shown that the higher the framerate the less the incidence of sickness. 72Hz just isn't enough.
Kiro 6y ago
It used to be common but the problems causing it for most users were fixed and are not present in Oculus Quest. I don't doubt there are still people experiencing it but saying it's common is not correct. Regarding 10-15 minutes max I use mine for 1-2 hours at a time on most days and only stop because I get physically exhausted playing Beat Saber.
wlll 6y ago
While some people will never be able to handle VR, the choice of equipment can have a massive impact on the comfort of the user. One of the worries repeatedly expressed by people on subreddits such a /r/vive|valveindex is that companies releasing cheaper, less capable headsets "poisons the well" by convincing people that VR just doesn't work well, or makes them sick etc. Believe it or not, some people claimed VR was dead in the water and a gimmick after trying the Google cardboard. In the case of the Quest, it has several issues: 1. Hand tracking - using cameras on the headset means it's easy to occlude your hands leading to un-tracked areas 2. Compute Power - You need a really powerful GPU to get the most out of even relatively complex scenes. I have a GTX 1080ti and will probably upgrade to a 3080ti when these are released later this year. It's not overkill. The Quest was at first standalone. Unless you're strapping a large power supply and a GPU to your head you're not getting the power you really need. 2. It operates at 72 Hz - Research that companies like Valve have done (they've been working on this stuff a lot) has shown that refresh rates are a huge component in the sense of realism felt, and importantly sickness. The Oculus DK2 was 75Hz (ISTR). The Vive was 90Hz because it turns out people het less sick at 90. The Index is 120Hz with an experimental 144Hz mode, because the higher you push it the less people get sick, and at the very high resolutions people feel more "attachment" to the scenes they see. 72Hz is woeful. 3. Head tracking - The inside-out tracking method the Quest uses is (anecdotally, from user reports over time on reddit) inferior to the lighthouse style outside-in tracking of the Index. Knowing where your head is is very important to not making people feel ill, so better tracking here is critical. Points 2-3 there are critical for your comfort, and the Quest just doesn't do VR justice. Sure, some people handle it fine, and the "real" equipment (and Index and a PC powerful enough to drive it) are substantially more expensive, but it would be unfair to bucket all VR after an experience with only the Quest.
- Kiro 6y ago
  While Valve Index is clearly superior I don't think you should dismiss the Quest. Not a single person I've shown it have thought it was a bad experience. On the contrary they finally "get" VR after it and many bought one immediately after so I truly believe the Valve Index community is wrong here lumping Quest together with subpar experiences such as Cardboard. Don't get me wrong, Quest is suited for completely different games than Index but for titles like Beat Saber and Superhot it's the perfect hardware and they are also the kind of games that will bring VR to the masses. Also of course the fact that you can just put it on and start playing without any setup whatsoever. Subjectively I disagree with "Hand tracking" and "Head tracking" (you have duplicate bullet points for 2). I haven't noticed inside-out tracking being inferior at all when comparing. It works much better than I ever would have expected. I also think talking about feeling ill being something common is doing VR a disservice. It used to be a common problem most people experienced but not anymore. I'm not saying people can't get ill or feel dizzy nowadays but the problem is not in the same ballpark as before. However, if people do experience the same even on the Quest they should definitely try the Valve Index before dismissing VR completely. I'm planning on getting a Valve Index myself soon so I'm not a fanboy.

mhh__ 6y ago

It's probably doable these days (Pixel Density) but what's the point. The most productive way to use VR in such a context (remote work I assume) would be to work normally for a bit, thrash around in beat saber for 30 minutes to burn some calories (Mind and Body etc.) have lunch and get back to work.

nradov 6y ago

Why would anyone do that? What's the point? If you're not a perfect touch typist then it's difficult to take notes or edit a shared document while wearing a VR headset.

mkl 6y ago
I think if you tried it for a couple of weeks you'd probably become a perfect touch typist. It's not a difficult skill to pick up. Being in VR all the time would kind of suck though IMHO.