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Would you spend all day working in VR? A few months ago, I would say no. But I got myself a Quest 2 for Christmas, and now... maybe. AR would make it better

by kipple 5y ago

Would you spend all day working in VR? A few months ago, I would say no. But I got myself a Quest 2 for Christmas, and now... maybe. AR would make it better though, so I'm not just floating disconnected in digital space. I see in their homepage hero banner background[0] you get a floating window with video of your hands. It would be nice if the whole background is a passthrough to reality, and then you float your OS windows on top of that. [0] https://simulavr.com/ https://simulavr.com/

kanetw 5y ago
It will be. We'll be demoing the AR mode in our Kickstarter ad, but basically the entire background will be replaced by passthrough. No depth mapping yet, so it'll only be in the background, but first things first.
- kipple 5y ago
  Nice! That makes it more attractive. Depth mapping would be great too, like I could pin virtual artifacts to my physical environment? Yes please.
  - kanetw 5y ago
    I'm experimenting with mmWave RADAR to get depth mapping without the idiosyncrasies of stereo RGB cameras. Especially in wildly varying environments I think that's the way to go over traditional camera-based SLAM. But if it turns out to be unfeasible, nothing's stopping us from adding more tracking cameras and doing it that way.
ramesh31 5y ago
>But I got myself a Quest 2 for Christmas, and now... maybe. Let me know what you think in a month. The problem with current VR tech is that it's mindblowing and incredible for the first few days, then it quickly becomes too cumbersome and frustrating to deal with on a regular basis and you forget about it. Mass adoption really won't come until it's as seamless as putting on a pair of reading glasses.
- Elidrake42 5y ago
  Isn't that how the Quest is now? It is for me, pop on the device and get straight into my workout.
  - Xevi 5y ago
    The Quest 2 has a few things that prevents me from using it for long sessions. 1. It's way too heavy, which makes it uncomfortable. 2. It gets too hot. 3. It lacks a hinge that would make it possible to easily flip it open, while it's still on your head. Taking it off all the time is annoying. 4. It's been really difficult for me to keep the content I'm viewing looking sharp. It always looks kind of blurry, especially toward the edges.
    - Elidrake42 5y ago
      I think that's the rub; the VR industry is running into a similar issue that the Headphones industry has long dealt with, the reality of different body dimensions. 1 isn't an issue for me thanks to an improved strap, 2 isn't an issue due to, I think, my move to a rubber face wrap, 3 again was fixed with a new strap (though it just comes up onto my forehead rather than tilting), but 4 is the hell that I cannot think of an answer for. I may not have the issue, and maybe that's due to my prescription inserts or maybe it's due to the particular shape to my skull.
- potatolicious 5y ago
  I agree though I'd argue it's not a single axis of "bulkiness/easy of use", and more a balance between "bulkiness/ease of use" and "functionality". The Quest (and self-contained VR devices generally) has done a lot to move the ball forward on bulkiness/easy of use, but IMO has not done a lot on the functionality part. Most VR experiences are toys that don't have lasting power. It is revealing that FB's marketing for the devices is overwhelmingly about a single game (Beat Saber). I have a Quest 2 that has been sitting in the closet collecting dust for close to a year now. The experience is pretty mind-blowing the first few times, but there isn't anything there to keep me coming back. Once in a blue moon some novel (and usually rather short) VR experience will draw me back in for a day or two, but then the device goes back into the closet again. The breakthrough hinges on the combination of easy of use and what the heck there is even to do with the device that is compelling. [edit] Seeing some other folks opine about the lack of content elsewhere in the thread - yes it's true, but I think framing the issue as one about content leans heavily into the local maxima (which is a very low local maxima) we are in right now, where VR is really only about gaming. I remain unconvinced that gaming is the best use of this technology - and if we implicitly/explicitly define this as a "content problem" rather than a more general "things to do" problem I think we're missing something key.
tluyben2 5y ago
I spend most of my days working in the Quest 2 with Immersed. It can ofcourse be better but it works well now. AR would indeed be better. If it is possible to keep the screen dark enough to see with room light of course.

by kipple 5y ago

kanetw 5y ago

It will be. We'll be demoing the AR mode in our Kickstarter ad, but basically the entire background will be replaced by passthrough. No depth mapping yet, so it'll only be in the background, but first things first.

kipple 5y ago
Nice! That makes it more attractive. Depth mapping would be great too, like I could pin virtual artifacts to my physical environment? Yes please.
- kanetw 5y ago
  I'm experimenting with mmWave RADAR to get depth mapping without the idiosyncrasies of stereo RGB cameras. Especially in wildly varying environments I think that's the way to go over traditional camera-based SLAM. But if it turns out to be unfeasible, nothing's stopping us from adding more tracking cameras and doing it that way.

ramesh31 5y ago

>But I got myself a Quest 2 for Christmas, and now... maybe. Let me know what you think in a month. The problem with current VR tech is that it's mindblowing and incredible for the first few days, then it quickly becomes too cumbersome and frustrating to deal with on a regular basis and you forget about it. Mass adoption really won't come until it's as seamless as putting on a pair of reading glasses.

Elidrake42 5y ago
Isn't that how the Quest is now? It is for me, pop on the device and get straight into my workout.
- Xevi 5y ago
  The Quest 2 has a few things that prevents me from using it for long sessions. 1. It's way too heavy, which makes it uncomfortable. 2. It gets too hot. 3. It lacks a hinge that would make it possible to easily flip it open, while it's still on your head. Taking it off all the time is annoying. 4. It's been really difficult for me to keep the content I'm viewing looking sharp. It always looks kind of blurry, especially toward the edges.
  - Elidrake42 5y ago
    I think that's the rub; the VR industry is running into a similar issue that the Headphones industry has long dealt with, the reality of different body dimensions. 1 isn't an issue for me thanks to an improved strap, 2 isn't an issue due to, I think, my move to a rubber face wrap, 3 again was fixed with a new strap (though it just comes up onto my forehead rather than tilting), but 4 is the hell that I cannot think of an answer for. I may not have the issue, and maybe that's due to my prescription inserts or maybe it's due to the particular shape to my skull.
potatolicious 5y ago
I agree though I'd argue it's not a single axis of "bulkiness/easy of use", and more a balance between "bulkiness/ease of use" and "functionality". The Quest (and self-contained VR devices generally) has done a lot to move the ball forward on bulkiness/easy of use, but IMO has not done a lot on the functionality part. Most VR experiences are toys that don't have lasting power. It is revealing that FB's marketing for the devices is overwhelmingly about a single game (Beat Saber). I have a Quest 2 that has been sitting in the closet collecting dust for close to a year now. The experience is pretty mind-blowing the first few times, but there isn't anything there to keep me coming back. Once in a blue moon some novel (and usually rather short) VR experience will draw me back in for a day or two, but then the device goes back into the closet again. The breakthrough hinges on the combination of easy of use and what the heck there is even to do with the device that is compelling. [edit] Seeing some other folks opine about the lack of content elsewhere in the thread - yes it's true, but I think framing the issue as one about content leans heavily into the local maxima (which is a very low local maxima) we are in right now, where VR is really only about gaming. I remain unconvinced that gaming is the best use of this technology - and if we implicitly/explicitly define this as a "content problem" rather than a more general "things to do" problem I think we're missing something key.

tluyben2 5y ago

I spend most of my days working in the Quest 2 with Immersed. It can ofcourse be better but it works well now. AR would indeed be better. If it is possible to keep the screen dark enough to see with room light of course.