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I don't know if I'm too detached from reality at this point, but I have such a hard time believing VR headsets and the "metaverse" is going to be the future. T

by dt2m 5y ago

I don't know if I'm too detached from reality at this point, but I have such a hard time believing VR headsets and the "metaverse" is going to be the future. This seems like a solution looking for a problem. But who knows, maybe in ten years I'll be selling this comment as an NFT and cashing in my sweet sweet AppleCoin.

HissingMachine 5y ago
You are not the only one, and I even have the Oculus DK1 in my closet, I have tried the various more mature hardware, but for some reason the experience is always lacking. I think VR would be absolutely awesome amusement park or gaming cafe experience where it's combined with other immersive hardware to create experiences that nobody can actually do at home. But just the headset for in home experience, it's pretty meh, like 3d cinema was.
namlem 5y ago
I disagree. There are definite advantages over meeting over video chat imo. For example, it's impossible to have natural side conversations in those services. In real life, you can pull someone aside to have a chat without leaving the event you're in, but over video conference, you have to go into a breakout room or use text chat. In VR, you can do what you do irl, just pull someone aside for a quick chat, assuming the software you're using supports it with a feature like volume fall off. That isn't to say it makes sense for all meetings. Traditional video/voice meetings are fine for most use cases. Other major advantages are screen real estate and 3D visualizations. In VR space, you can have a monitor as large as you want, of any shape you want. You can also visualize 3D objects in a much more natural way, seeing them as they would appear in the real world.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  One big difference for me would be that in real life, there is a far greater probability of your side conversation not being recorded. Or you not erroneously transmitting it to people you do not intend to.
- HissingMachine 5y ago
  How about send them a message during the meeting that you want to talk about an idea after the meeting?
  - voakbasda 5y ago
    Sometimes you need to talk to someone during a meeting to determine if you need to interrupt the meeting.
castis 5y ago
> VR headsets The actual headset itself is just the vehicle. Its general use of a virtual reality thats got me excited. Right now we use all sorts of things to beam information into our faces. Mostly pixels from a screen (monitors, phones, VR headsets). I sincerely think the hardware thats going to knock it out of the park is this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_retinal_display https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_retinal_display Imagine if you didnt actually have monitors, you just had a 3d space being projected into your eyes and everywhere you looked could be a space you could put something that would have otherwise been on a monitor. You could have windows moving around in an Augmented-Reality style, and running a video game in "fullscreen" becomes a full VR.
- dt2m 5y ago
  > Imagine if you didnt actually have monitors, you just had a 3d space being projected into your eyes and everywhere you looked could be a space you could put something that would have otherwise been on a monitor. Great point. I'll buy this, as well as mixed-reality being the future, instead of all-encompassing VR. But there's quite a way to go from here, and some very interesting challenges when you face the problem of communal viewing (co-worker taking a glance at your monitor, watching tv, etc.). I'm very curious to see what thought (if any) Apple has given this, if they're not just rolling out another pair of goggles with a LCD display inside. The slow but steady success of the Apple Watch proves that they don't have to knock it out of the park on the first attempt anymore. It's going to be interesting to watch play out.
floatboth 5y ago
VR has found one problem to solve – exercise. Beat Saber is awesome. And in the corporate space, various training simulators and visualizations are popping up. Facebook's "metaverse" sounds like a shitty version of VRChat with people you don't like. And buttcoin grifters throw the "metaverse" buzzword around only to get you to buy into their ponzi schemes, pure and simple. There is no "there" there. And the "ideas" they're throwing out in their bullshit whitepapers are horrific. They want to financialize every moment of your life, invent artificial scarcity in a world where infinite copyability is the main advantage (if the words "virual real estate" don't sound utterly dystopian to you I don't know what to say…) and so on.
- ChrisRR 5y ago
  Yes and no. I see too many people believing the calories burnt on their fitbit when the fitbit is assuming you're moving your legs as well Generally speaking you don't move around and left your weight much when in VR, so while it's good to be active, it definitely doesn't get your heart pumping or burn as many calories as normal cardio exercises.
  - floatboth 5y ago
    > as normal cardio exercises As a person who's generally uninterested in exercise itself but who likes games, the alternative isn't "normal cardio exercises" but "nothing" :)
binarynate 5y ago
AR headsets will be the truly revolutionary platform. However, VR will still be popular for immersive entertainment, gaming, training, and (to a much lesser extent) productivity. And VR provides a good stepping stone for companies to get their first XR headsets to market, before the AR tech is ready.

by dt2m 5y ago

HissingMachine 5y ago

You are not the only one, and I even have the Oculus DK1 in my closet, I have tried the various more mature hardware, but for some reason the experience is always lacking. I think VR would be absolutely awesome amusement park or gaming cafe experience where it's combined with other immersive hardware to create experiences that nobody can actually do at home. But just the headset for in home experience, it's pretty meh, like 3d cinema was.

namlem 5y ago

I disagree. There are definite advantages over meeting over video chat imo. For example, it's impossible to have natural side conversations in those services. In real life, you can pull someone aside to have a chat without leaving the event you're in, but over video conference, you have to go into a breakout room or use text chat. In VR, you can do what you do irl, just pull someone aside for a quick chat, assuming the software you're using supports it with a feature like volume fall off. That isn't to say it makes sense for all meetings. Traditional video/voice meetings are fine for most use cases. Other major advantages are screen real estate and 3D visualizations. In VR space, you can have a monitor as large as you want, of any shape you want. You can also visualize 3D objects in a much more natural way, seeing them as they would appear in the real world.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
One big difference for me would be that in real life, there is a far greater probability of your side conversation not being recorded. Or you not erroneously transmitting it to people you do not intend to.
HissingMachine 5y ago
How about send them a message during the meeting that you want to talk about an idea after the meeting?
- voakbasda 5y ago
  Sometimes you need to talk to someone during a meeting to determine if you need to interrupt the meeting.

castis 5y ago

> VR headsets The actual headset itself is just the vehicle. Its general use of a virtual reality thats got me excited. Right now we use all sorts of things to beam information into our faces. Mostly pixels from a screen (monitors, phones, VR headsets). I sincerely think the hardware thats going to knock it out of the park is this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_retinal_display https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_retinal_display Imagine if you didnt actually have monitors, you just had a 3d space being projected into your eyes and everywhere you looked could be a space you could put something that would have otherwise been on a monitor. You could have windows moving around in an Augmented-Reality style, and running a video game in "fullscreen" becomes a full VR.

dt2m 5y ago
> Imagine if you didnt actually have monitors, you just had a 3d space being projected into your eyes and everywhere you looked could be a space you could put something that would have otherwise been on a monitor. Great point. I'll buy this, as well as mixed-reality being the future, instead of all-encompassing VR. But there's quite a way to go from here, and some very interesting challenges when you face the problem of communal viewing (co-worker taking a glance at your monitor, watching tv, etc.). I'm very curious to see what thought (if any) Apple has given this, if they're not just rolling out another pair of goggles with a LCD display inside. The slow but steady success of the Apple Watch proves that they don't have to knock it out of the park on the first attempt anymore. It's going to be interesting to watch play out.

floatboth 5y ago

VR has found one problem to solve – exercise. Beat Saber is awesome. And in the corporate space, various training simulators and visualizations are popping up. Facebook's "metaverse" sounds like a shitty version of VRChat with people you don't like. And buttcoin grifters throw the "metaverse" buzzword around only to get you to buy into their ponzi schemes, pure and simple. There is no "there" there. And the "ideas" they're throwing out in their bullshit whitepapers are horrific. They want to financialize every moment of your life, invent artificial scarcity in a world where infinite copyability is the main advantage (if the words "virual real estate" don't sound utterly dystopian to you I don't know what to say…) and so on.

ChrisRR 5y ago
Yes and no. I see too many people believing the calories burnt on their fitbit when the fitbit is assuming you're moving your legs as well Generally speaking you don't move around and left your weight much when in VR, so while it's good to be active, it definitely doesn't get your heart pumping or burn as many calories as normal cardio exercises.
- floatboth 5y ago
  > as normal cardio exercises As a person who's generally uninterested in exercise itself but who likes games, the alternative isn't "normal cardio exercises" but "nothing" :)

binarynate 5y ago

AR headsets will be the truly revolutionary platform. However, VR will still be popular for immersive entertainment, gaming, training, and (to a much lesser extent) productivity. And VR provides a good stepping stone for companies to get their first XR headsets to market, before the AR tech is ready.