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I think one thing that's being skirted past by the author with regards to allowing freecam movement is that freecam is the #1 way to cause motion sickness in VR

I think one thing that's being skirted past by the author with regards to allowing freecam movement is that freecam is the #1 way to cause motion sickness in VR. The purpose of the realism isn't _just_ to keep the user engaged/sell units/have a good experience, it's also because alignment between "what you see" and "what you're doing" is a critical part of the inner-ear feedback loop. There's a reason that so much effort goes into comfort reticles, motor controls, etc: That if you do it wrong your users puke.

alanbernstein 4y ago
You’re absolutely right. To me this is an argument that we need much more standardization and fine-grained details about “comfort level”, and control options. Many games seem to implement motion and interaction controls internally, which is great for experimentation. But for many games, that isn’t the main point. In those, the user could instead select one of their own personal control schemes. Maybe some of those control schemes could even be extensible, for games that want a familiar UI, but also want to experiment a bit.
- chaostheory 4y ago
  Everyone is right. The author still has a point though. However, I don’t see it being fixed until VR hits a tipping point with user numbers, and I don’t see that happening until Apple’s headset is successful (which probably won’t be the 1st version due to its high cost). Meta has an amazing product, but the brand is still tarnished for now which is why so many people actively avoid it. There’s just not enough money in the market to make anyone inclined to solve an edge problem sooner than needed. It will remain an edge case until more of the elderly generation start using VR more often
Melatonic 4y ago
I mean it also could probably solved by just having a slider that allowed you to change your head position (like an offset). I think his problem is that his head is just way back compared to his body (offset backwards)
- PaulHoule 4y ago
  Personally I think part of the fun with game consoles is playing sprawled out. The other day I walked up to an old parachute hammock up in the woods and played Mario Kart 7 with a Nintendo 3DS after I crawled up into it. VR should create simulations that are consistent with that kind of environment.
- AgentME 4y ago
  VRChat has a feature where you can set an angle offset ("horizon adjust") for all of your tracked positions (headset and controllers). So if you're laying down facing the ceiling, you can press a button and the game will treat it in-game as if you're standing up looking forward.
  - bni 4y ago
    This is great, all games should have this. Also a way to freely change your height if you want to play seated but still stand up in the VR world. Some games have seated mode now but Oculus missed to implement this the first 2-3 years of games.
- ivan23178 4y ago
  I personally think that lack of eye movement tracking is really the worst part. In real life you don't normally have to turn your whole head to look at things all the time, you often can just look using eye movements and focus. But ability to fully track that stuff and ways to provide some kind of depth perception are almost completely missing from the current VR tech. Methinks it's gonna take a lot of R&D before we're at that level of immersion.
  - account42 4y ago
    Isn't that mostly about the headsets having a (relatively) limited feld of view. With (insanely fast) eye tracking you might be able to avoid rendering part of the screens you are not looking at but the lense/screen will still need to be physically wide enough for you to look at those parts.
  - 4y ago
jayd16 4y ago
Its a power tool though. Opt-in should be fine. There are a few free look implementations and they're not that bad, anyway. In my mind the bigger issue is games are just not designed for free look and it doesn't even make all that much sense. Heads clipping through walls is already an annoying problem without the assumption the user can fly anywhere. I think supporting stick movement and crouch or fixed height seems like something that might be standard if we end up seeing some AAA experiences.
barbariangrunge 4y ago
I’m just a little weirded out that somebody thinks they get to decide for all of us what “the point of vr” is. What is “the point of tv”? Or of “the internet”?
eptcyka 4y ago
I think the author is arguing that they should be able to press arbitrary buttons and do all the necessary dancing without having to move your avatar to an arbitrary place and pose - freecam movement isn't necessarily implied.
account42 4y ago
I heard the same argument against smooth locomation. Never been a problem for me. People are different, so provide the option.

alanbernstein 4y ago

You’re absolutely right. To me this is an argument that we need much more standardization and fine-grained details about “comfort level”, and control options. Many games seem to implement motion and interaction controls internally, which is great for experimentation. But for many games, that isn’t the main point. In those, the user could instead select one of their own personal control schemes. Maybe some of those control schemes could even be extensible, for games that want a familiar UI, but also want to experiment a bit.

chaostheory 4y ago
Everyone is right. The author still has a point though. However, I don’t see it being fixed until VR hits a tipping point with user numbers, and I don’t see that happening until Apple’s headset is successful (which probably won’t be the 1st version due to its high cost). Meta has an amazing product, but the brand is still tarnished for now which is why so many people actively avoid it. There’s just not enough money in the market to make anyone inclined to solve an edge problem sooner than needed. It will remain an edge case until more of the elderly generation start using VR more often

Melatonic 4y ago

I mean it also could probably solved by just having a slider that allowed you to change your head position (like an offset). I think his problem is that his head is just way back compared to his body (offset backwards)

PaulHoule 4y ago
Personally I think part of the fun with game consoles is playing sprawled out. The other day I walked up to an old parachute hammock up in the woods and played Mario Kart 7 with a Nintendo 3DS after I crawled up into it. VR should create simulations that are consistent with that kind of environment.
AgentME 4y ago
VRChat has a feature where you can set an angle offset ("horizon adjust") for all of your tracked positions (headset and controllers). So if you're laying down facing the ceiling, you can press a button and the game will treat it in-game as if you're standing up looking forward.
- bni 4y ago
  This is great, all games should have this. Also a way to freely change your height if you want to play seated but still stand up in the VR world. Some games have seated mode now but Oculus missed to implement this the first 2-3 years of games.
ivan23178 4y ago
I personally think that lack of eye movement tracking is really the worst part. In real life you don't normally have to turn your whole head to look at things all the time, you often can just look using eye movements and focus. But ability to fully track that stuff and ways to provide some kind of depth perception are almost completely missing from the current VR tech. Methinks it's gonna take a lot of R&D before we're at that level of immersion.
- account42 4y ago
  Isn't that mostly about the headsets having a (relatively) limited feld of view. With (insanely fast) eye tracking you might be able to avoid rendering part of the screens you are not looking at but the lense/screen will still need to be physically wide enough for you to look at those parts.
- 4y ago

jayd16 4y ago

Its a power tool though. Opt-in should be fine. There are a few free look implementations and they're not that bad, anyway. In my mind the bigger issue is games are just not designed for free look and it doesn't even make all that much sense. Heads clipping through walls is already an annoying problem without the assumption the user can fly anywhere. I think supporting stick movement and crouch or fixed height seems like something that might be standard if we end up seeing some AAA experiences.

barbariangrunge 4y ago

I’m just a little weirded out that somebody thinks they get to decide for all of us what “the point of vr” is. What is “the point of tv”? Or of “the internet”?

eptcyka 4y ago

I think the author is arguing that they should be able to press arbitrary buttons and do all the necessary dancing without having to move your avatar to an arbitrary place and pose - freecam movement isn't necessarily implied.

account42 4y ago

I heard the same argument against smooth locomation. Never been a problem for me. People are different, so provide the option.