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Doing your desk job in VR seems like a gimmick. Meetings in VR are a gimmick. Collaborative real-time design and creative work in 3D - that sounds like it's wor

by rjh29 4y ago

Doing your desk job in VR seems like a gimmick. Meetings in VR are a gimmick. Collaborative real-time design and creative work in 3D - that sounds like it's worth $1500.

jackbrookes 4y ago
> Meetings in VR are a gimmick I expect you're wrong - spatial audio, body language, face tracking, eye contact are all super valuable and possibly in VR
- rjh29 4y ago
  Beyond Zoom you mean? It might do. Being autistic I tend to see meetings as an organised exchange to information rather than a body language thing, but I can see what you mean.
  - colinmhayes 4y ago
    Communication is much more about body language than words for most people.
- jayd16 4y ago
  Yeah, I think people underestimate the compelling nature of diverse expression. Its more fun to hang out in a game with emotes than it is to hang out in a voice call. Will headsets replace zoom? I can't say. There are other convenience factors there. But hanging out in a virtual place is empirically compelling.
  - q-big 4y ago
    > Yeah, I think people underestimate the compelling nature of diverse expression. In my experience whether they find this compelling depends a lot on the respective person. "Manager types" might like it, but quite some programmers would rather detest it.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
nsilvestri 4y ago
I believe I'll be able to replace my monitors to do my desk job with a VR headset within 10 years. Rather than having 2 monitors of different sizes and resolutions on a desk, why not just have as many virtual monitors with exactly the size, position, and distance I want? In fact, why have monitors at all? Just position the windows in arbitrary space in front of me. Desktop computing with a VR headset is somewhat possible right now, but I am not quite able to stomach the resolution limitations of the Quest 2. I'm looking forward to devices like SimulaVR [0], which intend to fully replace desktop computing with a self-contained VR headset (plus a mouse and keyboard). In my mind, there are two and a half problems to solve to make it possible. One is pixel density. It has to at least be equivalent (or very close) to our own eyes. Two is comfort, both physical (ventilation, weight) and health-wise (eye strain). Two and a half is being able to navigate without a mouse and keyboard, and preferably no peripherals, but I think I'm able to wait for that. [0] https://simulavr.com/ https://simulavr.com/
- donmcronald 4y ago
  This is pretty much exactly what I was going to say. I think it's a gimmick for now, but as soon as the pixel density gets high enough it becomes more interesting. > Two and a half is being able to navigate without a mouse and keyboard, and preferably no peripherals, but I think I'm able to wait for that. I can't imagine that. I think it'll end up being a normal desk, mouse, keyboard painted into the VR world by using the passthrough cameras. Something else I've noticed when I put on my Quest 2 is the lighting. I don't like the way the lights in my office feel like they glare in my eyes. Putting on the Quest 2 and hitting a virtual environment gives the feel of indirect lighting and I find it much more comfortable. It's like being outside. That comfort doesn't last very long, but if I could get away with it for 2h at a time, and have high DPI virtual screens, I think I'd at least try a virtual office. They also need to make it so I can drink a cup of coffee with the headset on or the whole thing is DOA. Lol.
  - School-Cotton 4y ago
    There is no a priori reason to believe that the pixel resolution will ever be that high. Not all technology we can imagine is actually possible.
joisig 4y ago
Collaborative architectural design is what Arkio does, one of the launch partners.
moolcool 4y ago
You're looking at it from the perspective of a higher-end knowledge worker. $1500 to strap a 1984-esque telescreen on your call center employee and have them work from home instead of a cubicle would save a bundle.
- madamelic 4y ago
  > $1500 to strap a 1984-esque telescreen on your call center employee and have them work from home instead of a cubicle would save a bundle. Alternatively, think of how small you can make the cubicles if you can integrate the entire computer and telephone into a headset. You could like double or triple capacity if cubicles were the size of those WeWork phone booths.
philjohn 4y ago
Meetings in VR are genuinely far less draining than Zoom/Teams calls.
- fortuna86 4y ago
  Are they? Considered I get motion sickness after 20 min or so, and i'm not alone.
  - modeless 4y ago
    If you get motion sickness after 20 minutes of a seated experience that is running at full frame rate, with no artificial locomotion, you are decidedly in the minority. It is not impossible, but it is far from common.
    - fortuna86 4y ago
      What does "artificial locomotion" mean? Does that mean you move around in a VR environment ? Isn't that all VR experiences ?
      - philjohn 4y ago
        Not all - beat saber you're still, workrooms meetings you're still. Sim Racing, any game where you fly or run around - those are artificial locomotion and can definitely take some getting used to for some (not all) people.
        fortuna86 4y ago
        Everyone I know has a cap of around 20 min for their VR experience, some for motion sickness, some headaches. It's a small sample size of just people I know, but it's significant enough to mention.
bitwize 4y ago
Even then I'd rather it be an Iron Man style floating holodesk than something you have to strap onto your face. Expectation: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d1/a2/65/d1a265d2093c0b95211222f9e96829e3.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d1/a2/65/d1a265d2093c0b952112... Reality: https://assets1.ignimgs.com/2016/10/06/maxresdefaultjpg-f9a97c_765w.jpg https://assets1.ignimgs.com/2016/10/06/maxresdefaultjpg-f9a9... Come to think of it, they're both pretty dorky.

by rjh29 4y ago

Doing your desk job in VR seems like a gimmick. Meetings in VR are a gimmick. Collaborative real-time design and creative work in 3D - that sounds like it's worth $1500.

jackbrookes 4y ago

> Meetings in VR are a gimmick I expect you're wrong - spatial audio, body language, face tracking, eye contact are all super valuable and possibly in VR

rjh29 4y ago
Beyond Zoom you mean? It might do. Being autistic I tend to see meetings as an organised exchange to information rather than a body language thing, but I can see what you mean.
- colinmhayes 4y ago
  Communication is much more about body language than words for most people.
jayd16 4y ago
Yeah, I think people underestimate the compelling nature of diverse expression. Its more fun to hang out in a game with emotes than it is to hang out in a voice call. Will headsets replace zoom? I can't say. There are other convenience factors there. But hanging out in a virtual place is empirically compelling.
- q-big 4y ago
  > Yeah, I think people underestimate the compelling nature of diverse expression. In my experience whether they find this compelling depends a lot on the respective person. "Manager types" might like it, but quite some programmers would rather detest it.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

nsilvestri 4y ago

I believe I'll be able to replace my monitors to do my desk job with a VR headset within 10 years. Rather than having 2 monitors of different sizes and resolutions on a desk, why not just have as many virtual monitors with exactly the size, position, and distance I want? In fact, why have monitors at all? Just position the windows in arbitrary space in front of me. Desktop computing with a VR headset is somewhat possible right now, but I am not quite able to stomach the resolution limitations of the Quest 2. I'm looking forward to devices like SimulaVR [0], which intend to fully replace desktop computing with a self-contained VR headset (plus a mouse and keyboard). In my mind, there are two and a half problems to solve to make it possible. One is pixel density. It has to at least be equivalent (or very close) to our own eyes. Two is comfort, both physical (ventilation, weight) and health-wise (eye strain). Two and a half is being able to navigate without a mouse and keyboard, and preferably no peripherals, but I think I'm able to wait for that. [0] https://simulavr.com/ https://simulavr.com/

donmcronald 4y ago
This is pretty much exactly what I was going to say. I think it's a gimmick for now, but as soon as the pixel density gets high enough it becomes more interesting. > Two and a half is being able to navigate without a mouse and keyboard, and preferably no peripherals, but I think I'm able to wait for that. I can't imagine that. I think it'll end up being a normal desk, mouse, keyboard painted into the VR world by using the passthrough cameras. Something else I've noticed when I put on my Quest 2 is the lighting. I don't like the way the lights in my office feel like they glare in my eyes. Putting on the Quest 2 and hitting a virtual environment gives the feel of indirect lighting and I find it much more comfortable. It's like being outside. That comfort doesn't last very long, but if I could get away with it for 2h at a time, and have high DPI virtual screens, I think I'd at least try a virtual office. They also need to make it so I can drink a cup of coffee with the headset on or the whole thing is DOA. Lol.
- School-Cotton 4y ago
  There is no a priori reason to believe that the pixel resolution will ever be that high. Not all technology we can imagine is actually possible.

joisig 4y ago

Collaborative architectural design is what Arkio does, one of the launch partners.

moolcool 4y ago

You're looking at it from the perspective of a higher-end knowledge worker. $1500 to strap a 1984-esque telescreen on your call center employee and have them work from home instead of a cubicle would save a bundle.

madamelic 4y ago
> $1500 to strap a 1984-esque telescreen on your call center employee and have them work from home instead of a cubicle would save a bundle. Alternatively, think of how small you can make the cubicles if you can integrate the entire computer and telephone into a headset. You could like double or triple capacity if cubicles were the size of those WeWork phone booths.

philjohn 4y ago

Meetings in VR are genuinely far less draining than Zoom/Teams calls.

fortuna86 4y ago
Are they? Considered I get motion sickness after 20 min or so, and i'm not alone.
- modeless 4y ago
  If you get motion sickness after 20 minutes of a seated experience that is running at full frame rate, with no artificial locomotion, you are decidedly in the minority. It is not impossible, but it is far from common.
  - fortuna86 4y ago
    What does "artificial locomotion" mean? Does that mean you move around in a VR environment ? Isn't that all VR experiences ?
    - philjohn 4y ago
      Not all - beat saber you're still, workrooms meetings you're still. Sim Racing, any game where you fly or run around - those are artificial locomotion and can definitely take some getting used to for some (not all) people.
      - fortuna86 4y ago
        Everyone I know has a cap of around 20 min for their VR experience, some for motion sickness, some headaches. It's a small sample size of just people I know, but it's significant enough to mention.

bitwize 4y ago

Even then I'd rather it be an Iron Man style floating holodesk than something you have to strap onto your face. Expectation: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d1/a2/65/d1a265d2093c0b95211222f9e96829e3.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d1/a2/65/d1a265d2093c0b952112... Reality: https://assets1.ignimgs.com/2016/10/06/maxresdefaultjpg-f9a97c_765w.jpg https://assets1.ignimgs.com/2016/10/06/maxresdefaultjpg-f9a9... Come to think of it, they're both pretty dorky.