14 ms·

"By the end of this decade we're going to replace our workstations on our desks with a VR setup" Thanks, I hate it.

crazygringo 4y ago
Why? We'll only replace it if it's actually better. In which case you'll probably love it. For real, monitors are ugly and take up space and become super expensive quick. If we actually manage to come up with something better then monitors, then amazing. If we don't, they won't be replaced.
- moolcool 4y ago
  Why? Because your virtual monitors will exist in Meta's dogshit virtual survaillence world.
  - nomel 4y ago
    Why do you think Meta will be the only one making hardware? There are plenty of head mounted displays that don't have any smarts built in.
    - moolcool 4y ago
      You can buy a phone that isn't powered by iOS or Android too, but you probably won't.
      - nomel 4y ago
        If you just want virtual monitors, I think there will be many "dumb" headsets available. If you want a full standalone experience, then sure, maybe not. But, I think those are, potentially, different markets.
- adastra22 4y ago
  Nausea, sweaty forehead, weight on my head giving cramps in my neck, disconnect from the world around me (I work at home with kids), visual inaccessibility (I need to wear computer glasses). No magic engineering from Meta are going to fix these issues.
  - Ajedi32 4y ago
    Those are all already fixed, or easily fixable. Nausea only occurs (as far as I can tell) when the motion you see in the headset doesn't match your motion in real life. That's not a problem for a simulated desktop experience. Sweaty forehead typically only occurs if you're getting a work out in VR, which wouldn't be a problem for office work. But for those who have that issue even when not exercising it seems easily solvable with better ventilation. Hardly an impossible engineering challenge. Neck cramps are solvable by balancing the weight on your head better. Quest Pro has this. Disconnection from the world is solved by high resolution video passthrough. Quest Pro has this. Visual accessibility is solved by prescription lens inserts. That's been a thing since the Rift 1.
    - patrec 4y ago
      > Disconnection from the world is solved by high resolution video passthrough. This one will go into my treasure trove of HN quotes.
      - fomine3 4y ago
        To be fair, hearing aid is a similar device now used
        adastra22 4y ago
        It completely missed the point though, by a mile.
        Ajedi32 4y ago
        I took the point as being that you can't see your physical surroundings, so you don't know what's going on outside the headset. Passthrough solves that, at least when it's turned on (which for office work it almost always would be). If we're talking about disconnection from the world in a more abstract sense then I agree passthrough doesn't solve that. But that's not really a problem unique to VR either.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  > Why? We'll only replace it if it's actually better. In which case you'll probably love it. If it's better for businesses mandating what their WFH users use. And then, even, it's more like "if salespeople convince some managers it's better", which isn't the same thing as is-in-fact-better.
colonwqbang 4y ago
Agree, I honestly don't understand the level of optimism shown here. To me this sounds like exactly the opposite of how I would like to work in the future. The fact that Facebook fully controls the software and hardware platform is just a huge additional turnoff.
- mensetmanusman 4y ago
  I wouldn’t be surprised if open hardware is gone for good. There is too much money to be made with SAAS.
- Youden 4y ago
  I don't like Facebook any more than you but to be fair, they're not as bad as they could be. For on-device software sideloading is available and SideQuest makes it pretty functional. Additionally, the device supports OpenVR and can be used with any software you'd like to run on your desktop PC. It's more the Google approach to the ecosystem than it is the Apple approach, though I don't believe the OS is open-source.
  - harph 4y ago
    Does that mean I don't need to create an account if I want to use the headset only with OpenVR stuff?
    - wolrah 4y ago
      No, unfortunately to use it with a PC you need to have their app installed on the PC as well and be signed in on both.
      - vachina 4y ago
        Imagine buying a monitor and being forced to install the manufacturer’s app just to display stuff on it. Eh. No.
        4y ago
veidr 4y ago
It's interesting, I love it, really want to do it, and am waiting impatiently for it. I have a desk with 3 big monitors on it and the idea of being able to take that workspace with me in my backpack is incredibly appealing. Working on my laptop alone (a 16" MBP) is awful in comparison. We are far away from actually being able to effectively simulate my full-desk workspace in VR. But even the Quest 2 was enough to make it easy to imagine how it will be when we get there, and obvious that this is how I want to work in the future. And for me, the future can't come soon enough; I'm ready! That's why I skipped upgrading my phone this year and ordered the Meta Quest Pro instead. I know it also won't be able to replicate my desk setup (and I really hate giving money to facebook too) but I want to experience for myself how much closer we are. To me, a VR work environment (with mixed-reality option) is the holy grail, and while its clear we aren't technologically there yet, it is equally clear that we will be within a decade or so (maybe less).
- ulfw 4y ago
  in your backpack to where? Sit in a coffee shop with that humongous thing on your face? to the backyard veranda enjoying the sun? Well you ain't seeing the sun, nor the backyard So where to?
  - veidr 4y ago
    Yes, literally to the coffee shop, as one example. And that's why the (optional) mixed-reality feature is mandatory. I wouldn't be self-conscious about wearing a headset at a starbucks (just like I wasn't about using an in-ear bluetooth headset for my phone ~20 years ago when people thought that looked weird) — but I don't want to not be able to see the people around me in a public space even if I look at them. I think within 10-15 years you will see about as many solo customers at a typical starbucks using a mixed-reality headset as you see using wireless earbuds today. (However, I wouldn't invest the time and money to build out a cloud-powered VR engineering workspace just to be able to take it to the coffee shop. I mainly mean taking it on trips abroad, taking it home when I visit my family, etc.)
    - zmmmmm 4y ago
mattbuilds 4y ago
Don’t worry, it won’t happen. This is just a desperate attempt by Facebook to not be the website where your insane Aunt posts QAnon stuff. It’s not appealing enough to last. It’s just like crypto, a solution searching for a problem to solve. Eventually it will spike and then fade when people realize they get no real benefit from it.

Why? We'll only replace it if it's actually better. In which case you'll probably love it. For real, monitors are ugly and take up space and become super expensive quick. If we actually manage to come up with something better then monitors, then amazing. If we don't, they won't be replaced.

moolcool 4y ago
Why? Because your virtual monitors will exist in Meta's dogshit virtual survaillence world.
- nomel 4y ago
  Why do you think Meta will be the only one making hardware? There are plenty of head mounted displays that don't have any smarts built in.
  - moolcool 4y ago
    You can buy a phone that isn't powered by iOS or Android too, but you probably won't.
    - nomel 4y ago
      If you just want virtual monitors, I think there will be many "dumb" headsets available. If you want a full standalone experience, then sure, maybe not. But, I think those are, potentially, different markets.
adastra22 4y ago
Nausea, sweaty forehead, weight on my head giving cramps in my neck, disconnect from the world around me (I work at home with kids), visual inaccessibility (I need to wear computer glasses). No magic engineering from Meta are going to fix these issues.
- Ajedi32 4y ago
  Those are all already fixed, or easily fixable. Nausea only occurs (as far as I can tell) when the motion you see in the headset doesn't match your motion in real life. That's not a problem for a simulated desktop experience. Sweaty forehead typically only occurs if you're getting a work out in VR, which wouldn't be a problem for office work. But for those who have that issue even when not exercising it seems easily solvable with better ventilation. Hardly an impossible engineering challenge. Neck cramps are solvable by balancing the weight on your head better. Quest Pro has this. Disconnection from the world is solved by high resolution video passthrough. Quest Pro has this. Visual accessibility is solved by prescription lens inserts. That's been a thing since the Rift 1.
  - patrec 4y ago
    > Disconnection from the world is solved by high resolution video passthrough. This one will go into my treasure trove of HN quotes.
    - fomine3 4y ago
      To be fair, hearing aid is a similar device now used
      - adastra22 4y ago
        It completely missed the point though, by a mile.
        Ajedi32 4y ago
        I took the point as being that you can't see your physical surroundings, so you don't know what's going on outside the headset. Passthrough solves that, at least when it's turned on (which for office work it almost always would be). If we're talking about disconnection from the world in a more abstract sense then I agree passthrough doesn't solve that. But that's not really a problem unique to VR either.
yamtaddle 4y ago
> Why? We'll only replace it if it's actually better. In which case you'll probably love it. If it's better for businesses mandating what their WFH users use. And then, even, it's more like "if salespeople convince some managers it's better", which isn't the same thing as is-in-fact-better.

colonwqbang 4y ago

Agree, I honestly don't understand the level of optimism shown here. To me this sounds like exactly the opposite of how I would like to work in the future. The fact that Facebook fully controls the software and hardware platform is just a huge additional turnoff.

mensetmanusman 4y ago
I wouldn’t be surprised if open hardware is gone for good. There is too much money to be made with SAAS.
Youden 4y ago
I don't like Facebook any more than you but to be fair, they're not as bad as they could be. For on-device software sideloading is available and SideQuest makes it pretty functional. Additionally, the device supports OpenVR and can be used with any software you'd like to run on your desktop PC. It's more the Google approach to the ecosystem than it is the Apple approach, though I don't believe the OS is open-source.
- harph 4y ago
  Does that mean I don't need to create an account if I want to use the headset only with OpenVR stuff?
  - wolrah 4y ago
    No, unfortunately to use it with a PC you need to have their app installed on the PC as well and be signed in on both.
    - vachina 4y ago
      Imagine buying a monitor and being forced to install the manufacturer’s app just to display stuff on it. Eh. No.
      - 4y ago

veidr 4y ago

It's interesting, I love it, really want to do it, and am waiting impatiently for it. I have a desk with 3 big monitors on it and the idea of being able to take that workspace with me in my backpack is incredibly appealing. Working on my laptop alone (a 16" MBP) is awful in comparison. We are far away from actually being able to effectively simulate my full-desk workspace in VR. But even the Quest 2 was enough to make it easy to imagine how it will be when we get there, and obvious that this is how I want to work in the future. And for me, the future can't come soon enough; I'm ready! That's why I skipped upgrading my phone this year and ordered the Meta Quest Pro instead. I know it also won't be able to replicate my desk setup (and I really hate giving money to facebook too) but I want to experience for myself how much closer we are. To me, a VR work environment (with mixed-reality option) is the holy grail, and while its clear we aren't technologically there yet, it is equally clear that we will be within a decade or so (maybe less).

ulfw 4y ago
in your backpack to where? Sit in a coffee shop with that humongous thing on your face? to the backyard veranda enjoying the sun? Well you ain't seeing the sun, nor the backyard So where to?
- veidr 4y ago
  Yes, literally to the coffee shop, as one example. And that's why the (optional) mixed-reality feature is mandatory. I wouldn't be self-conscious about wearing a headset at a starbucks (just like I wasn't about using an in-ear bluetooth headset for my phone ~20 years ago when people thought that looked weird) — but I don't want to not be able to see the people around me in a public space even if I look at them. I think within 10-15 years you will see about as many solo customers at a typical starbucks using a mixed-reality headset as you see using wireless earbuds today. (However, I wouldn't invest the time and money to build out a cloud-powered VR engineering workspace just to be able to take it to the coffee shop. I mainly mean taking it on trips abroad, taking it home when I visit my family, etc.)
  - zmmmmm 4y ago

mattbuilds 4y ago

Don’t worry, it won’t happen. This is just a desperate attempt by Facebook to not be the website where your insane Aunt posts QAnon stuff. It’s not appealing enough to last. It’s just like crypto, a solution searching for a problem to solve. Eventually it will spike and then fade when people realize they get no real benefit from it.