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I was extremely bullish on Meta’s VR effort. The Quest 2 is extremely impressive and you really feel like peering into the future of computing. I’m starting to

I was extremely bullish on Meta’s VR effort. The Quest 2 is extremely impressive and you really feel like peering into the future of computing. I’m starting to realize that it may be the far future. The $1500 Quest Pro was just released to scathing reviews. The AR color passthrough feature sounds like a low quality joke. The headset is heavier and the battery lasts a hour or 2. The screen fidelity is still too low for productivity computing. The eye and face tracking result in extremely underwhelming animation that I can’t imagine adds any value to the social proposition. The primary Meta dream of all your social interactions in VR with friends, family and coworkers around the world is starting to seem more than a decade away. And on top of all that, Apple looks like it may have a serious entrant into this market and might easily beat Meta to the finish line to the next computing platform.

nathanaldensr 4y ago
Nobody but tech bros cares a whit about VR, sorry. VR is a toy, and a poor one at that.
- ninethirty 4y ago
  I think it could be ok for conferences; if you're too lazy to go to DefCon for instance.
- xvector 4y ago
  Yeah, and technologists don’t give a shit about what regular people think. When have they ever advanced the state of how we use technology? In 20 years they’ll be happily be using VR glasses, completely having forgotten their initial skepticism.
duxup 4y ago
Outside of gaming ... I don't understand who the current efforts in VR are FOR? There was an arstechnica article about Carmack giving a speech about the state of VR. Apparently he was dismissive of some controversy regarding avatar details. And was disappointed that they weren't yet at the stage where they could hold "arena-scale support with thousands of avatars milling around". Who wants that? I don't want to put on a headset to sit in the nose bleeds of some virtual world with Zuck or Carmack ... that only seems to appeal to: 1. Developers making the cool thing work. 2. The person on stage talking who gets to just put on a headset to appear before thousands of people. That's it.... who are these efforts all for?
- colinmhayes 4y ago
  I actually think tons of people want virtual experiences. Concerts seem to be a great use case for VR. Exercise is a great use case. Meetings probably are too, certainly better than zoom.
  - PuppyTailWags 4y ago
    My greatest concern is that all these virtual experiences are behind a paywall, first hardware and then pay-per-experience. Going for a walk should be free.
    - Finnucane 4y ago
      "I want to go for a walk, but not actually walk, and pay for it, while being bombarded by ads" said no one ever.
      - duxup 4y ago
        "Hello Neighbor. I'm not actually a woman but this is the default avatar and I don't want to pay money to change it."
        Finnucane 4y ago
        "Hello Neighbor. I'd like you to join my professional network on LinkedIn."
        avgDev 4y ago
        "Hello neighbor, you won't believe what happened to this dog, come with me to learn more."
      - datadata 4y ago
        It could quite honestly depend on exactly where you live, maybe it is already a good idea. Maybe your neighborhood is plagued by cars and pedestrian hostile design, and you don't have time to travel. Maybe it is the middle of a blizzard. Unfortunately I think technology will encourage this, as our society is primarily optimizing for GDP (ad spend) and jobs (lack of free time and neighborhoods focused on life outside work).
TigeriusKirk 4y ago
Hasn't Meta always said their VR project will take the better part of a decade to reach the mass market goal? Maybe I misunderstood them.
- zach_garwood 4y ago
  I think you've understood them correctly, but should you _believe_ them?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 4y ago
Metaverse is a virtual 3D world, like a MMORPG game, right? Do you necessarily need VR to participate in such worlds? I had a VR headset, it's very tiring to wear it for a long time.
misiti3780 4y ago
I cant imagine a world where 2B users are using VR, but if that world happens, it seems like it will be long after FB gives up and runs out of steam trying to build the MV. Investors will not tolerate years of huge losses, Zuck will probably lose his job
machiaweliczny 4y ago
I think VR is fair bet with how batteries need to improve (elecrtic cars). They can work on system/algos and battery breakthrough will make it all viable some day

nathanaldensr 4y ago

Nobody but tech bros cares a whit about VR, sorry. VR is a toy, and a poor one at that.

ninethirty 4y ago
I think it could be ok for conferences; if you're too lazy to go to DefCon for instance.
xvector 4y ago
Yeah, and technologists don’t give a shit about what regular people think. When have they ever advanced the state of how we use technology? In 20 years they’ll be happily be using VR glasses, completely having forgotten their initial skepticism.

duxup 4y ago

Outside of gaming ... I don't understand who the current efforts in VR are FOR? There was an arstechnica article about Carmack giving a speech about the state of VR. Apparently he was dismissive of some controversy regarding avatar details. And was disappointed that they weren't yet at the stage where they could hold "arena-scale support with thousands of avatars milling around". Who wants that? I don't want to put on a headset to sit in the nose bleeds of some virtual world with Zuck or Carmack ... that only seems to appeal to: 1. Developers making the cool thing work. 2. The person on stage talking who gets to just put on a headset to appear before thousands of people. That's it.... who are these efforts all for?

colinmhayes 4y ago
I actually think tons of people want virtual experiences. Concerts seem to be a great use case for VR. Exercise is a great use case. Meetings probably are too, certainly better than zoom.
- PuppyTailWags 4y ago
  My greatest concern is that all these virtual experiences are behind a paywall, first hardware and then pay-per-experience. Going for a walk should be free.
  - Finnucane 4y ago
    "I want to go for a walk, but not actually walk, and pay for it, while being bombarded by ads" said no one ever.
    - duxup 4y ago
      "Hello Neighbor. I'm not actually a woman but this is the default avatar and I don't want to pay money to change it."
      - Finnucane 4y ago
        "Hello Neighbor. I'd like you to join my professional network on LinkedIn."
      - avgDev 4y ago
        "Hello neighbor, you won't believe what happened to this dog, come with me to learn more."
    - datadata 4y ago
      It could quite honestly depend on exactly where you live, maybe it is already a good idea. Maybe your neighborhood is plagued by cars and pedestrian hostile design, and you don't have time to travel. Maybe it is the middle of a blizzard. Unfortunately I think technology will encourage this, as our society is primarily optimizing for GDP (ad spend) and jobs (lack of free time and neighborhoods focused on life outside work).

TigeriusKirk 4y ago

Hasn't Meta always said their VR project will take the better part of a decade to reach the mass market goal? Maybe I misunderstood them.

zach_garwood 4y ago
I think you've understood them correctly, but should you _believe_ them?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 4y ago

Metaverse is a virtual 3D world, like a MMORPG game, right? Do you necessarily need VR to participate in such worlds? I had a VR headset, it's very tiring to wear it for a long time.

misiti3780 4y ago

I cant imagine a world where 2B users are using VR, but if that world happens, it seems like it will be long after FB gives up and runs out of steam trying to build the MV. Investors will not tolerate years of huge losses, Zuck will probably lose his job

machiaweliczny 4y ago

I think VR is fair bet with how batteries need to improve (elecrtic cars). They can work on system/algos and battery breakthrough will make it all viable some day