3 ms·

An Oral History of Virtual Reality

4 points by markmassie 12y ago

knope 12y ago
boooo facebook... nvidia and others have been pioneering here long before facebook bought out the rights to oculous.. and certainly facebook is NOT the forefront of VR... unless you count virtual-friends.... ..in which case... bravo facebook...
pdkl95 12y ago
VR? We call that "minecraft" these days. In all seriousness, the analogy netscape : 2D_text :: minecraft : 3D_voxels is far more accurate than many people realize. Most importantly, minecraft provides the same "easy, accessable editing" that netscape (via HTML) provided. Just as anybody can learn some very basic HTML and immediately see successful results in the browser was a big reason the web took off, and minecraft has added a similar ease-of-use to 3D/VR. As cool as stereo rendering is (and oculous certainly raised the cool-factor by an impressive amount), it's still just an effect that depends on what you do with it.
- derefr 12y ago
  Virtual reality actually has nothing to do with stereo rendering. VR is the perception of being “in” a space. Stereoscopic rendering is just one (very difficult) way to trigger that perception by tricking your sense of vision. It’s actually easier to get "VR immersion” from your ears: take a program that lets you move around a 3D space and simulates audio depth-of-field for ambient soundscapes (most modern games will do), then play it with a correctly-placed surround-sound system. (You’ll have to play it blindfolded, or in a lightless room, though, to stop your eyes from telling you you’re still in a room playing a game. Any sense which isn’t immersed tears the others down unless it’s “switched off” like this. Trying an Oculus with plain stereo headphones has the same problem.) Which is all to say, Minecraft has nothing whatsoever to do with VR, any more than holofoil trading cards do. The MVP for VR immersion would look nothing like Minecraft; it’d look more like a sensory depravation tank sitting on one of those 4D film† tilt-rigs, such that you could pilot yourself over a cliff and feel yourself plummet. † http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4D_film http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4D_film
  - pdkl95 12y ago
    I suspect you may not have played many of the recent adventure maps, or played Minecraft for extended periods of time. It has been incredibly successful - despite the blocks, which you just accept after a while - at inducing a suspension of disbelief. I agree, VR is about the perception of being "in" a space, and the interactivity and mutability of the space provided by Minecraft is better[1] than basically everything that came before it. This interactivity engages (and distracts) the player's attention, and because our focus is limited[2], stuff like "graphics quality" can become less important. Better tech can help, of course, but no matter how good the graphics and sound are, finding that you can't open a door because it was only part of the "painted on" scenery can rip you out of the illusion. This problem of having an environment that "reacts properly" is exactly what Minecraft tries to solve.[3] Also, I fully agree sound is very important, and watching people freak out HARD (in ways similar to the way some people freak out when using the Oculus) simply hearing a subtle sound effect. The "creeper" in Minecraft is well known for this effect. [1] "better" is subjective, of course, and Oculus is very good at what it does. It's too bad about the facebook acuisition, because Notch obvious recognized the power that Minecraft with Oculus would probably have. [2] Simple demo of what I mean ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKCT-simmBo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKCT-simmBo ), and a better explanation by Apollo Robins regarding how it is exploitable ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0k2gja3ym4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0k2gja3ym4 ). [3] The "blocks" are part of the way Minecraft tries to solve interactivity. Violating your expectations breaks even the best illusion, and it's easier to believe you're in a strange cube world because it simplifies the the problem of making the environment self-consistent.

4 points by markmassie 12y ago

knope 12y ago

boooo facebook... nvidia and others have been pioneering here long before facebook bought out the rights to oculous.. and certainly facebook is NOT the forefront of VR... unless you count virtual-friends.... ..in which case... bravo facebook...

pdkl95 12y ago

VR? We call that "minecraft" these days. In all seriousness, the analogy netscape : 2D_text :: minecraft : 3D_voxels is far more accurate than many people realize. Most importantly, minecraft provides the same "easy, accessable editing" that netscape (via HTML) provided. Just as anybody can learn some very basic HTML and immediately see successful results in the browser was a big reason the web took off, and minecraft has added a similar ease-of-use to 3D/VR. As cool as stereo rendering is (and oculous certainly raised the cool-factor by an impressive amount), it's still just an effect that depends on what you do with it.

derefr 12y ago
Virtual reality actually has nothing to do with stereo rendering. VR is the perception of being “in” a space. Stereoscopic rendering is just one (very difficult) way to trigger that perception by tricking your sense of vision. It’s actually easier to get "VR immersion” from your ears: take a program that lets you move around a 3D space and simulates audio depth-of-field for ambient soundscapes (most modern games will do), then play it with a correctly-placed surround-sound system. (You’ll have to play it blindfolded, or in a lightless room, though, to stop your eyes from telling you you’re still in a room playing a game. Any sense which isn’t immersed tears the others down unless it’s “switched off” like this. Trying an Oculus with plain stereo headphones has the same problem.) Which is all to say, Minecraft has nothing whatsoever to do with VR, any more than holofoil trading cards do. The MVP for VR immersion would look nothing like Minecraft; it’d look more like a sensory depravation tank sitting on one of those 4D film† tilt-rigs, such that you could pilot yourself over a cliff and feel yourself plummet. † http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4D_film http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4D_film
- pdkl95 12y ago
  I suspect you may not have played many of the recent adventure maps, or played Minecraft for extended periods of time. It has been incredibly successful - despite the blocks, which you just accept after a while - at inducing a suspension of disbelief. I agree, VR is about the perception of being "in" a space, and the interactivity and mutability of the space provided by Minecraft is better[1] than basically everything that came before it. This interactivity engages (and distracts) the player's attention, and because our focus is limited[2], stuff like "graphics quality" can become less important. Better tech can help, of course, but no matter how good the graphics and sound are, finding that you can't open a door because it was only part of the "painted on" scenery can rip you out of the illusion. This problem of having an environment that "reacts properly" is exactly what Minecraft tries to solve.[3] Also, I fully agree sound is very important, and watching people freak out HARD (in ways similar to the way some people freak out when using the Oculus) simply hearing a subtle sound effect. The "creeper" in Minecraft is well known for this effect. [1] "better" is subjective, of course, and Oculus is very good at what it does. It's too bad about the facebook acuisition, because Notch obvious recognized the power that Minecraft with Oculus would probably have. [2] Simple demo of what I mean ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKCT-simmBo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKCT-simmBo ), and a better explanation by Apollo Robins regarding how it is exploitable ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0k2gja3ym4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0k2gja3ym4 ). [3] The "blocks" are part of the way Minecraft tries to solve interactivity. Violating your expectations breaks even the best illusion, and it's easier to believe you're in a strange cube world because it simplifies the the problem of making the environment self-consistent.