PC VR

Got the Deluxe Audio Strap installed yesterday, here's my quick thoughts:

Installation issues similar with the Initial Vive set-up. Even the official HTC Vive video on the set-up misses entire steps about disconnecting the cables from the original harness, and multiple steps in the process require such an amount of force that the fear of permanent damage to the Vive is real.

Having said that, I agree with what everybody else who has reviewed the Deluxe strap has said. It's completely amazing. It changes the balance of the weight on your head from constantly pulling your head towards the ground by using a solid plastic base mount for the back of the head. It's very easy to now adjust it to fit exactly the right size by a knob on the back and because of the new balance and new sizing capabilities, I can now easily look in all directions (including up and down) quickly and easily without the headset moving or without me thinking that it is going to fall off.

The headphones themselves are an improvement in sound and comfort over the earbuds and good enough quality that I no longer feel the need to wear my heavy Void headset on top of the already heavy Vive.

Highly recommended for any Vive owner, it is the hardware that it should have shipped with but that's not a new problem with first gen hardware. And as far as the additional costs go, yes VR is expensive and the Vive is the most. Having no experience with the Rift or the new Rift upgrades, PSVR or any of the other offerings, I can't determine if the Vive is overpriced. But I can say that if you've already invested in a VR capable PC and already invested in the Vive, the $100 investment in the Deluxe strap is minuscule and well worth it.

A Chair in a Room: Greenwater is scheduled for tonight, we'll see if the new strap allows for longer game play so I can get through the game.
 
Wow. Budget Cuts demo is fantastic. I played it and an hour flew right by. I'm ducking down and crawling on my hands and knees through air ducts trying to avoid killer robots all the while searching for my resume.

The teleportation / portal locomotion is fantastic as well. It looks like the developer has (had?) some plans to bring it to PSVR and Rift as well. A quick google didn't look like it was there yet, so I'm keeping it in this thread.

But highly recommended. I was eventually murdered, I don't know how far I got in the game. I imagine it's probably short once you know what you're doing, but like most VR games the fun is in figuring out what to do. I can't wait for Portal VR, you know it's coming, it'll be amazeballs.
 
If it was possible to have much higher pixels density where eye focuses and have less outside focus that would help a lot with the required resolution. Brute forcing pixels "equally" is not a great path forward.

This company is trying to achieve that but I have no idea if their solution is good or bullshit to get hype.

http://www.varjo.com/
It's called Foveated Rendering. Lots of companies including MS are investigating. It needs unobtrusive, very fast and accurate pupil tracking.
 
If it was possible to have much higher pixels density where eye focuses and have less outside focus that would help a lot with the required resolution. Brute forcing pixels "equally" is not a great path forward.

You still need the ability to show the highest density everywhere. Not sure when we get 2-3k ppi displays mainstream.
 
You still need the ability to show the highest density everywhere. Not sure when we get 2-3k ppi displays mainstream.

No, you only need it at where eye focuses assuming you can build display to accommodate eye focus. And then you need foveated renderering in sw side. As I undertand it varjo is all about new type of display but I might be wrong about that.
 
You mean a mechanically moved screen? As Ethatron says, foveated rendering has a maximum res display and only draws the pixels where you are looking.
 
No, you only need it at where eye focuses assuming you can build display to accommodate eye focus. And then you need foveated renderering in sw side. As I undertand it varjo is all about new type of display but I might be wrong about that.

I don't think self-organizing variable resolution displays are possible with the forseeable tech. Something with fluids driven by electro-magnetic field impulses?
I also don't think a mechanically moved LCD or fluid device can reach the speed of the eye saccade, which is the fastest movement of the human body. You have to keep in mind the eye rotates around it's center like a gyro, it has not much inertia (of mass) to cope with. The device would be on an outside ring-orbit, like the saturn rings, and innertia probably prevents it from following the saccade in a meaningful way, way too much lag.
There is retina projection, which might work, but's either even more complicated then simply a brute force sized LCD display, as you have to be able to project from any angle of the FoV, or you have to move the projector mechanically like above. Maybe fixing it on the iris? Sounds scary and dangerous.
While your eyeball moves you're not really "seeing" (interpreting) anything, so it's possible to hide some of the lag, but I don't believe a mechanical solution can practically work.
Maybe connecting directly to the optical nerve? Also not anytime soon I would think, at least not resolving 100-300k/mm² signal-density. I'm not sure how feeding native low-resolution information would look to a normal seeing human, probably very very disturbing, if not brain-damaging (the tune, not the structure). Blind people are happy to see 32x32 greyscale stuff though.

I believe putting a LCD shell in front of your eye is simply the easiest solution by some factor, and it will come, but not in 5 years, maybe not even in 10. There might be a way to detect the electric build-up in the brain for the eye muscle to anticipate the movement, which would make the LCD based foveated rendering kind of ok in regards to lag.
 
Oh right, it's a framework for powering all xR experiences. They should label the video something like "Experience Virtual Reality Powered By Windows MixedReality".
 
I recommend everybody try out Mindshow. It's in free early access right now, essentially it provides VR backdrops and then you switch into characters and provide the movements, expressions and dialog. It then records your "play" and allows you to share it like this:



It's pretty much as fun as your imagination.
 
So, IFA happened a week or so ago and a slew (5) of affordable inside/out Windows VR devices have been announced along with pricing (most seem to be 349 USD for just the headset and another 100 USD with included motion controls). Their availability is set to coincide with the release of the Windows 10 fall update.

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsex...indows-10-fall-creators-update-coming-oct-17/

Headsets are from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. They all appear to be very similar with the main differences being whether they use 360 degree cameras (marketing?) or not, resolution of displays (Dell is advertising 1440x1440 displays), and design of the outer shell of the headset. Motion controllers are all the same design. Not sure if they were designed by MS for OEMs or some other company designed them.

So it's a step towards bringing VR to a wider audience.
  • Lower price of entry.
  • Easier to setup.
  • If this platform (MS Augmented Reality platform) gains widespread adoption then it'll make VR more ubiquitous similar to how DirectX made gaming more ubiquitous by making a standard way of rendering. IE - don't need to worry about whether X headset will work with Y game if they all use the same APIs.
I still remain highly skeptical of VR ever gaining widespread adoption, but this is an important step. Price still needs to come down significantly, IMO, but there's only so much you can do with the current technology available.

Regards,
SB
 
Despite Take-Two's doubts of VR's appeal, Rockstar is bringing a version of LA Noire to the Vive. Never having played the original game, I'll probably pick that version up before I grab one for the XB1.

Called LA Noire: The VR Case Files, the intriguing-sounding game is coming to HTC Vive on November 14, alongside new versions of the 1940s-set crime game for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/rockstar-gets-into-vr-with-vive-version-of-la-noir/1100-6453176/
 
I must say I was a bit disappointed in Job Simulator. It gets rave reviews, yet I found it rather mundane and lacking in freedom for its $29.99 price tag. I was actually surprised at the lack of interaction and freedom for creativity in the game, compared to others that I have played.

Perhaps it was great when it was released early in 2016, but I wouldn't recommend it to anybody at this point.

If I have time I'll get into Dungeon Knight tonight, that should be a more complete experience.
 
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