Rift, Vive, and Virtual Reality

[manux]

Cardboard has sold insanely well

http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/27/google-cardboard-5-million-users/

 

[zed]

5 million is surprising, It might of sold well but the quality of the apps I've tried have all been really crappy ( thats why I've asked for suggestions). I'm even tempted to write one since theres bugger all competition, Im assuming the quality is so low cause ppl are targetting occulus & psvr?

 

[zed]

wait, is it possible to stream video output from your PC to your phone?
i.e. so the PC GPU/CPU does all the heavy work (like occulus rift) and the phone displays the results and also perhaps sends orientation data back to the PC

 

[orangpelupa]

wait, is it possible to stream video output from your PC to your phone?
i.e. so the PC GPU/CPU does all the heavy work (like occulus rift) and the phone displays the results and also perhaps sends orientation data back to the PC

Yes. Use trinulus. Works 3D too. Use it as virtual theater for the least headache

 

[Rurouni]

Yes. Use trinulus. Works 3D too. Use it as virtual theater for the least headache

You mean TrinusVR?

 

[zed]

OK thanks orangpelupa, Got it up and running.(I see the mouse cursor dual screen on the phone and can control it by moving the phone) Now I need some apps/games to try out

Since not many games support the display of stereoscopic side-by-side 3D

Any idea of some good ones that do?
A bit weird to say the least, that the makers of the app don't have a link to any specific titles, just a link to some 3rd party solutions that may or may not make a particular game stereoscopic 3D
stereoscopic side-by-side 3D
stereoscopic side-by-side 3D

 

[manux]

Neat article about nokia's 360 3d vr camera: http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/28/nokia-ceo-vr-comeback-sundance-interview/

Haidamus says that Nokia's been working closely with20th Century Fox, a studio that's been very aggressive in the VR space, on development of the camera. There are also a number of partnerships in the works, though Haidamus isn't ready to divulge details on them just yet. But he points to early experiments with the NBA, where Ozo was placed courtside at an LA Lakers game, as well as a live stream of a concert performed on the roof of Capitol Records as proof of the camera's potential.

 

[zed]

OK thanks orangpelupa, Got it up and running.(I see the mouse cursor dual screen on the phone and can control it by moving the phone) Now I need some apps/games to try out
Any idea of some good ones that do?
A bit weird to say the least, that the makers of the app don't have a link to any specific titles, just a link to some 3rd party solutions that may or may not make a particular game stereoscopic 3D

^the above thing, I've noticed heaps of times in the past with various apps (even from multi billion dollar companies) and which I've never really understood, you spend 100s or 10000s of hours making something, yet do not include a single demo. couldnt they of spent 30minutes throwing together a simple room with blocks in unity that you can walk around in to see if its working?

OK weekend, spent some more time searching my results
most recent first person stereoscopic 3D game on steam, is wait for it ............................... doom 3: BFG edition from oct 2012!!!
For ppl looking at giving trinus a try, don't bother. yes you can stream a firstperson game to your smartphone but and this is a massive BUT .. its not stereoscopic, which sorta defeats a huge chunk of VR i.e. the feeling of depth, ala, the immersion factor of being there,
I will tell you how you can experience practically the same experience of trinus, you ready ........... move your face closer to your PC screen

 

[orangpelupa]

^the above thing, I've noticed heaps of times in the past with various apps (even from multi billion dollar companies) and which I've never really understood, you spend 100s or 10000s of hours making something, yet do not include a single demo. couldnt they of spent 30minutes throwing together a simple room with blocks in unity that you can walk around in to see if its working?

OK weekend, spent some more time searching my results
most recent first person stereoscopic 3D game on steam, is wait for it ............................... doom 3: BFG edition from oct 2012!!!
For ppl looking at giving trinus a try, don't bother. yes you can stream a firstperson game to your smartphone but and this is a massive BUT .. its not stereoscopic, which sorta defeats a huge chunk of VR i.e. the feeling of depth, ala, the immersion factor of being there,
I will tell you how you can experience practically the same experience of trinus, you ready ........... move your face closer to your PC screen

You need to run the game in 3D.

But currently there is no 'one click' solution

 

[zed]

You need to run the game in 3D.

Are you talking about in trinus, 'fake3d' = OK because that doesnt make it 3d AFAIKS, it just sends the same image to both eyes.
I may download unity myself later and create my own 3d scene

 

[orangpelupa]

Are you talking about in trinus, 'fake3d' = OK because that doesnt make it 3d AFAIKS, it just sends the same image to both eyes.
I may download unity myself later and create my own 3d scene

Real 3d. Different perspective for each eye. Rendered twice.

I'm cryengine games you can simply use console commands. But other games need other 3d solutions

 

[Deleted member 13524]

HTC Vive Consumer Edition is $800 with the wireless SteamVR controllers and 2 games.
The surprise feature is "Phone Services", which seems to me that it makes the device work as a bluetooth headset for our smartphones (probably with HUD controls?) while being in use, in order to stay in touch with the real world. (EDIT: apparently we can text SMS with it too).

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_vive_co...comes_with_vive_phone_services-blog-16782.php
http://www.roadtovr.com/htc-vive-price-799-and-release-date-april-1st/


If HTC uses their smartphone/tablet distribution channels, they could probably sell this in Europe for close to 800€, making it a whole lot cheaper than Occulus Rift (whose only distribution effort was to make a deal with a very expensive mail company).

 

[manux]

Vive is cheaper than what I would have expected. Especially when the controllers are bundled in. On the other hand the bundled games are pretty crappy.

 

[Arwin]

I'd need a bit more impressions on actual games, but so far, the HTC Vive is looking pretty good. And this is the first time that I can actually use this in a space not directly in front of the TV so I might actually just about find room to do this.

 

[manux]

If HTC uses their smartphone/tablet distribution channels, they could probably sell this in Europe for close to 800€, making it a whole lot cheaper than Occulus Rift (whose only distribution effort was to make a deal with a very expensive mail company).

you will be disappointed if you are expecting straight dollar to euro conversion. Dollar prices in usa never have any sales taxes included and consumer protection is worse than in europe. range from 899e to 999e is probably reasonable expectation assuming htc doesn't hit similar shipping and customs challenges as oculus.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

you will be disappointed if you are expecting straight dollar to euro conversion.

I'm not. Straight conversion from $800 would be below 720€.
Add ~20% for taxes and it's 866€.
The Occulus right now costs 930€ for people living in Europe (assuming you're living in one of the few lucky countries where they ship to). The Vive is still a cheaper for a device that brings dual VR controllers and two sensor stations for room presence detection.

assuming htc doesn't hit similar shipping and customs challenges as oculus.

Why the hell would HTC face those challenges if they've had proper international distribution channels for a dozen years? That makes no sense.

And the problem with Occulus isn't them facing "shipping and customs challenges". It's that they didn't face them at all.
After claiming the Facebook acquisition would help them with distribution, they didn't lift a finger with that and proceeded to just charge the customer with half-assed solutions.
The damn thing is assembled in China, shipped to the US and then shipped to Europe through a regular mailing company. Europeans are practically paying for the thing to make a full trip around the globe with no other reason than Occulus' lack of effort/competence.

 

[eastmen]

The price is really good. I wish it was a little bit cheaper however. If it was $700 I would have jumped from the rift to the vive.

 

[BRiT]

Samsung GearVR is $100 and comes with a six game bundle. It is included free when you preorder a Samsung S7 or Samsung S7 Edge.

This was revealed at the Samsung Live Event at Mobile World Congress.
CNet Coverage: http://live.cnet.com/Event/Samsung_event_at_Mobile_World_Congress

 

[cheapchips]

I thought LGs approach is interesting for mobile. A light weight hmd with its own screens driven/powered from the phone by usb3.

720 vertical res IPS displays sadly, so it's no GearVR competitor.

http://www.roadtovr.com/lg-reveals-mobile-vr-headset-360-vr-g5-new-360-camera/

 

[manux]

I thought LGs approach is interesting for mobile. A light weight hmd with its own screens driven/powered from the phone by usb3.

720 vertical res IPS displays sadly, so it's no GearVR competitor.

http://www.roadtovr.com/lg-reveals-mobile-vr-headset-360-vr-g5-new-360-camera/

I would be willing to bet big money oculus will come out with a standalone rift at some point. It might take many years but it has to be coming. Oculus working together with samsung on gearvr means that all the pieces to make an android based standalone rift are there. To my mind the big blocker is the quality level oculus wants to reach. Standalone rift would be too expensive when the competition is using your existing phone + 100$ addon. I guess oculus could also go the way of gearvr(licensing/co-operation) for the mobile future but that would be unexpected.

One really bad thing with that LG is that there is huge gaps between face and the mask. There would be a lot of light leaking in and that would make 3d experience rather sub par even if the display wasn't horrible to begin with .