What ever happened to Virtual Reality

[JibberX]

Talking in "elPub" last night, Virtual Reality, what happened to it. In the early 1990s, the laste 20th Century, there was a big this with giant booths. But then it vanished. I think you can get headsets for PC flight sims can't you. The technology is well advanced these days. It'd be nice to see it come back.

[Concept]

It metamorphosised into a more abstact concept. The likes of Shenmue, San Andreas, Gran Turismo 4 etc. etc. are taking the ideas behind virtual reality and converting them into software form. The reason VR never took off in gaming is that it's becoming a more social pursuit due to emphasis on the multiplayer experience. People like to talk to or see who they're playing against, hence why we'll probably see peer-to-peer video technology in console gaming take off before VR-headsets make a comeback.

There's also the added impression that most people have these days of the sets being bad for the eyes and causing motion sickness after prolonged use, even if modern technology has managed to circumvent many of these problems during the intervening years.

[goldbricker]

And the fact that they charged ?3 a pop and people were actually paying.

[Darwock]

What about Sony's special headset? The PUD-55J or whatever it was.. the one with head tracking. I recently heard that this is supported by GT4!

[anephric]

There's also the added impression that most people have these days of the sets being bad for the eyes and causing motion sickness after prolonged use, even if modern technology has managed to circumvent many of these problems during the intervening years.

I thought some of these issues (forced near-field focussing, motion sickness) were unavoidable hence the technology was always going to be fundamentally flawed due to our human 'weaknesses'?

If VR relies on a headset interface, these are always going to be factors. Neural interfacing is required (oh brave new world).

[Dirty Sanchez]

Disney Quest in Orlando has a whole heap of these VR games.

They probably disappeared from the mainstream due to the need to have an attendant guarding the gear from the wreckers than manage to break every cab when left to their own devices.

[Madbury]

Has anyone been able to do a proper 3D headset, by that I mean a similar concept to 3D cinema (basically showing a slightly different camera view to each eye independently).

head tracking in a 3D world with real depth would be something I'd love to experience.

[Paul3704]

They had sets in Manchester not long ago, promoting Barclaycard or some other faceless corporate product

[Owain]

Has anyone been able to do a proper 3D headset, by that I mean a similar concept to 3D cinema (basically showing a slightly different camera view to each eye independently).

head tracking in a 3D world with real depth would be something I'd love to experience.

http://www.i-glassesstore.com/iglassespc-3d.html

these will do it, but it only works with certain nvidia graphics cards, and will kill your framerate :/

Still quake3 through these would be quite fun...

[Ady]

It disappeared up its own arse.

I think it'll re-emerge in a more subtle form, particularly with the alleged popularity of non-controller gaming in this day and age (according to Edge, anyway...).

That being said, I'll always feel silly blindly waving my hands around with an equally silly helmet on.

[MonkeyWrench]

I would imagine first person shooters wouldn't work too well with a headset, they would probably be best in games where they player is stationary (like in a vehicle). I would love to play racing games with a headset, it'd be amazing to be able to look at the apex.

[Darwock]

As I said, GT4 + PUD-J5A - it's already here... (can't imagine what it's like though)

[MonkeyWrench]

Yeah I read. GT4 probably wouldn't be a good example as it doesn't have a cockpit view, so no fixed point of reference, it would be like your head is floating around track

[Concept]

I thought some of these issues (forced near-field focussing, motion sickness) were unavoidable hence the technology was always going to be fundamentally flawed due to our human 'weaknesses'?

If VR relies on a headset interface, these are always going to be factors. Neural interfacing is required (oh brave new world).

That's why I used 'if'.

It's somewhat inevitable that the technology used for VR will have improved in use since the early nineties. Despite the criticisms, the use of such technology still has interest to me. Imagine playing ICO in successful VR? Or Half-Life 2?

The prospects of being able to do so without any adverse side-effects has me salivating.

But like you say, neural implants would be more appreicated. If only the Nintendo Revolution would feature mind control controlling technology or neural implant VR, it'd be heaven.

[JibberX]

For VR to work you do need a fixed frame of reference, i.e. a Cockpit or Dashboard. I mean seriously a real car sim, with full viewing, mirrors, and the like. Obviously a game involving a trip to a supermarket wouldn't exactly rock, but a NASCAR car-athon would be smashing, in small bursts.