Virtual Reality

[MartyG]

Hand tracking is utterly appalling, it doesn't matter how well you do it, you cannot hand track pressing buttons - buttons work well because they are buttons. Pressing nothing but the air is not good UX, so instead of confirmations taking milliseconds, it takes seconds as you need longer to confirm actions to ensure these things are not accidental activations.

Unless they have some kind of haptic gloves with wifi and sensors, it'll be Kinect all over again.

Remember that Apple has had plenty of misses too.

[huxley]

Hand tracking could have some real world uses. I had a leap motion a few years ago on my index. It worked ok for things like zooming web pages, turning the volume up/down. Like you saying its lacking in its current form. Much the same was said about the first Iphones. But you could argue there was still some haptic feedback just by touching the screen.
I think it will have a place - just needs a lot more time.

[Neon Ignition]

Meet, apparently according to the leaker, the Quest 3

[Asura]

Meet, apparently according to the leaker, the Quest 3

Yep, this is a 3D render of the CAD data that leaked a while back; though people should be aware that the colour scheme is a complete guess right now.

I have a reason to doubt the leak's quality (it seems to have no upper cameras, which seems impossible - that would mean it really needs to have the Pro controllers of the Quest Pro, which it presumably won't, as those are several hundred quid on their own) but that might just be an early draft.

Main things to note were...

1) It uses pancake lenses and a similar "optical stack" to the Quest Pro/Pico 4, meaning it's much smaller than the Quest 2
2) It seems to have a dial for the IPD adjustment, unlike the Quest 2's stepped adjustment
3) It has two square displays, not one rectangular display like the Quest 2, which is an enormous improvement
4) Those shapes on the front presumably servce some purpose, though it's not known yet exactly what
5) It appears to have the Snapdragon XR2+, which is the same as the Pro
6) It doesn't appear to have any face/eye tracking software, which though many people will prefer that, the loss of dynamic foveated rendering is a pain

[huxley]

All these new headsets look fabulous, but the big problem VR has is that there is no real compelling reason for people to want to try one.
Still needs that social killer app to draw people in, that my space moment, but in VR if you will.

I think Apple might tip the scales.

[Brad]

I see meta's Reality Labs continues to haemorrhage $4.3billion a quarter, and those costs are expected to rise in 2023. Unsurprisingly Quest 2 sales fell. I guess we're hitting saturation point. All that is from the Q4 2022 earnings call yesterday BTW.

[Asura]

I see meta's Reality Labs continues to haemorrhage $4.3billion a quarter, and those costs are expected to rise in 2023. Unsurprisingly Quest 2 sales fell. I guess we're hitting saturation point. All that is from the Q4 2022 earnings call yesterday BTW.

You can scarcely believe those figures. I mean, what's the operating budget of Playstation? (i.e. the distinct bit of Sony which handles the Playstation).

It does seem as though they've gone all-in on this, too soon.

Frustrating too because I really love VR, and I'm worried we're heading for something of a crash and it's going to disappear for years again.

[Brad]

Same here [MENTION=5941]Asura[/MENTION]. MS have binned off the entire WMR team, so there goes support for my headset. Valve have done nothing since Index. Pico and Quest are that big chinese outfit and Facebook and are standalone and with the best will in the world simply are not a good PC based experience. I feel like it all might just die. Sony's PSVR2 seems pretty sweet though; just seen IGN gushing over Gran Turismo 7 in VR (which to be honest looks like Assetto Corsa on PC but it's amazing to have on console no doubt).

[wakka]

Just went and watched that IGN vid - it's this one if anyone's interested:



Yeah this is getting me pretty hyped. It seems really cool. I'm deffo excited to try GT in VR.

[Asura]

Same here @Asura. MS have binned off the entire WMR team

daft they put so many eggs in one basket. It's like they gave up the moment the US Military decided not to go with them.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Just went and watched that IGN vid - it's this one if anyone's interested:



Yeah this is getting me pretty hyped. It seems really cool. I'm deffo excited to try GT in VR.

Looks so good. It's the only thing I'd want to play on it.

[Asura]

Honestly it'll be great. Dirt Rally and Wipeout VR were among the best PSVR games purely because racing games are just a natural fit for VR.

[wakka]

Will it be a good game for a complete VR noob do you think? I'm just thinking of the 'VR legs' thing. I've already been advised by a VR owning friend to steer clear of No Man's Sky till I've got a bit more used to VR.

[Neon Ignition]

Should be okay, with GT7 it's largely a perspective thing. You don't have visual effects or verticality to deal with and are unlikely to be standing etc.

[gunrock]

I don't think I'll ever get VR legs. I cannot do locomotion in VR. My brain says "Nope. You are not moving" and I start heading towards violent nausea.

Teleportation movement is all I can do.