Most overhyped products

[Normchacho]

torok said:

Normchacho said:

I didn't say that someone who uses VR can dislike it. You implied in your first post that it doesn't work. When you say things like "it won't offer the much promised presence" you're saying that it won't do what it actually does.

In fact. If what you're saying were true, horror movies wouldn't work. You're never really in danger, but your heart rate still climbs as the tension does. And that's using a significantly more limited means of providing immersion.

Where exactly did I say VR would be a commercial success? My post was saying that your analysis was way off the mark. So much so, that it's actually hard to believe you've used it. Especially when you say things like "nausea is a huge issue" when it hasn't been a major issue for VR in over a year and will only improve with time as developers get more experience with VR.

Presence is more than simulating the visual information. If you get the visual information that you are riding a horse climbing a mountain, it won't work. Because your other senses say you aren't.

You comparison between movies and VR is wrong by a basic V characteristic: the way your brain undestands the image. A movie is seen in the same way as a paiting or an outdoor. Your brain knows it isn't real. When you are using VR, your brain interprets the visual feed as real. That's why some people will have nausea, because your brain is trying to combine the balance data from your labyrinth and the visual information and is finding a severe mismatch.

So while movies have more primitive immersion resources, VR has your brain actually fighting against it. This article is pretty informative about the real problem that VR has to fix: http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/why-virtual-isnt-real-to-your-brain-judder/.

VR necessarily HAS to be a commercial success to exist. Nobody will keep making US$ 40M games for a niche platform. It also doesn't have "time" for developers get used to it. It's make or break. Nobody will buy a US$ 400 device thinking "oh, in two years games will be incredible" and devs won't make games thinking "oh, all VR content is crap now, but gamers are pacient and will wait".

I really, really want VR to succeed. I just don't think that the tech is here already. Is expensive and, currently, underwhelming. We have 3 companies betting big on it. HTC is half-bankrupt and desperate, Oculus is a startup with Facebook funding that can't even deliver the few orders it has and Sony is just experimenting, like they did with PS Home, Move, Eyetoy and such. Just throwing ideas and waiting for any of them to work.

So, I do think this a worthwhile conversation. But I am at work on my phone right now and I don't want to derail the thread. So I'll pm you my response when I get home.