Steam's monthly hardware surveys suggest the proportion of PC players with a VR headset plugged in roughly doubled in 2018.
For those that own a VR headset, this is good news. A growing active user base means more interested publishers. It's not exponential growth, but it's definitely a good start. I only recently demoed my VR setup to extended family. Even my less tech savvy relatives were quite impressed. One of the things I demoed to each group was the Epic Roller Coaster demo. Really, I'd forgotten how impressive it is the first couple of times through. It's a sit down experience and all you're doing is looking around. It definitely cuts down on the whole getting used to the interface, etc and gets right to the fun part of VR. Here's hoping for at least another 2x increase of users in 2019.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/01/steam-survey-vr-headset-ownership-roughly-doubled-in-2018/
Related Stories
AMD says Valve is underestimating its success in the Steam Hardware Survey
AMD's hardware – especially its processors – seem to be on a roll, but every month the Steam Hardware Survey, which publishes data on the type of hardware PC gamers using Steam are running, suggests AMD is failing to catch up with Intel and Nvidia – and AMD thinks it knows why.
In a recent interview for Hot Hardware, AMD's Scott Herkelman suggests that a bug introduced in August 2017 caused AMD systems be underestimated – and he suggests the problem is still affecting results.
The error involves Steam counting every individual login at internet cafes (which are particularly popular in Asian countries) as separate PC configurations. So, if 10 people log into Steam on a single Intel-powered PC at an internet café – and opts in to the Steam Hardware Survey – then the survey will count it as 10 separate machines.
With AMD hardware not as widely used in internet cafes, Herkelman claims that this has resulted in AMD's hardware popularity being under represented compared to its competitors. This could explain why AMD seems to be doing so well recently – especially with its processor – yet recent Steam Hardware Surveys don't show a corresponding growth in AMD adoption.
Related: VR Usage Approximately Doubled in 2018
Linux Gaming is on a Life-Support System Called Steam
Internet Cafés on the Decline in Most Asian Countries
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 04 2019, @01:30AM (4 children)
So, now there are six of you?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 04 2019, @06:13AM (2 children)
Yes, and all of us have the new virtual hot grits on naked petrified...
Oh wait. Sorry, wrong site. Beg pardon.
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Friday January 04 2019, @09:14AM (1 child)
naked, petrified.
What scares me is the vision of the long past goatse came to mind. (and after that thought, I am sure moderators are looking for the "-1, Too Much Information" in the dropdown.)
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 2) by VLM on Friday January 04 2019, @10:12PM
Virtual rickroll, virtual 2G1C, etc.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Friday January 04 2019, @11:07AM
No, they said doubled, not tripled.
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by DrkShadow on Friday January 04 2019, @02:17AM (5 children)
Back in 2002 I talked to my friends about these Muvo(?) glasses that would let you watch a movie. In glasses. I thought the 320x240 resolution would be plenty sufficient, that close to your eyes. Get two pairs, cut them in half, and in a gave like Quake 3 you could do _software_ rendering at 320x240 with two viewports and display true 3d in these glasses! ... it turns out that 320x240 up close would look just as bad as 320x240 farther away and larger in size.
Fast-forward, they've put these 8k displays into VR headsets. Cool! That's got all the resolution we need!! ... except they're stretching that resolution to be up, down, way to the sides, the corners, and all over the place. It looks like crap. WHY?!?
I want a virtual desktop. I want to be able to move my head left, and see more of the desktop. Move my head right, see _more_ of the desktop. One desktop, at high resolution. One _window_ onto the desktop, looking like a high-res monitor -- not the whole wall in front of me. Can we have that? Please? Or is it just too hard to get those pixels to be that small? Is the size of the pixels and the dot pitch the problem, where the sheer number of pixels is not the problem? (I still don't think 320x240 would be sufficient, though.)
(Score: 2, Insightful) by takyon on Friday January 04 2019, @03:09AM (4 children)
Who has? The Pimax 8K for instance uses two display panels, each with 3840×2160 (4K) resolution, for a total resolution of 7680×2160 (8K is 7680×4320).
You want a wide/tall field of view because your eyes can move around. Peripheral vision. The lenses should correct any warping/distortion so that it looks like you are looking at the real world.
My groundbreaking research [soylentnews.org] suggests that the target for VR headsets should be 15360×8640 (16K) over an approximately 220º horizontal, 150º vertical field of view. Yes, 220º is wider than what you can see by just locking your eyes straight forward and turning your head.
What was the last headset you've used? A 320×240 one? Because I don't think you or almost anybody on the planet has used a true 8K headset, much less 16K.
From here on the software is what matters. Obviously there are different ways you could arrange a desktop environment in VR. I don't expect the first attempts to the best.
If you don't want your entire field of vision to be filled with icons, it is entirely possible to create a virtual flat panel. It's similar to VR cinema applications that simulate a movie theater experience (where you are looking at a distant flat screen).
Pixel density / GPU performance shouldn't be a problem if foveated rendering is used.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by VLM on Friday January 04 2019, @10:19PM (1 child)
I suspect the optics for a VR "retina" display limited only by our eyes is likely to be pretty complicated / heavy / expensive.
Strange interesting idea... my Grandma has astigmatism and a fancy enough VR optical system plus weird pre-distortion in the video card might be able to work around that.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday January 04 2019, @11:07PM
https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=27400&page=1&cid=730212 [soylentnews.org]
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/5/23/17383990/google-lg-vr-display-high-res-headsets [theverge.com]
I don't think the lenses are such a huge problem but they can benefit from further improvements:
https://www.roadtovr.com/new-flat-lens-give-vr-headsets-better-image-quality-making-lighter-compact/ [roadtovr.com]
"Heavy" is the last thing we'll see. Instead we will see them get more compact and lighter. Potentially allowing for a VR form factor that is more like sunglasses than a brick. A pair of sunglasses with AR/VR capability would be ideal (for the on-board CPU+GPU, use something magic like this [soylentnews.org]).
I can't deny that it may be expensive. We'll see what happens. But we benefit from large companies like Facebookulus doing the kind of R&D that will eventually improve all VR headsets:
https://www.roadtovr.com/facebook-patents-hybrid-fresnel-make-vr-optics-clear/ [roadtovr.com]
Here's some stuff about VR and eyesight adjustments:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/virtual-reality/stanford-vr-adaptive/ [digitaltrends.com]
https://www.alphr.com/virtual-reality/1008932/vr-vision-loss-sight-blindness [alphr.com]
I guess the ultimate solutions for people with certain eye disorders would involve eye tracking (already a done deal since it is needed for foveated rendering), testing software that allows you to make personal adjustments, and some kind of adaptive optics. Again, Facebook is at the forefront:
https://uploadvr.com/display-week-half-dome-facebook/ [uploadvr.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by DrkShadow on Saturday January 05 2019, @02:09AM (1 child)
I used an Occulus of some sort. It looked like I was looking through a chain-link fence. It looked like crap.
The person was doing R&D for a small computer manufacturer and was evaluating VR headsets as a way to do an extended desktop, rather than using something like 6x 30-inch monitors. The VR headset could do that, but it was terrible for that task, and you wouldn't be able to read text well or see any sort of detailed data. Stretching 4k, as you say, to cover your _entire_ field of view is like looking at a 320x240 display. It's crap.
Maybe 8K is what I read about someone being "about to introduce" -- part of the article is that More is Better as far as pixels go.
It definitely does matter how dense your pixels are. My 1560 pixel tall monitor is about 14 inches tall, and I'm at 3 feet away. It's pretty nice. Stretching that to appear as though it's six feet tall.. and it would be pretty hellish. If you don't recall what 640x480 monitors were like, just think of trying to read a book where the font of the book in your hands is made of legos. It's terrible.
VR headsets are terrible for desktop replacements. Instead of trying to stretch things so much, if they just gave me a _screen_ that I could look at, like a monitor, it would probably work great. I don't need to move my eyes from one side of the room to the other. I want a _desktop_, a _workspace_, not a _world_.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday January 05 2019, @02:45AM
Early adopters are cursed. Everything you complained about will be ironed out in the ways I've specified, although it might take several years to accomplish. The "screen door effect" is a known problem with known solutions. With that fixed and a higher resolution, you can have your virtual desktop.
Instead of using the resolution numbers, you should just describe it in terms of pixels per inch. Eventually, this number will rise enough [roadtovr.com] to make your virtual desktop monitor look as good as what you can perceive in real life.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Appalbarry on Friday January 04 2019, @03:57AM (6 children)
"But headset owners are still less than one percent of platform's user base"
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday January 04 2019, @04:04AM (4 children)
https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/cpus/ [steampowered.com]
I wonder what 6/8/12 and 16 CPUs (cores) are going to look like by the end of 2019.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday January 04 2019, @05:35PM (3 children)
I was able to part together a new computer when the Ryzen 1700 first came out. I've had it since then and am quite pleased with it. I needed to update the Motherboard BIOS a couple of times, but after that it's been quite stable. I won't count the issues caused directly by the Windows 10 updates. Ryzen 1700, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, RX480, and a MSI B350. Really, the RAM is overkill, even for VR. Though, apparently I parted it together at just the right time. Shortly after that the RX480 doubled in price, as did the RAM.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday January 04 2019, @06:18PM (2 children)
The RAM is slowly declining in price and should decline further this year [soylentnews.org]. But you got very lucky to avoid the doubling/tripling of prices and 32 GB should last you a long time.
Ryzen 1700 was $329 at release and got you 8 cores. According to the rumor mill [wccftech.com], Ryzen 7 3700 will be launched/announced next week with 12 cores for $299, and 12 cores with a 400 MHz clock boost for $329. Ryzen 9 3800X would have 16 cores for $449. Supposedly, you could drop even the 16-core part onto your old AM4 motherboard, although we'll need to see if most motherboards can handle it or not.
So my question is: Any interest in going up to 12-16 cores, possibly after the prices drop? These chips should also improve single-threaded performance, since the preceding "12nm" Ryzens made some modest clock speed and IPC gains, and the "7nm" 3000-series will further improve clock speeds and IPC (in the neighborhood of 15-25% altogether).
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday January 04 2019, @06:51PM (1 child)
I likely won't be making an incremental upgrade to my processor. Usually, I hold on to my rig for a while, without much in the way of upgrades. Sometimes I hold onto it long enough to make a GPU upgrade worthwhile. I went from dual-core, to quad-core, to hexa-core, and now Octa-core. The only really noticeable improvement with CPU performance was when I went from dual-core to quad-core. My current setup is doing pretty well with VR, but I think the bottleneck right now is the GPU. I'm not planning on replacing that for a while either, mostly due to the price craze on GPUs. I'll probably replace the whole thing in a year or two after I've saved up enough to get what I want. Then, likely will hand down my current setup to my wife, as she usually gets my old system. She doesn't like spending her funds on computer stuff. Yet, she really likes having a good computer, go figure. I'd be interested in building her a computer, if she didn't want Windows.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Friday January 04 2019, @09:48PM
The Ryzen 9 3800X could have as much as 2.5x the performance of a Ryzen 7 1800X (my guess, and an ideal scenario with all 16 cores fully utilized), so it's a bit more than an incremental upgrade. But I understand that not everyone can use that many cores effectively, and those who can know who they are.
It would be neat to see quad-cores drop off the map entirely, as seen in the leaked lineup with a minimum of 6 cores at $99.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Friday January 04 2019, @11:25AM
VR adoption is on a par with Linux (on Steam)
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday January 04 2019, @07:20AM (3 children)
And Why?
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 04 2019, @12:39PM (1 child)
Don't you have a heroin-addled babe to focus on?
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday January 05 2019, @09:41PM
She's great when she's around but sometimes it's hard for her to obtain her fix.
Also if she can't get back to downtown Portland before the trains stop running she'll be stuck outside all night.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by VLM on Friday January 04 2019, @10:21PM
Not sure if I'm supposed to be impressed with or depressed by the VR graphics in "House Party" on steam. Not that realistic, yet the game is mildly amusing. I would say its good for a solid two hours of amusement depending on if you get sick of the Infocom style ridiculous puzzles or not.