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posted by
martyb
on Wednesday October 18 2017, @06:12PM
from the did-you-see-what-they-did-there? dept.
from the did-you-see-what-they-did-there? dept.
You can't escape virtual reality.
VR headsets from Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung are getting ready to hit the market. Their goal: to give you an easy-to-use virtual reality experience with your PC at a lower price than competing headsets from the likes of Sony, Facebook and HTC.
That's the promise of VR powered by Microsoft Windows, the software that runs hundreds of millions of PCs and tablets around the world. When Microsoft begins sending out a free update to Windows 10 on Tuesday, it'll power VR headsets as well. It's called "Windows Mixed Reality."
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Microsoft Wants to Reimagine Virtual Reality
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And tomorrow will be like today, only more so.
-- Isaiah 56:12, New Standard Version
(Score: 4, Insightful) by edIII on Wednesday October 18 2017, @07:58PM (6 children)
Speak for yourself. I now want one, and will develop a new kind of office area to work in to do it. A circle with a chair in the middle, while in VR, it will be screens of various sizes with floating terminals. Reference materials will float around me, while I code on a big screen.
Yes, it will be much better when they are wireless, but that does not stop me from taking the cabling and putting it in a swing arm. Similar to the way you have water hoses hanging from the ceilings in some greenhouses. Certainly not as mobile as the eyeglasses, but the Vive can be made portable. The setup I played with was off a high powered laptop and everything was stored in a large custom Pelican case. Not saying that is adequate, but it's not as if it can't be taken with you.
No, your're writing an email in 2D. What's virtual is the monitor screen that is displaying it in 2D, in your virtual 3D office. It can be just like a computer at a desk, or you standing in front of a huge screen on a wall. Or floating in space. Or on a boat in the Caribbean.
Since the Vive has an aftermarket addon to put sensors on each fingertip, you are typing on a virtual keyboard hanging in space. With haptic feedback in the fingertips, you can feel the keypresses. I think I could type pretty fast on that once I got used to it. Although, since I'm not a hunt and peck guy, I can actually use a keyboard without being able to see it. I could put it on a stand and overlay the virtual keyboard on top of it, allowing me to still see it :)
Once I played with one, I saw the writing on the wall. I think you would be pleasantly surprised about the endless possibilities of a virtual work environment. From here on out, it will just more miniaturization and wireless capabilities. At some point you will get the wearable version you want, but that doesn't mean what we have now is useless.
This is not a repeat of the Nintendo Power Glove ;)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bob_super on Wednesday October 18 2017, @09:20PM (5 children)
> Reference materials will float around me, while I code on a big screen.
I do that today with a 4K 40" screen.
As someone who wears a helmet on the way to the office, I can tell you I don't want to wear stuff on my head all day long, unless there's a clear benefit. Is there a temp and humidity control on the VR headset, to keep my eyes and face comfortable?
Keyboard and mouse stand the test of time and the competition from many clever ideas, because lifting your arms for hours to interface with a machine ain't fun. Ergonomics are critical to productivity.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Wednesday October 18 2017, @09:44PM
Its not exactly a helmet, but yea it does mess up the Pom... hopefully they'll miniaturize over time and have a swim google size form factor, but it is the ripe time to be first mover in terms developing apps for it.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Wednesday October 18 2017, @11:29PM (3 children)
I didn't have a problem wearing it for an extended period of time, but you have a point. They have replaceable foam inserts, and that is a good thing. I did one game and worked up quite a sweat, so cleaning these things will be important. Most likely I would have one for work that gets less active usage.
I do think there is a clear benefit health wise. We could do with more activity and less sitting. Finally got a standing desk and it makes a difference. You can have both though. Lifting your arms for hours already happens when you type. I can be sitting at a virtual desk, with real world counterparts. Having the freedom to get up and interact with that virtual environment I think may obviate some of your concerns. Also consider that in this virtual office, every surface is a touch surface. Every surface can be modified for display purposes.
Perhaps it's the ergonomic considerations of the virtual environment that are the true concern? In this case, they are heavily modifiable. More so than real life. A super nice standing desk combo can set me back $3500. A ridiculous, custom, huge desk with multi-monitors on steroids (the window manager controls your reality), that every surface is touch, costs me $0. Excluding the setup fee of course. Again, heavily modifiable after the fact.
With the VR I can crudely shape the environment to support the ergonomics I need, and the ability to support the objects that are overlayed inside VR (a virtual coffee cup I can drink real coffee from).
It may just come down to how comfortable it is to wear for extended periods more than physical exertion.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday October 19 2017, @12:25AM (1 child)
Oh fuck what if the render was offset somewhat and you spilled hot coffee all over yourself? #BadVRTrip
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by edIII on Thursday October 19 2017, @01:41AM
I've done worse in real life, I can't imagine it being any worse in VR :)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday October 19 2017, @02:30AM
Hold a meeting in a virtual room around a virtual table from different locations: pick a suit to wear and have known graphics for representing you: you shrug your shoulders or point to something and your 'rep' does the same in the meeting.
Graphs are easily shared on a virtual white board or whatever.
There's @Snow, 'watching' his new baby girl, while hooking up with his girlfriend over the internet at a nice virtual stay in Paris.
Learn to steal from the NSA while virtually rooming with Edward Snowden.
Who wants to punch Trump and Hillary: only 2 payments of $19.99 and they will throw in Carrot-top. But wait! Buy within the next 10 minutes and you'll also get Harvey Weinstein!! So act now!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---