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posted by martyb on Wednesday January 09 2019, @04:30AM   Printer-friendly
from the need-moah-faster-computes dept.

CNet:

it's 2019. I'm at CES, and VR is an idea gathering dust for all the wrong reasons, lost in a sea of strange peripherals and pipe dreams. Self-contained VR devices, like Oculus Quest and the newly announced HTC Vive Cosmos, are en route, but it feels too little, too late. VR has lost the attention of mainstream audiences.

In 2019, VR is a sideshow in a theme park, a marketing stunt, a slide in a PR powerpoint presentation, a niche hobby for people locked in rooms with a ton of money to spend, and -- worse -- no one seems to know what direction we're headed in, or even what virtual reality should be.

TFA cites motion sickness as a continuing issue, one of the same reasons VR didn't catch on 20 years ago. What will it take for VR to finally realize the potential everyone keeps believing it has?


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  • (Score: 2) by rob_on_earth on Wednesday January 09 2019, @02:52PM (3 children)

    by rob_on_earth (5485) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @02:52PM (#784115) Homepage

    I had access to the original HTC Vive that ran at 120 fps and I rarely got motion sick. Lots of amazing games, demos and experiences.

    Currently it lives in a box because there is nowhere to set up the lighthouse sensors(how the Vive does its tracking).

    I also got to go to the Dubai VR Park a few months ago https://www.vrparkdubai.com/ [vrparkdubai.com]
    You pay for a package of game passes and then wonder around picking which games/experiences to play. All high end stuff, mostly wireless Vives. Very enjoyable.

    Tried Google cardboard and was feeling ill within half a minute.

    There seems to be no good middle ground, either you buy/access the expensive stuff or you are left with the bargain basement rubbish.
    Windows 10 was supposed to hail a new market of mid range AR/VR headsets last year, but apart from a few preview reviews, not heard anything. They were supposed to be available in major retailers.

    The only way I can use VR is if the frame rate is high enough(*) AND my head is tracked as it turns. Heads do not pivot on the same centre as the VR headset and you always twist your shoulders/body to some degree. Offsetting your head/eyes in 3D space.

    (*) I did some development with the Vive and accidentally caused the frame rate to drop to 80fps. Was not noticeable until I became very dizzy and then could not return to VR for some hours.

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  • (Score: 2) by JustNiz on Wednesday January 09 2019, @05:38PM (1 child)

    by JustNiz (1573) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @05:38PM (#784196)

    Are you talking about a prototype or something? No commercially available HTC Vive has ever been capable of 120hz. Vive runs at 90hz just like every variant ever since.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by nishi.b on Wednesday January 09 2019, @10:36PM

    by nishi.b (4243) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @10:36PM (#784308)

    Exactly my experience too : I have a sensitive vestibular system and I was told at my workplace that the vestibular-vision brain loop has a latency of around 11ms. The Vive tracking is around 15ms so most people tolerate it well.
    In my case, when developing our own software we also increased accidentaly the tracking-display loop latency and I was sick in about 15s, and needed about 10min to be ok again.
    I only tried once a Google cardboard VR app, and a few seconds were enough to get sick because of the latency. So some people will try this and think VR is still a vomit-inducing system.