General VR discussion thread

[Craig234]

The question I think still remains is, where are all the killer apps?

Serious Sam VR is attractive. Maybe the appeal would wear off. We all know what the real 'killer app' would be.

 

[mazeroth]

Please please please Oculus, release a new headset with higher resolution. As much as I love sim racing with CV1, a bump in resolution would be fantastic. Also, I'd love for a higher res Skyrim experience. I may wait for Skyrim VR until Oculus does release one. I have enough invested in the Oculus store and my 3 sensors that I'm not going to jump on the HTC wagon...yet.

 

[Aikouka]

HTC announced the price of the Vive Pro and its release date. It will be coming out on April 5 for a whopping $799 for just the HMD. You can preorder it on Amazon or from HTC.

I'll admit... a part of me wants to upgrade, but ugh... $800 is just too much. The problem is that I don't use my Vive enough, and part of that is the blurry nature, which this supposedly help fixes. Although, after thinking about it for a second, is $800 really that crazy? We pay $600+ for high-end monitors with G-Sync and such, which this is pretty much a specialized, high-end monitor.

 

[sze5003]

I'm going to wait for the oculus v2 whenever that will be. Better resolution would be great but switching to new controllers and sensors for me right now wouldn't make sense. I mainly use it to fly and not much else.

 

[Aikouka]

I'm going to wait for the oculus v2 whenever that will be. Better resolution would be great but switching to new controllers and sensors for me right now wouldn't make sense. I mainly use it to fly and not much else.

There are also rumors of an LG HMD. I think it was Intel that was working with them on significantly better screens?

 

[sze5003]

There are also rumors of an LG HMD. I think it was Intel that was working with them on significantly better screens?

Yup I read something about that. Probably even more expensive. Don't know how much I would be willing to pay for much better visuals, but you also would need the next Ti Nvidia model I bet to run it comfortably.

1440p per eye and OLED screens.

https://www.roadtovr.com/lgs-upcoming-steamvr-headset-named-ultragear/

For right now I suppose HTC is targetting people that already have a vive with the sensors and controllers so this is just a slight resolution upgrade, but overall I think it's an ugly device in terms of looks, just bulky.

 

[Aikouka]

Yup I read something about that. Probably even more expensive. Don't know how much I would be willing to pay for much better visuals, but you also would need the next Ti Nvidia model I bet to run it comfortably.

1440p per eye and OLED screens.

https://www.roadtovr.com/lgs-upcoming-steamvr-headset-named-ultragear/

For right now I suppose HTC is targetting people that already have a vive with the sensors and controllers so this is just a slight resolution upgrade, but overall I think it's an ugly device in terms of looks, just bulky.

Apparently, I had my wires crossed, and it was actually Google that I was thinking about. I mean... the name of the talk itself -- "18 Mpixel 4.3-in. 1443-ppi 120-Hz OLED Display for Wide-Field-of-View High-Acuity Head-Mounted Displays." -- is enough to make you raise a brow and possibly salivate in anticipation.

 

[pj-]

Price is ridiculous. At $400 I would get it but I'd have to pretend to think about it for a while. At $800 they can frig off.

Samsung Odyssey has the same screens, built in audio, inside out tracking, motion controllers, and it costs $500. Sometimes it goes on sale for $400.

Vive Pro might be a little more "premium", but the biggest different is that it has a bunch of photodiodes instead of tracking cameras. I guess those add $400 to the cost?

 

[sze5003]

Makes sense since LG partnered with them for the pixel phones. That's something to wait for then. Once you fly in VR you can't go back to screens..it's very similar to an actual simulator and the higher resolution would greatly help. Air to air refueling is much easier to gauge in VR.

 

[ImpulsE69]

For me, it's not the price of the headset, it's the combination of the fact I'd need to get a better video card and that isn't cheap. I'm happy with what I have for now.

 

[jtvang125]

HTC announced the price of the Vive Pro and its release date. It will be coming out on April 5 for a whopping $799 for just the HMD. You can preorder it on Amazon or from HTC.

I'll admit... a part of me wants to upgrade, but ugh... $800 is just too much. The problem is that I don't use my Vive enough, and part of that is the blurry nature, which this supposedly help fixes. Although, after thinking about it for a second, is $800 really that crazy? We pay $600+ for high-end monitors with G-Sync and such, which this is pretty much a specialized, high-end monitor.

Damn $800 is a tough pill to swallow. I did get my 34" UW monitor for about the same price but I get so much more use out of it than a VR headset so the expense is justified.

Atleast HTC was honest and said it was going to more expensive during the announcement. I think at this point anything around this performance (screen res, tracking) is going to be around this price.

 

[Aikouka]

Damn $800 is a tough pill to swallow. I did get my 34" UW monitor for about the same price but I get so much more use out of it than a VR headset so the expense is justified

What tempts me the most is that I feel like the shortcomings with the original Vive are part of why I don't use it often. My head + glasses are too big to wear with the Vive on, so I use VR Lens. The problem is that it still feels somewhat "fuzzy" even with the VR Lens on. Honestly, it's only slightly better than using the Vive without any sort of corrective lenses. I'd also like to see an increase to the sweet spot to make viewing more natural (i.e. being able to read with my eyes not moving my head). I'm hoping the Vive Pro would help with this.

Atleast HTC was honest and said it was going to more expensive during the announcement. I think at this point anything around this performance (screen res, tracking) is going to be around this price.

I think the problem is that the Samsung Odyssey exists. It seems that the Odyssey uses the same screens, but it also provides a built-in tracking solution and controllers for $300 less. Does the Vive Pro make up for that difference? I don't think I can say "yes" there. I know HTC said that it was priced for "prosumers", but what exactly does that mean? This device doesn't seem to be built for the prosumer market, it doesn't have a prosumer warranty, or any other prosumer-oriented benefit.

Are they taking a page out of Nvidia's book with the Titan GPU line? Originally, the Titan line offered improved floating point performance over the GeForce line, but that was eventually removed. So, the Titan lacked official driver certification of the Quadro cards and any sort of floating point bonus, which really just made it a faster GPU. So, it's arguable that apart from lower yields on the full-sized GPUs (e.g. GP102), what makes these prosumer cards?

 

[sze5003]

That's the issue also with the rift if you wear glasses. I only wear glasses at home so if I've been in my contacts all day and want to use the rift, I can't wear my glasses inside of it since the frames are too thick for the rift. I try to do all my VR stuff before I end the night and take out my contacts.

Although I think I could adjust the straps, or at least I have tried to do so but haven't had much luck.

 

[Kaido]

I really want a Vive Pro for the increased resolution. But I don't $799 want one, lol. Holy cow. No Lighthouses or controllers included at that price either:

https://www.vive.com/us/product/vive-pro/

For $800, they should at least include the wireless adapter. I mean, PIMAX already has a 4K HMD out that you can buy right now today for $400, and they also have an 8K HMD coming out:

https://www.pimaxvr.com/en/8k/

Sooooooooo yeah. I was expecting like $500 sans controllers/tracking, not $800 for HMD-only. That's bananas. You'd probably be lucky to get a couple hundred bucks for your original Vive HMD thanks to the price drop.

 

[sze5003]

Looks like the Google hmd should be the one.

https://www.pocket-lint.com/ar-vr/n...lg-are-developing-a-high-res-120hz-vr-display

Reveal will be in may.

Edit: not new hmd but lenses. Although they will probably be demoed in some headset.

 

[jtvang125]

Looks like the Google hmd should be the one.

https://www.pocket-lint.com/ar-vr/n...lg-are-developing-a-high-res-120hz-vr-display

Reveal will be in may.

Edit: not new hmd but lenses. Although they will probably be demoed in some headset.

That would be mind blowing if it was true. But I don't know, just seems to be such a big leap in display tech to be real. That's doubling of resolution of a s9 and squeezing it into a screen 1" smaller.

Also the article says the display will be 5657x3182 per eye. Wouldn't that be 2828x3182 per eye? That's going to be a huge hmd to use 2 4.3" displays. Even at one display what kind of gpu will be needed to run this at 90hz minimum?

 

[sze5003]

I imagine they will showcase it a current Google hmd but I hope it's not just for use with phones. I want it to use it instead of my oculus. I imagine 1 1080ti should do it for now. If the tech is there in the lenses there shouldn't be so much performance needed from the gpu. But a beefy system will be required regardless.

 

[jtvang125]

I don't think they'll be for phones as headsets for phones don't have their own screens. Likely will be in a highend HMD for the PC cause to drive that res and refresh rate is gonna require a pretty massive gpu. It may eventually go into the standalone sets (Rift Go, Vive Focus..etc) once SoCs are fast enough but at a reduced refresh. These do look interesting and be more affordable for the masses but can quickly turn into throw away sets as the SoC becomes obsolete.

 

[jtvang125]

What do you guys think about these new standalone HMDs? The Oculus Go and HTC Vive Focus. Unfortunately the Focus is only being released in China at the moment. The Go will be $200 when it comes out.

Will these finally bring VR into the mainstream by not requiring a highend smartphone or high spec'd PC/laptop?

 

[ImpulsE69]

Think it remains to be seen. I would think any standalone would not be that powerful overall and still come off as gimmiky and cheap...but who knows. My thought is something like this is mostly just going to be good for movies, animations, and or low graphical quality games which to me isn't much more than what we already have. At least with PC versions you have the opportunity to push the envelope some based on what type of computer is pushing it, where with these they will be tied to their own build restrictions.

 

[pj-]

What do you guys think about these new standalone HMDs? The Oculus Go and HTC Vive Focus. Unfortunately the Focus is only being released in China at the moment. The Go will be $200 when it comes out.

Will these finally bring VR into the mainstream by not requiring a highend smartphone or high spec'd PC/laptop?

They are very different. Oculus Go is basically a Gear VR in capability (rotational tracking only). The Focus has rotational and positional tracking like PC VR systems, but it doesn't have positionally tracked controllers, which will greatly limit interactivity. Translated to dollars, the Focus currently costs $600 in china.

The Oculus "santa cruz" device is what will really change things. Positional / rotational head tracking + tracked controllers. Functionally equivalent to a full PC based VR system except totally self contained and with zero wires anywhere. It will be interesting to see how much it costs and what its rendering capabilities will be.

Think it remains to be seen. I would think any standalone would not be that powerful overall and still come off as gimmiky and cheap...but who knows. My thought is something like this is mostly just going to be good for movies, animations, and or low graphical quality games which to me isn't much more than what we already have. At least with PC versions you have the opportunity to push the envelope some based on what type of computer is pushing it, where with these they will be tied to their own build restrictions.

I think the impressive mobile ports of fortnite BR and pubg show that phones have fairlycapable hardware. On a dedicated device that can optimize cooling and strip away unnecessary OS bloat, I think it will be possible to have decently pleasant looking games in mobile VR.

From what I've experienced in 2 years of PC VR, the most fun games are usually not the most graphically intensive.

 

[Kaido]

For those who remember...

 

[Craig234]

For those who remember...

No explanation what you're posting about.

 

[Kaido]

No explanation what you're posting about.

You joined in 2006 & you don't remember that green valley?? It's from an old commercial a decade ago with a jump-scare at the end. Same with the tiny maze video, not something easily forgotten when you're not prepared for it, haha.

 

[sze5003]

Picked up a Samsung Odyssey today to compare with my rift. Resolution is better. I use it just for flying in DCS but I don't think the hmd is as comfy. I can't get it to sit correctly on my head snugged in because I notice looking at some flight instruments on my right they appear blurry unless I push the headset more on my face, or shove it down more. This causes my nose to be squashed and it's hard to breathe lol.

But in general it has a way better fov than the rift and makes flying much more enjoyable. My mobo has built in Bluetooth but the controllers won't pair. The PC does not even see them so I guess I am going now to get 4.0 dongle.