Have you guys tried the VR demo they have setup in some BestBuy stores?
It really is unimpressive, and really limiting on what they let you do with it.
Valve CEO: 'We're comfortable with the idea that VR will turn out to be a complete failure
Store demos make this current gen of VR seem like the Wii. A fun gimmick that quickly loses its appeal once the novelty wears off.
As an avid flight and racing sim gamer the Vive (I don't have the Oculus) is a game changer. Sitting in a 3D cockpit (or race car) with a 1:1 scaling makes all the difference in the world. The experience more than makes up for the loss of resolution, screen-door effect, and other limitations of current VR.
Depending on the types of games you play, you owe it to yourself to try them in VR. The "cons" may outweigh the "pros", but you really don't know until you experience it first hand.
Let me first say, I've yet to try VR. I like the idea of VR, but I don't like the idea of getting physically tired when I'm using it. Small hand movements, turning my head, the ability to relax in a chair to play, that's fine. But having to walk, jump around, throw punches, doesn't sound like fun to me, past maybe a few minutes, or in very spread apart interactions.
I still prefer a standard controller to Wii's motion controller. I want to be able to put my hands under my blanket and press a button to swing if I want to, instead of having to flick my wrist all over the place (speaking of Zelda here), or have to physically point at the screen. Maybe if there are options where you can choose the degree of motion control needed to play the game so you could set what indvidual things you want to either have no motion control (i.e. map to a button, trigger, or an analog stick), or varying degrees of motion control up to full range motion where it's extremely precise. Kind of like a mouse moving your cursor. You can change it so it's extremely sensitive and will jump across the screen from moving it and even have acceleration settings. I think this would be a more natural way to interact with VR.
Like I've said though, I've yet to try VR, so maybe this exists already in some capacity.
Yeah, I'm looking into building a nice multi-functional HOTAS setup later this year...I want a combination flight sim, space sim, racing, and keyboard/mouse setup. Not sure if I'm going to build it off an office chair or from an OpenWheeler setup or what just yet.
Checkout the Volairsim and Obutto cockpits. For the cost of a high end office chair and desk, you can have a purpose built unit.
Anyway, think of the dead sea. Where you can float in water without sinking. Make a sort of open diving suit with acceleration sensors attached to your feet, lower and upper legs, your hands, lower and upper arms. And your head. Add a waterproof VR set like a diver goggle. Add that with a serious multicore cpu gpu combination like 1080ti or upcoming vega. A soundsystem with speakers that are immersed under water, you hear the sound through the water as well. Add waterproof earbuds. All that and a small water basin filled with a substance like for example salt to give you buoyancy, just like in the dead sea.
That will be a killer gamepark attraction. The salt water will give you total freedom in all axis. And you can simulate walking ,jumping, flying, basically everything by tracking the acceleration sensors on all extremities. People would be standing in line and probably do not want to go home.
edit:
Add actuators to create waves in the water to create the effect of physical resistance or the feeling that something is touching you.
All that controlled by a powerful pc system with good software.
Keep medic staff ready for people with anxiety attacks. ^_^
I've got one better for you:
Forgot, with the actuators, you can also mimic as if your body is accelerating or deccelerating by applying pressure at the right parts of the body. Of course, the vestibular system is not that easy to fool but i think it could work to some good extent.
What you're suggesting is somewhere between completely impractical and totally impossible. The water based system is a non starter for a million reasons, a major one being that moving your legs underwater doesn't feel anything like walking. Not to mention stuff like how to have the air supply not restrict your freedom of movement, how to mitigate the risk of drowning, how to maintain perfect buoyancy (ever scuba dive? it's not easy to stay in one place vertically), how to do accurate tracking (acceleration sensors are not sufficient, that's why vive has base stations and oculus has cameras).
The sky diving simulator + VR would only be good for simulating sky diving in different locations, since it works by having 100mph air constantly hitting your body to keep you aloft. Not really the same as flying.
It'll be a lot easier to just wait for The Matrix style VR where everything is fed directly into your brain.
Let me first say, I've yet to try VR. I like the idea of VR, but I don't like the idea of getting physically tired when I'm using it. Small hand movements, turning my head, the ability to relax in a chair to play, that's fine. But having to walk, jump around, throw punches, doesn't sound like fun to me, past maybe a few minutes, or in very spread apart interactions.
I still prefer a standard controller to Wii's motion controller. I want to be able to put my hands under my blanket and press a button to swing if I want to, instead of having to flick my wrist all over the place (speaking of Zelda here), or have to physically point at the screen. Maybe if there are options where you can choose the degree of motion control needed to play the game so you could set what indvidual things you want to either have no motion control (i.e. map to a button, trigger, or an analog stick), or varying degrees of motion control up to full range motion where it's extremely precise. Kind of like a mouse moving your cursor. You can change it so it's extremely sensitive and will jump across the screen from moving it and even have acceleration settings. I think this would be a more natural way to interact with VR.
Like I've said though, I've yet to try VR, so maybe this exists already in some capacity.
I never said it was perfect, but it should be a lot better than standing still or sitting down.
Also, the actuators on the body cause force effects that can mimic speedup and slow down.
If controlled properly by software. The illusion would be good enough.
Yet you say it is impractical and then you come up with a matrix style connection....
I don't think it would be better in any way than having a wireless vr headset in a large empty warehouse. You could have many users at a time, nobody would be at risk of drowning, you could put objects in the real world that match up with the VR game (e.g. walls to simulate houses). You could move objects in and out of the space easily to change the "level" that users would be playing in.
In your system, what will these "actuators" be pushing against? Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If it's going to push against me, it has to push against something else.
Matrix style VR may be further off but it will certainly more practical than creating an expensive and dangerous setup that doesn't really enhance VR experiences in any meaningful way.
Look up for example what it takes to get a "simple" ear implant. And that sure is not stereo and no high fidelity sound.
A useful interface in the back of your head is not going to happen for at least another 2 centuries. If it will happen in current way of life on Earth.
For the air it is a suit, one could use for example inflatable air pockets. I think the air system is very viable.
It causes a pressure effect. When you have a vr goggle on simulating a rendered stream of images that make you seem to move real fast, For example the pockets would be inflated on the front of your body assuming you are standing up. When you are in a horizontal position, it would cause pressure to your shoulders and to a lower extent the upper part of your chest and back. These pockets can all be controlled individually, The game knows your physical position and orientation because of all the acceleration/ gyroscope sensors and in what orientation you are with respect to the simulation and creates pressure zones in your suit. These pressure zones mimic the air pressure while simulating moving fast in flight in the air. And when the pressure is increased more and decreased rapidly, it would mimic impacts from enemy weapon fire . It would be great for arcade style gaming at first. And when gained more experience, rtg games are great for it. The game could also control the main blower below the player. Giving the ability to stand down and take off to fly. I think you have a too negative view.
I think before VR can get out of a niche position it has to either incorporate the whole body or be able to fully isolate the mind so that you can have an extended experience that doesnt feel disjointed.