I'd not paid much attention to the whole VR thing until the other week when I was having dinner with my dad who works for a company that works on VR stuff and he was telling all about the different possibilities of VR. Since then I've been looking into it, since I love massively immersive experiences where you can just get lost for hours (LSD haha).
I've been looking into this company that's going to launch a satellite this summer that will live stream 4k 360 degree video for VR use. Have a couple drinks or a joint, throw on some real chill spacy tunes and zone out in actual space with a VR headset. Sounds fucking awesome.
So I'm wondering if any getbiggers on here have experience with any VR gear?
If you want a space like atmosphere you can already get that in a bunch of VR stuff. Not based on a real camera, of course - but you can very easily be standing in the middle of space with galaxy and nebulae all around you and yes, it is fucking excellent and works pretty well with music. Things like virtual desktop give you that. If you want something even crazier, you can do the same (stand in space) whilst drawing in google tilt brush. There is an apollo experience that I've bought but not played, too.
That is one application that VR is already essentially perfect for.
Also note that 360 degree video does not have depth, which is 95% of why VR is amazing. Just having shit come at you is truly bizarre.
Now, moving on, say you want to play VR version of regular game.. for instance Skyrim - whoa partner.. the problem of movement rears its ugly head - and you should be educated about VR movement before you buy into VR because we are in the infancy of the truly usable VR. I mean, it isn't a joke any more - it really is fantastic. With caveats.
The major caveat is that a lot of people (probably the majority, I'd say) struggle with the intensity of movement in VR. Just press a controller forward a little and you'll feel one of the most bizarre feelings you will ever encounter. A feeling of instant, utter unease. Your brain didn't feel any motion, yet the eyes say you moved. What happens? You get sick. The unease turns to straight up sickness and you stop. Your brain forces you towards sickness and eventual vomiting (if you persist super long) because it believes it has been poisoned (due to the disparity in senses).
...So most VR games centre around either you being the centre of the game (ie, in a wave shooter - which is like 70% of all software coming out) or you use a warp system (ie, you click and it shows a warp marker, which you move around to your target position and then you move). Very few VR games ask you to move without a warp because those games don't make any money because the first comments are always MAKES ME SICK and it goes downhill from there.
Very few people play racing games in VR.
That rubs out a fair bit of what people want from VR - the idea that they will be in world of warcraft or whatever.. it's very cute, but the movement issue is significant.
Buy a HTC Vive if you're going to buy something. It is much much better than the alternatives. When you actually move, whilst moving in VR, you never suffer any issues with sickness.
