Virtual Reality: Present and Future

[Zooka]

I wanted to open this topic for any of those interested in the VR space, as well as to gauge interest in the topic. Feel free to share whatever you wish so long as it's within the forum guidelines.

 

Some examples:

Development and reviews of head mounted displays, trackers, controllers, haptic feedback etc. Talk of new software and games. Interesting events within VRC and other communities. Fulldive technology. Mixed Reality. Augmented Reality. Future potential of VR.  Interesting real world applications. Impacts on psychology. Inquiry into usability as a self-development tool. Phantom sense. 

 

Note: If this ever turns into a debate over which HMD, store, or software is better, I won't hesitate to get this topic killed. I created this to have fun nerding out about VR and it's future. Debating isn't part of that. 

[Zooka]

As a starter:

 

[Yarco]

I was really optimistic about VR around the first big Meta announcement. I got an Oculus Quest 2 and started dabbling with creating VR worlds and 3D assets. I have a friend who isn't even a gamer who bought a VR headset, which I found really surprising, and took as a sign that it was going to go mainstream very soon. But it feels like VR has really stagnated since then, hasn't really grown any more, and has kind of gone back to being more of a gimmick.

I feel like it might be a couple of years before VR really takes another big step forward. Especially since the new Meta Quest Pro seems more targeted at business users. I feel like VR gaming and metaverse stuff is going to take a backseat for a while. What do you think?

Kind of disappointing, because I was thinking of pivoting into a business of creating VR game assets and items, furniture and other stuff, levels, VR worlds, etc. I do think there's still a big opportunity for indie game devs to get into making VR games though, because there isn't very much competition compared to the number of PC or console games. I find that VR games tend to be a lot more simple and straightforward, so it's easier just to compete from a gameplay standpoint as well.

[Leo Gura]

VR porn is where it's at

[Yarco]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

VR porn is where it's at

1000% recommend this for incels especially. The feeling of presence like someone is actually in your physical space bubble is pretty incredible. It's an order of magnitude closer to real sex than watching porn on a flat screen. Like a bigger jump than from photos to video. You've got to get the really HD stuff recorded with a 360 camera and proper placement/angle though. 1080p is not enough for VR.

Also why you'll never catch me playing a VR horror game. That s**t is TOO realistic .

[LordFall]

What are your thoughts on a crypto/NFT-based VR game? Or an AR life-integrated game? I've always figured that the main thing limiting video games is their separation from real social systems and economies. As an adult, you generally cannot justify spending a lot of time on something that will not improve your life.

I was a big fan of League of Legends because of the extended community and esports scene. I made a lot of people in real life that played the game and also made a lot of money playing it so there was an incentive to be heavily involved with the game.

I also consider Instagram as a sort of AR video game. I think its extremely similar to something like Pokemon Go because it incentives going out and exploring real life and gamifies this(generally you gain more followers/likes the cooler your real-life content is.) I'm sure the next versions of this are gonna be even cooler. 

I never understood why nerd communities rejected social media so much, to me Instagram is the start of the revenge of the nerds. One of the first platforms where staying inside and theory-crafting the platform could get you real-life success and girls. 

[LordFall]

The Meta Quest Pro just dropped, seems pretty good. The facial tracking is insane, the potential this has for VRMMOs or virtual coworking is very exciting.

The photorealistic demos they came out with are much better than the weird Avatars they showed before. 

[TheNovice]

I might start a career in VR development.

I am curious if we can use VR for something like self-inquiry and spirituality in general. 

Here is a thoughtful VR YT channel/ Blog/ Podcast  https://www.matrise.no/about/

 

[Jannes]

@TheNovice thought about it as well. You could make spiritual concepts potentially a lot more tangible with visualizations. 

[Jannes]

On 31.10.2022 at 3:59 PM, Yarco said:

1000% recommend this for incels especially. The feeling of presence like someone is actually in your physical space bubble is pretty incredible. It's an order of magnitude closer to real sex than watching porn on a flat screen. Like a bigger jump than from photos to video. You've got to get the really HD stuff recorded with a 360 camera and proper placement/angle though. 1080p is not enough for VR.

Also why you'll never catch me playing a VR horror game. That s**t is TOO realistic .

I thought you could make a VR pickup simulator. Because it is so realistic you might be able overcome a lot of fear in it. 

[TheNovice]

@Jannes yeah, totally new spiritual practices might be invited especially when VR becomes photorealistic. Imagine nondudlity pointers in VR.

There are a lot of VR meditation apps but the ones i have tried were lame and gimmicky.

You can learn pickup/socialization skills in VR, just hop into a VR social game for adults like a bar in VRChat and go for it. But from what I have heard people relate differently to these interactions where some don't get much out of it as a tool for becoming more social, different personalities I guess. You also miss some subtle social cues too in VR. 

For me personally, it feels quite real to me when I talk to other people on there.

 

[Jannes]

6 hours ago, TheNovice said:

@Jannes yeah, totally new spiritual practices might be invited especially when VR becomes photorealistic. Imagine nondudlity pointers in VR.

YES, YES, YES !!

6 hours ago, TheNovice said:

There are a lot of VR meditation apps but the ones i have tried were lame and gimmicky.

You can learn pickup/socialization skills in VR, just hop into a VR social game for adults like a bar in VRChat and go for it. But from what I have heard people relate differently to these interactions where some don't get much out of it as a tool for becoming more social, different personalities I guess. You also miss some subtle social cues too in VR. 

For me personally, it feels quite real to me when I talk to other people on there.

I think at some point people will literally create their unique training ground in VR. And maybe then we have a value change where insecurity irl isn’t as looked down upon because a person with insecurity could have also just taken the easy way in programming their insecurity out of their system with vr but didn’t. Anyways that might be a bit too hypothetical. ?
I thought about pick vr videos. If you binge them for hours, their acting will probably end up very natural for you as well. 

[TheNovice]

@Jannes

Maybe, if advanced AI got combined with VR you might be able to create any type of world or experience by demand, like an infinite dream machine. AI 3D model generators already exist https://towardsdatascience.com/using-ai-to-generate-3d-models-2634398c0799.

I think passively watching pickup videos in VR will have a similar effect as just watching them on a flat screen. There is no real experience of pickup gained that way, and a huge part of good VR is to relate or interact with it in some way to create immersion.

Search for "VRChat club" on youtube, it's kinda legit.

If you want to try VRchat I recommend going to the PC-only worlds if you can, there are fewer annoying children there. Also, some guys use software to pitch up their voices to sound like girls