For VR to really take off it needs to be sub $500, from the current pricing all of this is reminding me of PS3 $600 with the power of cell!

I'm kind of liking the Star VR specs. But damn does it look bulky.

BobBob wrote on Feb 23, 2016, 00:52:
They'll probably come out with some kind of full immersion chamber with liquid filled nano bubbles - a substance with changeable viscosity and properties; ex can instantly transforms from air light to water to oil to gel to solid), flowing and constantly fluctuating that simulates moving within a world with ever changing currents and pressures to emulate distinct environmental qualities. Could even be an air pressure system or hybri of both. It'll have to be a full immersion chamber to get the proper effect - like astronauts in swimming pools or those spas with high pressure streams to simulate swimming in a pool, but far more intricate and advanced. Eventually it will be refined to wearable body suits leading to realistic augmented reality - slaying a dragon at the local park, paint ball style warfare with virtual lasers that provide impact and possible true handicaps (leg hit so suit hinders or weights down on wounded area), virtual terrain felt on the legs and feet. Just brainstorming. Sorry for typos, using phone. Something to put in a story. Hmm...

Pass it to the left, dude, I want in on that!

They'll probably come out with some kind of full immersion chamber with liquid filled nano bubbles - a substance with changeable viscosity and properties; ex can instantly transforms from air light to water to oil to gel to solid), flowing and constantly fluctuating that simulates moving within a world with ever changing currents and pressures to emulate distinct environmental qualities. Could even be an air pressure system or hybri of both. It'll have to be a full immersion chamber to get the proper effect - like astronauts in swimming pools or those spas with high pressure streams to simulate swimming in a pool, but far more intricate and advanced. Eventually it will be refined to wearable body suits leading to realistic augmented reality - slaying a dragon at the local park, paint ball style warfare with virtual lasers that provide impact and possible true handicaps (leg hit so suit hinders or weights down on wounded area), virtual terrain felt on the legs and feet. Just brainstorming. Sorry for typos, using phone. Something to put in a story. Hmm...

This comment was edited on Feb 23, 2016, 01:23.

The bit that more or less kills the Vive for me is that the entire experience is essentially built around having a large, empty room to move/stumble around in. Which invokes Wii Sports, except now I can't easily see the coffee table. The Rift is a much more practical solution for me since it doesn't need a dedicated space and I can sit down while playing it.

I'm also not sold on the VR controls, but we'll see how that goes. Motion controls ended up not having much longevity (they aren't dead, but they aren't widely used), so I kind of wonder if this goes the same way.

theglaze wrote on Feb 22, 2016, 14:08:
It's hard to not side with the Vive and the full ecosystem they are pushing to enable immersion and interaction in a digital space, rather than just the stationary perspective of Oculus. Plus, as others mentioned, the connection Vive has with Steam.

Having Valve as a partner definitely helps. Though I don't see developers or Valve locking out Rift; given that they're going to have a significant chunk of the VR headset market, that would be business suicide. If you want to develop high budget VR games, you'll need to sell to the Vive and the Rift.

The Music of the Spheres incorporates the metaphysical principle that mathematical relationships express qualities or "tones" of energy which manifest in numbers, visual angles, shapes and sounds – all connected within a pattern of proportion. Pythagoras first identified that the pitch of a musical note is in proportion to the length of the string that produces it, and that intervals between harmonious sound frequencies form simple numerical ratios. In a theory known as the Harmony of the Spheres, Pythagoras proposed that the Sun, Moon and planets all emit their own unique hum (orbital resonance) based on their orbital revolution, and that the quality of life on Earth reflects the tenor of celestial sounds which are physically imperceptible to the human ear.

pythagoras has been proven correct in modern times by the observation of the hexagonal shape of winds at Saturn's north pole, which is clear evidence of the cymatic effects of its harmonic emissions

http://www.tjmitchell.com/stuart/saturnhex.html

Indie Retro News was first to announce his passing beyond his friends anyway.

Dave Needle - Amiga Co-Founder & Atari Lynx Co-Inventor has passed away

I thought Bluesnews followed that site?

jdreyer wrote on Feb 22, 2016, 16:10:
Interesting article comparing Vive and Oculus.

Thanks for the link.

Interesting that they use the same screen and resolution, but he thinks the Vive has a taller visual range.

With the shortest race in iRacing being about 30mins, my practice sessions about an hour, and endurance races closer to 2 hours...I'm definitely leaning towards Oculus because of comfort and lighter weight.

Interesting article comparing Vive and Oculus.

Until they can fully simulate an indistinguishable experience to that of actual sunbathing on the beach, I'll take a pass on 'VR'.

This comment was edited on Feb 22, 2016, 20:23.

RIP, Dave. Thank you for co-creating one of the best computers ever.

I've not replaced my 22" 1680x1050 monitor because I'm not replacing it with the same shit-ass LCD tech; OLED is still both immature and prohibitively priced, way more so than VR tech. If one of these VRs launches well, I'll happily adopt it as a primary gaming screen.

Damn, RIP Dave, your work on making the Amiga the beast it was will never be forgotten.

I'd rather invest in a next gen graphics card and a 40" 4k monitor.

I doubt I'll ever be compatible with HTC Vive, no way am I going to get down on the floor and crawl around on my knees getting tangled up in USB cords.

The only thing I would use a VR headset for would be simulators and games like Elite Dangerous but comfort wise I think I'll stick with head tracking on a large 2D display.

I don't even care until they make something designed for the experience that I want to play. Until than...everyone else can beta test for me.

My days of early adopting are gone. A mortgage does that.

It's hard to not side with the Vive and the full ecosystem they are pushing to enable immersion and interaction in a digital space, rather than just the stationary perspective of Oculus. Plus, as others mentioned, the connection Vive has with Steam.

But I also find it mighty hard to believe Facebook will not provide all the funding Oculus requires to catch up to Vive, perhaps not on first release, but at least with add-on peripherals or in rift v2.

HoSpanky wrote on Feb 22, 2016, 11:27:
I don't have the room for the walkaround experience, so it's the controllers/external camera that are drawing my attention. I'm considering cancelling my rift order for one of these. Or keeping the rift order, and betting someone on eBay is willing to pay full price or more for it.

Yes, it's expensive, but when I was wavering on the Rift, my girlfriend said "isn't this what you built that machine FOR?". From what I'm reading, the Vive SDK is more stable than the rift, at least, it was. I'd be sticking to the Steam storefront, instead of getting an Oculus account and yet another platform to fiddle with. But it's $200 more than the already tough-to-swallow Rift. I've got a few days to decide before the Vive pre-orders start up.

It's $200 more, BUT it comes with the VR controllers, which Rift does not. They are essentially the same price with controllers.

I'm leaning more toward he Vive due to the STEAM connections, but Iam going to wait and see. Right now nobody has anything I simply MUST play, so we'll see who gets the killer apps.

HoSpanky wrote on Feb 22, 2016, 11:27:
Yes, it's expensive, but when I was wavering on the Rift, my girlfriend said "isn't this what you built that machine FOR?".

You marry that girl. YOU MARRY THAT GIRL RIGHT NOW, SPANKY!!

Don't forge the backend stuff too. Are these companies going to respect your privacy or datamine the shit out of everything? Occulus belong to FB it's almost a certainty. Can't speak to how HTC behaves but I suspect it wouldn't be much different.

I don't have the room for the walkaround experience, so it's the controllers/external camera that are drawing my attention. I'm considering cancelling my rift order for one of these. Or keeping the rift order, and betting someone on eBay is willing to pay full price or more for it.

Yes, it's expensive, but when I was wavering on the Rift, my girlfriend said "isn't this what you built that machine FOR?". From what I'm reading, the Vive SDK is more stable than the rift, at least, it was. I'd be sticking to the Steam storefront, instead of getting an Oculus account and yet another platform to fiddle with. But it's $200 more than the already tough-to-swallow Rift. I've got a few days to decide before the Vive pre-orders start up.