The Future Of VR: Predictions For 2017 From People Who Should Know

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WFang

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If someone can nail the wireless without noticeable lag, jitter, and connection problems and a good solution for the battery/power (decent play time per pack, simple to swap out packs, and a good charging dock solution suitable for a living room)... that would spring to the top of my list of HTC upgrades.

The upgraded head-strap sounds like a 'nice to have', for me mostly because of the mechanical adjustment portion of the upgrade. hopefully that works well.
 

SVstorm

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Their never going to sell many more if they cant lower the insane prices that go along with everything released for VR. The units themselves and all the accessories are all extremely expensive when compared to anything else related to gaming and most people just don't care enough about it to drop that much money on it IMO.
 

c4s2k3

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No compelling content = continued low adoption. Even if the HMD prices drop, you still need a fair investment in computer hardware. Even with the PSVR, you are talking about a few hundred $ above and beyond the price of the HMD.

Sure, the existing demos and games provide "amazing" experiences . . . for a little while. How many of those do you have to buy to get enough usage to justify the hit to your pocketbook?
 

sadsteve

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Not being an early adopter type of person, I'm not interested in VR/AR until the headset is about the same size as a pair of sunglasses.
 

R-Brysett

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Dang it..
Typo..
Was supposed to say . "At least people"..
Thinking about different ways to say things and typing at the same time? Bad idea :p
 

numpsy

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I kept trying to demo an Oculus Rift at my local BESTBUY stores and the guy would never be there when I was finished work. So I bought one, and the lady says, just return it if you don't like it. I loved it first, and purchased a game via Steam. Played the games I got for free, and was very hesitant purchasing games as the reviews for every game were wildly far apart. I kept going to bed at night thinking, am I OK with spending 800 all in for the headset AND controllers for how often I'll be playing it?? Nope. So I returned it, I had buyers remorse, and I purchased on a whim like a child.
 

targetdrone

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2016 was the year ALL of the experts got it wrong and no one was fired because if it. If those same clueless people are making predictions for 2017 reality will turn out very different like it did in 2016.


VR while a very cool idea has so many physical limitations it'll never be the all inclusive market Facebook was betting on.
Just about anyone can use a keyboard, mouse, and monitor without any problems and you barely need any room space to set that up. VR on the other hand can make even the most hardcore marathon PC gamer motion sick a few minutes,

You need a "large" dedicated room for a proper VR setup, something not available to a lot of people, especially apartment dwellers or people in very small homes.

Then there is the physical ability issue. There a lots of people who use a PC or game on consoles that can't physically stand up waving controllers around for any length of time so why would they buy VR at any cost if they can't use it.

The only way to solve those problems is some type of NervGear(Sword Art Online) system sans the whole brain microwaving feature.
 


1. No, you do not need a lot of room dedicated to VR.

2. No, those people are in fact among those who gain the most from VR. VR opens up a lot of experiences that would otherwise be impossible for them.
 

blackbit75

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I think price isn't the point that makes people refuses VR. It's like 3D TV's. The idea is good. But they are getting less in the market announced. Price is the same already. There is content. But, just to wear those glasses, makes people to reject them. A simply little unconfortable thing, makes reject it. Also that if you wanted more people than those glasses to watch a film, you should stick to 2D.
Low price would increase the hype, but at the medium stage (2-3 years) people would loose interest in it.
I can't afford it, but also an iPhone, or a Samsung Galaxy S7, and people buys it and don't say : it's expensive. They say ... look this quality piece of technology. VR is a top end technology not found previously. You can buy a a smartphone cheaper that does something like a Samsung phone, almost at 100%, but not a VR experience. It's unique.
So ... I don't feel people will adopt VR, and less with such a bad image created unfairly by the media. There are many questions about why other technologies haven't been adopted.
Not repeating it is expensive it becomes true. But people will believe that, being false.
Sorry for my english.

You could have low price
 

Jeff Fx

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Wireless has already been delivered in China and is coming to the U.S. in the second quarter of 2017.

The upgraded headstrap is probably got-to-have since the original one is terrible. I had to modify mine to use welding headgear to make it wearable for extended periods of time. Adding a memory-foam gasket from VR Cover was also a huge improvement.
 

Jeff Fx

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You do need a lot of room for the best experience at least until good VR treadmills become available. I started with a 12'x12' space, and upgraded it to 24'x12' due to Arizona Sunshine being so much fun it was worth rearranging my apartment.

You're right that the handicapped can get the most use out of VR since it can take them anywhere. They just can't use it as an exercise device like other people can. Many gamers need a healthier form of gaming if they don't want to die young from obesity, and VR is the solution to that problem.
 

Rocastroca

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I have an Oculus Rift with Touch controllers. have been a hardcore gamer since 1981 with my Atari 2600. VR is the major leap in my recent gaming experience and I think those first generation systems are great. They will be completely diferent in few years ( Headset tracking inside out, eye tracking, much higher resolutions, direct eye projectors, etc ), but after trying Vive at Microsoft Store, Rift + Touch and PSVR at Best Buy, I have chosen to purchase the Oculus system, because right now it has the best content, easier setup, very smart design of the headset, and the greatest controller. I'll would be happy with the Vive also, but for my actual gaming space (6,5 x 8,2 feet or 2x2,5 meters set in Guardian System) and actual games, it is perfect. 800 dollars is not a lot of money in PC gaming. I have spend 1200 for a Titan X and 1300 for a G-Sync 4K monitor and I did not see much improvement in gaming experience. VR is amazing, just try Superhot, Dead and Buried and Unspoken, you will never regret your purchase.
 

bit_user

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I was thinking about it in terms of the evolution of console gaming. I'm a bit too young to remember, but I read that Atari hit a wall in the late 70's or early 80's, where it had been a fad and then everyone simultaneously got bored with it. The next big surge in console gaming was NES. I don't know if the 16-bit era was as big, but then things started to smooth out and console gaming gained more and more acceptance.

VR might be a bit like that, too. Perhaps coming in waves, with each one being a bit bigger than the last. I don't see the average person routinely using VR or AR within the next 5 years, but maybe 10?

AR definitely has an edge, in terms of practical benefits, and you can always block off the outside light from an AR headset, turning into a basic VR HMD. So, I'm thinking it'll likely be AR that dominates the mainstream, with VR being mostly a subset for certain applications and gamers.
 

wifiburger

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interesting read, somehow a bit flawed in logic, what computer technology has proven over the many years is that no matter how great your hardware / software is the consumer can say no and people would be laughing at the entire thing,
 

jasonf2

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I think the most important thing here is that these developing technologies are creating a target for chip designers to create new markets in. The first smartphones weren't that great but evolutionary development and multiple hardware generations have created a product class that has matured into something pretty impressive at a reasonable price. I hope that the tech can find a proverbial "iphone" product to drive volume so that the product class can mature. Real world GPU frame rates of over 60 had no purpose in the old monitor 2d world. Now we need minimum 90 on two highly synchronized low latency displays. Pixel density, frame rate and latency have huge headroom for improvement. All of that drives innovative development and generational upgrades.
 

Michael Morrison

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1. Was hoping they would work on FOV so it wasn't as scuba goggles.
2. Resoloution, I know it's a pain to drive those pixels but lots of stuff still blurry.
3. Content, all the game feel very indie, nothing really name brand to get your attention.
4. Kinda goes with above, I get I can't play new games because driving all those pixels is hard when you are trying to get latency down, but if I look up support for old games like Portal, or WoW, it looks like all hacks to get it to run if you can at all.
5.Biggest I thought, just like days of old, no API, (Like the direct3D/OpenGL days) they have SteamVR, OculusVR, NvidiaVR, OSVR, Vive... I was going to do a cheap OSVR to try it out, but you have to use wrappers and everything to have it play work with other systems which adds lag and headache. Guess I will wait until it's a bit more plug and play...
 

tman247

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No question, VR will appeal to gamers - that's logical. For everyone else though, it's all very 'meh'. For 5 minutes, it's mildly interesting, but certainly not worth the investment. AR is very similar, but probably has markets in medical, construction and architecture amongst others. Again, far from mainstream.

I give it 2 years, and it will start to die off - probably the same way consumer 3D TV's have. Yes, VR is a gimmick for most. Nothing more.
 

bit_user

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Why wouldn't VR have a place in medical & architecture? I do think AR has many more applications, though.

I disagree, for the reason that 3D TVs only make movies a little bit better (arguably). But, they don't offer a fundamentally new & unique experience vs. watching 2D TVs. The way that VR can transport is truly powerful. And the way that AR can start to bring the cloud and AI technologies into the real world is no less revolutionary.

To me, saying that VR and AR will die off is like calling early smart phones expensive toys and a short-lived fad.

Yes, we're still in the hype phase of this technology cycle. But just because something is hyped doesn't mean it lacks any real merits or value.
 
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