News - Zeiss introduces the VR One headset, coming in December

[HEXUS]

The $99 headset is ready to compete with rival Samsung's Gear VR.

Read more.

[Otherhand]

I thought the Oculus Rift would be a dead cert, as long as they didn't bring it to market too quickly.

I never expected that competition could kill the VR concept entirely for the second time, but between this and Project Morpheus I'm not so sure. If too many people try and buy inferior versions first, it won't matter how good the commercial Rift turns out to be.

[Percy1983]

As somebody who will never pay £400 for a top end phone these 'insert phone' VR headsets are pointless, I could imagine running my lumia in it, not sure if my eyes, brain or phone would melt first.

The other worry is if the market gets flooded with such devices it could cause real quality problems which could do damage to the whole VR 'image'.

I will wait for the Oculus comsumer unit.

[crossy]

I will wait for the Oculus comsumer unit.

I don't. Pre Facebook takeover it was an interesting oddity, perhaps giving better "immersion" in first person shooters. After Facebook took it over then it slipped to "stupid social media 'enhanced' gadget that'd be interesting for about 15 minutes then end up in the cupboard".

So, if I'm going VR then Morpheus etc are more interesting. That said, I've got one of those mini-phablets so I can't use this Zeiss setup. Of which speaking, open SDK

[Percy1983]

I wouldn't worry too much about the facebook deal, its given oculus money/resourses and not changed its direction.

I don't see how getting the same or potentially better product earlier due to investment makes it a worse product.

[Otherhand]

I don't. Pre Facebook takeover it was an interesting oddity, perhaps giving better "immersion" in first person shooters. After Facebook took it over then it slipped to "stupid social media 'enhanced' gadget that'd be interesting for about 15 minutes then end up in the cupboard".

I don't know if I'll ever want it for Doom-esque shooters, but I'd love to use it for The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Alien: Isolation, Elite, and pretty much any racing game. I think there's a lot more life in this thing than just 15 minutes of novelty value from the games that already exist, and additionally we have no idea yet what kinds of games/simulations the kits will inspire.

[crossy]

I wouldn't worry too much about the facebook deal, its given oculus money/resourses and not changed its direction. I don't see how getting the same or potentially better product earlier due to investment makes it a worse product.

I'm not going to disagree with the "investment" angle - mainly because it's common sense. But on the other hand, did you think that Facebook splurged US$2bn merely because Mark Zuckerberg thought that Occulus was a "neat piece of technology"? Check out the coverage around the deal at the time and you'll see that Facebook bought Occulus because they thought that it was going to be "the next evolution in social networking".

Now that shouts to me that an Occulus user is going to be "encouraged" to link their games to their Facebook account, and if you don't have a Facebook account then it'll be a pre-requisite ("to allow Occulus Inc to notify you of updates and new features"). I don't trust Facebook, so I don't have an account, which makes any tie up deeply suspicious. And I'm not the only person wondering if - while playing a game - you'll get "Bob Smith is also playing this game, would you like to friend him"; or "you've been playing for 90 minutes, wouldn't a Coke/Pepsi be a good idea at this point from your local ... (insert name of shop here)"

I don't know if I'll ever want it for Doom-esque shooters, but I'd love to use it for The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Alien: Isolation, Elite, and pretty much any racing game. I think there's a lot more life in this thing than just 15 minutes of novelty value from the games that already exist, and additionally we have no idea yet what kinds of games/simulations the kits will inspire.

Actually, I was thinking more CoD than Doom. And my "15 minutes" quote was based on the idea that Facebook will screw it up (see above). We've been hearing about the imminent arrival of VR for what, a decade or more now, and still nothing concrete. My other objection - and you can google this - is that some people suffer badly when put in imersive CG environments - with symptoms akin to sea/motion sickness after a short time. If memory serves then the hypothesis was that this is caused either by a lack of other cues or that the CG environment isn't quite correct and the brain gets confused. There were also some concerns expressed by osteopaths etc about the effect on neck joints of having a weighty device worn for long periods - although I'd be the first to admit that technology has moved on so those things'll be lighter than they used to be.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely CAN see a use for VR in CAE (for example), but I remain to be convinced that it's a plus point for games. I'd prefer to see 4K or even 8K screens instead.

[shaithis]

I can't get exited about these for 2 reasons:

1. We need standards. I ain't buying anything until it works with everything.
2. I need to be sure it isn't going to make me puke.

Until both are met, I ain't parting with any cash

[crossy]

2. I need to be sure it isn't going to make me puke.

Well that would add to the accuracy of a flight simulator wouldn't it - if you got airsick in the VR version like you might on a real aircraft?

LOL (unless you actually do suffer from airsickness, in which case, my sympathies)

1. We need standards. I ain't buying anything until it works with everything.

Agree totally, although Ziess' idea of an open SDK is a good step, although would be interesting to know what the licensing terms were.

[Jowsey]

Look, headset guys. I just want something to strap to my face (using my phone or not) so I can play high bitrate, good quality movies and get a 'cinema-esque' experience. If someone could sort that out I'm there. But I'm just not a fan of VR. I'll try it when it becomes available to me but I fear I may fall into the motion sickness category as I get travel sick already. At which point I'm just not going to buy it.

[crossy]

Look, headset guys. I just want something to strap to my face (using my phone or not) so I can play high bitrate, good quality movies and get a 'cinema-esque' experience. If someone could sort that out I'm there. But I'm just not a fan of VR. I'll try it when it becomes available to me but I fear I may fall into the motion sickness category as I get travel sick already. At which point I'm just not going to buy it.

I got an email from Maplin or Amazon, (sorry can't remember which), last week about some set of enhanced glasses and they were selling it specifically for movie watching on the move. Think the product was called MuVee or something similar. Sorry I can't be more specific.

EDIT: I found the email, it was for Vuzix ("Muvi" is a camera like the GoPro), and the Wrap 1200DX.

[Spud1]

Wow that's expensive for a bit of plastic and some lenses!

Google cardboard was/is a bit of fun - its a novelty being able to use your smartphone as a sort-of VR display..but it remains a novelty - its not something you would use daily and once you have played with it, thats all you really need.

This appears to be just a plastic version of that (and there are many, many of those already available from China at significantly lower cost). Totally different device category to the OCR for example.

So still waiting for the OCR really, to see if the Facebook influence hinders or helps!