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Thread: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    Quote Originally Posted by peterb View Post
    ....

    Whether it will ever be mainstream a consumer item is another question. It does come down to cost, but I suspect it will be a fad or a niche market for gamers.
    ....
    I don't think it's quite that simple. I mean, yes it comes down to cost, but there's more to it than that.

    First, as long as it stays alive, tech will improve, headsets will get cheaper, lighter, less bulky and, yes, better. But it's chicken and egg. Consumers are quite capable of paying several hundred pounds if, and I repeat ....

    IF

    the experience is good enough.

    And that is, ahem .... a rather large if.

    Currently, we've seen a lot of evolution in the entertainment experience, from B&W, to increasing definition, cinema sound, ever larger screen sizes etc. But ee haven't had a truly revolutionary jump in comsumer experience of entertainment.

    VR, in current or some future form COULD provide that IF the offering is good enough, but it needs the experience itself to dramatically shift gears, and that means content.

    Probably the last real paradigm shift was the recording revolution, by which I mean VHS, Betamax and V2000. That shifted the consumer experience and everything that followed from it, from HDR to streaming and on-demand, is simply evolution of that.

    Can VR be a paradigm shift? Yes, IF the offering is good enough? If it is, and so far it isn't, but if it is, the consumer demand will follow, and prices will drop as makers meet huge demand increases.

    But it has to hit that tipping point, and won't unless the consumer experience shifts up a gear, which it won't unless studios, etc, are prepared to invest heavily to supply content, which needs to not just be in sufficient quality, but plenty of quantity.

    Do that and VR will do to "TV" what colour did to B&W. Don't, and VR remains niche.

    The question is .... do the content providers have the guts? So sure, it comex down to money, but studio money rather thzn consumer prices and requires the tech on offer and the content available go be right or the snowball will remain stubbornly attached to the top of the hill.

    IMHO, of course.

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    Tried PS VR that I borrowed from a friend and I loved it (apart from motion sickness) but since I game on rare occasions I can not justify the price

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    I think the entry price is too high which the miners really aren't helping with.

    I will say my non techy wife tried my oculus and thought it was amazing but she would never pay the price for the setup.

    The oculus all in one may be interesting, essentially a little better than the phone VR experience and doesn't require a £600 phone.

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    If the prices for the high end models ever come down to $199 I would think about it. As it is they are way way way overpriced. No way in hell will I ever pay 800 dollars for VR anything. I like the concept though. The price is just too much.

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    consumer stuff at least, it's nothing like "reality" and it's very expensive and in it's infancy. it's like pong in the 70s compared to games today, but pong was popular and more affordable and had a novelty and tech value very different to today, where there's so many other things competing for peoples attention, unlike 3 channels of tv and no internet of the 70s. i think it's a while away before VR will look like reality, with realistic humans, then there's everything else to contend with, such as the feel, and movement, and the bulk and size of equipment, and of course cost. but look what we can make a £10 android phone do today, things we only imagined on tv 25 years ago. we got £30 amazon tablets (when on offer) streaming all sorts of movies, music and tv shows from online, and letting us video chat with people on the other side of the world. 25 years ago we had pda's and fairly basic phones, so i imagine a similar jump in technology and spec and ability 20 or so years down the line when it may be matured properly

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    It's just not "there" yet. There will be a tipping point, but it's not been reached. I'd say £250 for a Rift type system to get past partner scorn and we might see it
    Old puter - still good enuff till I save some pennies!

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    They can make enough sales to establish it as a stable sector of gaming, so long as they can overcome the chicken egg situation that is having enough sold for devolopers to make serious titles (and not one or 2 mods)
    Prices obviously will come down in time, whether the can catch up with mobiles is another thing.

    They will never be seriously mainstream aslong as you have to strap a small shoebox to your face

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    Quote Originally Posted by Yoyoyo69 View Post
    ....

    They will never be seriously mainstream aslong as you have to strap a small shoebox to your face
    I agree with that, though improvements in tech may well solve that .... if the concept survives that long.

    It's a bit like baby polar bears .... survive the early years and not much can threaten you, but those early years ..... high attrition rate.

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    I remember playing Doom in Maplins on a VR headset. This has happened before and will happen again. The tech is limited by wires and space.

    Does anyone remember Quazar / laser gun battles? Cyber cafes where you could game? Now imagine that with VR. The wires mounted from the ceiling so they aren't trailing, the proper kit, no furniture removal required and so on.... I think VR may well work in that kind of environment and it may take a cinema realising ticket sales are falling and one screen could be dedicated to VR stuff where groups of mates go to kill each other in VR, race cars in VR or whatever. You MIGHT be able to do something like that. Whether you could make it profitable or not I dunno and you'd need a lot of games available to do it.

    But I suspect it'll fade away again as for the home gamer it's not practical (space, cost) and that HTC has sold almost everything to throw all its cash at a fad. Such a shame.

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    It's the history of tech. Keep developing until it is achieved(sometimes expenditure seems secondary).

    So VR will become more than a beta project when; the screen is a flexi-screen that wraps weightlessly around the face, is wireless, and game and film directors have realised the full potential and produced quality VR work. The mind is very good at the suspension of disbelief and media input(gaming or film) will become a viable version of the real, after the mind adjusts. Just like the mind adapts to audio headphones, which seem unnatural at first.

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    Quote Originally Posted by philehidiot View Post
    I remember playing Doom in Maplins on a VR headset. This has happened before and will happen again. The tech is limited by wires and space.

    Does anyone remember Quazar / laser gun battles? Cyber cafes where you could game? Now imagine that with VR. The wires mounted from the ceiling so they aren't trailing, the proper kit, no furniture removal required and so on.... I think VR may well work in that kind of environment and it may take a cinema realising ticket sales are falling and one screen could be dedicated to VR stuff where groups of mates go to kill each other in VR, race cars in VR or whatever. You MIGHT be able to do something like that. Whether you could make it profitable or not I dunno and you'd need a lot of games available to do it.

    But I suspect it'll fade away again as for the home gamer it's not practical (space, cost) and that HTC has sold almost everything to throw all its cash at a fad. Such a shame.
    If nothing else, I confidently predict that VR will outlast Maplin this time around.

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    Personally for me VR is a total dud. Bought a Samsung S8 direct from Samsung and it arrived with a Gear VR headset. For about a week it was OK but TBH I've not worn it since as I can't be bothered. And that's a free headset absolutely no way would I pay for one. Maybe 10 years from now things will be different who knows.

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    Quote Originally Posted by Saracen View Post
    Probably the last real paradigm shift was the recording revolution, by which I mean VHS, Betamax and V2000. That shifted the consumer experience and everything that followed from it, from HDR to streaming and on-demand, is simply evolution of that.
    Early VHS adoption was driven by porn. Early Internet was awash with the stuff. Movies where you can walk around the action aren't a thing, it has to be computer generated, so there isn't really a porn use case yet and perhaps it is holding the medium back.

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    It's a fad, it will be used in some applications but for general home use , no,


    AR will be used and become more popular , and when it is able to be put into normal glasses then things may change

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    Quote Originally Posted by RaTTuS View Post
    AR will be used and become more popular , and when it is able to be put into normal glasses then things may change
    After the hate that was directed at "glassholes" I am surprised so many people think this is the case. I have enough problems with phone zombies meandering around the paths with their head in a screen, I am not sure of the case for more distraction without there being a huge backlash. The inclusion of always on cameras in public places is iffy, I can't imagine a time when walking into a public toilet or changing rooms wearing a camera isn't going to get you a punch in the face

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    Re: QOTW: Do you think virtual reality is a fad?

    Its not the 1st time its been marketed, I can remember playing games in my local arcade where you wore a huge VR helemet and tried to drive a mech about. Most people just stood there looking round in amazement.

    It will definitely take off more in the business sector than for home use I feel (as it already is).

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