Anonymous

[quote quote=960]Here’s a good link inside of Microsoft.com about various “Mixed Reality” projects:[/quote]

Thanks, that link offers insights into some interesting projects.

[quote quote=960]Mixed reality is a funny way to put it as I feel it’s where most people reside naturally on social media/the Internet.[/quote]

For me, yes and no.

YES, because cyberpsace and social media have ALWAYS been part of this sort of “dimension” into which we could extend ourselves, to give and receive vivid impressions.

NO, because in VR we’re not just looking at exchanged messages on a flat screen, when we can tell “reality” is within our line of sight. VR bumps it up a notch and actually keeps us totally immersed; it gets our vestibular system involved, and presents us with experiences so that no matter where we invest our attention, we only get more of the same environment. And in very striking ways, that is the difference between “seeing” there and “being” there.

[quote quote=864]Yeah, but imagine how much better it would be if the headset wasn’t so huge, & uncomfortable. If it could be ran on a small device in your backpack, didn’t need items in your hands, more portable, etc. VR in the 90’s blew donkey dick, sure it is much nicer, but as tech evolves it usually gets smaller & cheaper[/quote]

With it needing to be big enough to present a screen that fills your field of view, AND able to block out all chinks of light from the environment, there will always be constraints on how small you can make a headset. Maybe future devices using imaging tech that we can scarcely imagine will be even more elegant, but I don’t see the current solution as a barrier to a perfectly satisfying VR experience.

Hell, I’m fine with the size and comfort of Oculus Rift even as it is now. I’ve worn a Rift for half an hour at a time and don’t even remember what it felt like to wear, it was so balanced and light it was no more remarkable than putting on a hat. There must have been a screen door effect as well, I just don’t remember noticing any because of what I was doing.

Cost-wise, Rift is available for £399 with controllers. I paid £300 – at 1998 values – for a frigging 17 inch CRT monitor back in the day, I’m perfectly fine with the idea that I can pay a little more than that for a functioning VR headset today. I’d pay twice as much, if necessary – just don’t tell Palmer Luckey I said that 😀

The biggest impediment to me using VR so far was the cabling. THAT has to go, and there are ways round it available already.

[quote quote=848]The feeling of lady parts one inch from your face in a consequence free environment is the 1st and biggest draw if you can get past that it’s infinitely amazing. I just think people aren’t ready for it, they can barely distinguish reality from fake news on flat old Facebook!

I love the idea of simulated travel, time travel, flying, meetings, playing collective games and things like that. I can see a really scary dark side to it all though.[/quote]

I’m not going to lie, I’d try VR porn first chance I got 😀

And simulated travel/time travel would be awesome; imagine going back to Woodstock, or travelling on the Titanic, or engaged in a Star Trek mission (we’ve got the beginnings of that last one already).

As for the downside, yeah, there are always going to be fuck-ups who spoil it for others. It’s bad enough online these days meeting a troll who can only communicate by text interface, and maybe change the content of your posts and change your avatar. Imagine how much worse trolls would be with your entire VR presence under their control.

[quote quote=843]I spend a lot of free time in VR and some of the cool things are meeting up with friends around the world to shoot some pool, play paintball, watch Netflix or go see Reggie Watts at a virtual comedy theater. One concept in VR is teleporting. In order to get from one place to another in a large world, you point to where you want to go, press a button and your “body” travels to that location. One day after a few hours in VR, I went upstairs to the fridge to grab a beer. I closed the fridge door, pointed my finger at the couch in my living room and pressed a non-existent button. Confused as to why I was’t moving, my wife yells out “Did you just try to teleport you fuckin’ idiot?!!?”[/quote]

That’s funny, but some astronauts have found the same thing coming back to Earth after a long time in space. Their wife will ask them to e.g. pass the remote and they’ll say “Sure!” pick up the remote in one hand and “waft” it gently towards them as if it were weightless.

Of course, it falls right on the floor at their feet instead. If someone with the calibre of an astronaut takes time to adjust between different environments, us regular schlubs don’t stand a chance 😀

What’s really interesting is that you presumably don’t have this kind of lapse after using a monitor to play or socialise, but you do experience it after being in VR.

[quote quote=797]How’s it looking?! Workin it, workin it![/quote]

Test.

edit: still just got Edit, Reply, and Quote, fwiw.

I don’t see Trash or Delete, all I get are Edit, Reply, and Quote – here’s a screengrab:

[url=https://postimages.org/][img]https://s17.postimg.org/6jdu6r3in/fudge.jpg[/img]