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Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 3:39 pm
by Xeno
OldSoulCyborg wrote:Valve made a mixed reality trailer for SteamVR and they absolutely strawberry floating nailed it:


I was just watching the vid and I would agree that they did a very good job in showing the VR experience. I like that they were showing some games (Fantastic Contraption in this case) are quite social even though only one person is in the head set, as long as you have a monitor or tv set up your friends / family can give input.

Games / experiences in the vid.
The Lab
theBlu
Job Simulator
Cloudlands: VR Minigolf
Fantastic Contraption
Irrational Exuberance
Audioshield
Final Approach
Space Pirate Trainer
Everest VR
Arizona Sunshine
Elite Dangerous
Budget Cuts
Hover Junkers
Tilt Brush
The Gallery - Episode 1

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 5:53 pm
by Johnny Ryall
www.giantbomb.com/chat streaming as many launch games as they can before the day ends

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 6:51 pm
by OldSoulCyborg
So the future just arrived at my house. Just need to finish building my new PC and set it up, and then I'll be good to go.
The headset is significantly smaller than I thought it was.

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 7:50 pm
by Crimson
I've had mine for about a week now. Some thoughts:

First, the bad. There's a couple of unfortunate technical misgivings. The main thing is that the field of view in which things appear clear and in focus is disappointingly narrow. Objects and text in your peripheral vision can often be difficult to make out. The sweet spot is similar to that of the original 3DS I'd say. It's something I adapted to quite quickly but every now and then I'll forget and try to look at something in the corner of my vision before remembering to turn my neck and have it dead centre. There's also the well documented stuff like visible pixels and the screendoor/halo effect. The cable is a minor annoyance too. You really have to be very aware of it and when it does inevitably get tangled, having to stop and untangle yourself regularly can be irritating.

Having said all of that, I think what's impressed me most about the entire thing is that even in spite of the technology's shortcomings, the headset in combination with the controllers are still able to provide a staggeringly immersive experience. There were times when my brain was completely tricked. I wanted to put the controllers down for second when playing Job Simulator so my natural inclination was to set them on the table in front of me. It was only after trying this did I remember that the table wasn't actually there. I'd sometimes teleport too close to a wall in Budget Cuts and instinctively take a quick step back because it felt as though I was about to hit into it and hurt myself. One of the 360 degree videos I tried was of a knock off Godzilla slowly walking towards you and even though the video quality was less than ideal and the SFX were less then convincing, the sense of scale as it got closer felt almost genuine. I found myself recoiling back in fear, trying not to be crushed to death.

In the best of the games I've tried so far, interactions feel incredibly natural. Job Simulator in particular excels at this. Plugging in a computer, throwing a mug around, picking up stuff off the floor. They're all mundane tasks of course but being able to engage with a virtual environment in such an effortlessly tactile way is thrilling. There's a surreal, dream-like quality to it all, in that on some level you're always aware that none of it is actually real but your senses are being actively (and often successfully) tricked into thinking the opposite.

As for the games themselves:

Audioshield - Amazing. When you have a song that maps well to the game's track generator and you're in the zone nailing it, it's one of the best feelings I can recall in any game I've played in recent years. It's really buggy at the moment though, hopefully that stuff gets ironed out.

Job Simulator - Incredibly charming and witty and an excellent showcase for VR. Nothing particularly substantial or involved but undeniably appealing in small bursts.

Budget Cuts demo - The full game can't come soon enough. Very enjoyable stealth action that seems well designed for VR. Peeking around corners, ducking behind cover, and nailing the perfect knife throw is damn fun.

Cloudlands: VR Minigolf - I feel like this is an example of where the technology is both a hindrance and strength. It feels very natural and satisfying lining up shots and taking them. However, looking down with the headset on causes it to slip just a little but enough to lose the sweet spot and send everything into a blurry mess. It was even happening when I had it strapped on very tightly. I had to resort to holding the headset in place with one hand each time I went to take a shot. Not ideal when your entire game is built around this particular type of movement.

And a few other tech demo-y things that really aren't worth mentioning.

It's been an encouraging first week with VR on the whole. There isn't a huge number of properly great games worth playing at the moment so I hope developers can deliver on some meaty games that take full advantage of the tech in the coming months because when everything comes together it's strawberry floating magical.

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 4:29 am
by OldSoulCyborg
strawberry float. One of my base stations has a manufacturing error. (according to the SteamVR error message, which asks me to contact HTC support for a replacement (which I think, based on what I've read of other people's experiences with faulty Vive parts, means I have to RMA everything)
What little I could play of Tilt Brush and Universe Sandbox was fun, but hampered more than a little by feeling comfortable turning any way I wanted and being unsure of if tracking would work or drop out. So maybe it's for the best that I won't have access to it at all until everything is working perfectly.

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 10:59 am
by still
Don't know if anyone has posted this before but the video is chuffing funny:-

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style ... 99561.html

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Thu May 19, 2016 8:35 pm
by NickSCFC
Tried this out in Stoke at the weekend, some impressions:

The Construct
Unfortunately the Vive's screen door effect really shows with the whte background. However the realistic controllers pull me in, it's just like I'm looking at them. I make balloons with one hand and punch/bounce them with the other.

Shooting game
In my right hand a gun, in the left a shield. Flying robots appear in front of me and I shoot them easily, then im hit from the side and quickly raise my shield. Before I know it I'm firing my gun all over the play Equilobrium style, I'm now completely immersed, and sweating.

Job Simulator
Don't be fooled by the early 90s polygon graphics, this is incredibly immersive. I pick up a cup in one hand, sugar in the other and fill the cup. I then throw it and find myself shouting "oops sorry" thinking I'd somehow hit the guy conducting the demo with a non-existent cup. I kneel down to pick up the sugar, carefully making sure not to hit my head on the non-existent desk :oops:

Tilt Brush
Last demo, and arguably the best. I start by randomly swirling the brush in the air in sheer awe of what I'm creating. Picking brushes and tools with my left hand I then discover the background, I select stars and my inner geek kicks in. I start to sculpt a blue sphere, then select the green brush and begin to paint the continents. This is where the incredible accuracy of the controller kicks in, I'm drawing Africa, carefully curving my brush around the planet in 3D space.

This gooseberry fool is the future, it will be as big as the internet, as big as the iPhone. Everyone, and I literally mean everyone, is going to want one of these.

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 1:01 pm
by Rightey
At first I was excited for VR, but now thinking about it strapping what is essentially a mini TV 2 inches from your eyes might not be so smart. Has anyone noticed eye strain or fatigue with this stuff?

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 1:52 pm
by OldSoulCyborg
As far as your eyes and brain can tell the displays are actually about 1.2 meters away from your eyes because of the lenses.

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 2:10 pm
by jiggles
NickSCFC wrote:This gooseberry fool is the future, it will be as big as the internet, as big as the iPhone. Everyone, and I literally mean everyone, is going to want one of these.


The intense hyperbole from people who have a quick VR demo is always good for a laugh.

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 2:14 pm
by NickSCFC
jiggles wrote:
NickSCFC wrote:This gooseberry fool is the future, it will be as big as the internet, as big as the iPhone. Everyone, and I literally mean everyone, is going to want one of these.


The intense hyperbole from people who have a quick VR demo is always good for a laugh.


So what's your experience with VR?

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 2:23 pm
by jawafour
jiggles wrote:...hyperbole...

I always pronounce this as "hyper-bowl" rather than "hype-erb-olly". I know it's wrong but always say it that way :fp: .

Anyway, back to VR.

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 2:29 pm
by Knoyleo
jawafour wrote:
jiggles wrote:...hyperbole...

I always pronounce this as "hyper-bowl" rather than "hype-erb-olly". I know it's wrong but always say it that way :fp: .

Anyway, back to VR.

One day, there'll be a piece of VR language correction software, that has gives you a realistic and immersive bollocking for making these mistakes. Something like the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket screaming in your face, but in a correct RP British accent.

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 2:35 pm
by jawafour
Knoyleo wrote:One day, there'll be a piece of VR language correction software, that has gives you a realistic and immersive bollocking for making these mistakes. Something like the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket screaming in your face, but in a correct RP British accent.


:lol: .

I'll be okay though, Knoyleo, as in the Nintendo version, Mr Resetti will appear and only very mildly admonish me - before telling me that I can say it that way if I want to :toot: .

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 3:18 pm
by jiggles
NickSCFC wrote:
jiggles wrote:
NickSCFC wrote:This gooseberry fool is the future, it will be as big as the internet, as big as the iPhone. Everyone, and I literally mean everyone, is going to want one of these.


The intense hyperbole from people who have a quick VR demo is always good for a laugh.


So what's your experience with VR?


I owned a DK2 for 14 months, and a year before the Oculus Kickstarter, I won an award for my masters project in which I designed and built a prototype VR tracking system.

VR is a cool toy, and that's about it. It may have some success in certain niches, but only if someone can find a problem that it actually solves.

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 5:19 pm
by Peter Crisp
jiggles wrote:
NickSCFC wrote:
jiggles wrote:
NickSCFC wrote:This gooseberry fool is the future, it will be as big as the internet, as big as the iPhone. Everyone, and I literally mean everyone, is going to want one of these.


The intense hyperbole from people who have a quick VR demo is always good for a laugh.


So what's your experience with VR?


I owned a DK2 for 14 months, and a year before the Oculus Kickstarter, I won an award for my masters project in which I designed and built a prototype VR tracking system.

VR is a cool toy, and that's about it. It may have some success in certain niches, but only if someone can find a problem that it actually solves.


It solves the problem of not having a VR helmet on your head.

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 6:16 pm
by Lagamorph
Aren't there a few projects going on exploring VR for use in remote surgery through the use of robotic arms in distant locations?
And there's the potential for its use in surgical training.

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 6:39 pm
by jiggles
Lagamorph wrote:Aren't there a few projects going on exploring VR for use in remote surgery through the use of robotic arms in distant locations?
And there's the potential for its use in surgical training.


Which is exactly the kind of niche success I'm talking about it being limited to.

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 2:26 pm
by NickSCFC
HP just announced a backpack PC for Vive

http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/27/11790 ... c-backpack

Image

Re: SteamVR and HTC Vive | Launches 5th April for £746.60 | Vive Available to Pre-Order Now

Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 3:27 pm
by Lagamorph
Image

Time for a VR remaster.