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Oculus' Michael Abrash Explains What It'll Take For VR To Feel Real
redletterdave writes: At Oculus's annual developer conference on Thursday, Oculus' chief scientist Michael Abrash took the stage to offer a few anecdotes and a ton of information about the current state of virtual reality, and where it needs to go in order to be truly great. Getting to the next level of virtual reality, Abrash said, will require coordinated advances in several different technologies. Specifically, Abrash believes the future of virtual reality will be built on three pillars: driving the human perceptual system, sensing and reconstructing reality, and interaction.
Smellovision
Smellovision
fufme
The two together should cover most needs
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I know what would make VR more attractive to buy. No spyware.
VR is a dead end. How would you create a VR environment that is real? How can you walk, climb? Your inner ear is telling you about the real world. Your eyes are showing you the virtual world. The disconnection between the two is what causes people to get motion sickness. You will never solve that problem. Augmented Reality is the future.
You have to release the bloody product!
In old days the delay in VR made me nauseous. However at the SIGGRAPH a couple months ago I sampled some of the newer VR setups and almost got sick because it felt so real. One Sony demo had you walk a tight rope between two skyscraper roofs. You could see the ground out of the edge of your eyes. Lots of people found it difficult to walk the rope because it felt so scary. Ditto another demo with Oculus riding a skateboard at 40 miles an hour.
We just need a giant metal spike that jams into the backs of our heads to feed our brains the proper electric signals a la the matrix.
I've been voted down for saying this a million times, but we are a century away from anything truly approaching virtual reality. All we have today is strapping a screen to our eyeballs. That's it. Even when we have haptic touch and response, smell replication, and so on... we will be a thousand miles off target from what actual "virtual reality" is.
Gosh I hope no one ever programs a computer to play a game.
Shall we play a game?
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
that is the question.
We hate our reality so much, that we'll spend thousands of hours in make believe land. And people wonder why we are doomed.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
You must be real fun at parties.
Movies and games on TV do not look like we are looking through a window, yet it's still very nice.
The reason I say that is that the requirements are pretty steep, and getting too much into the requirements might be 'perfect being the enemy of the good'.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
i.e., utterly non-interesting. Computers are there to be programmed, not to play games upon. (I do make an exception for chess, though.)
Same thing for VR. Utterly boring and plain, compared to
1) reality
2) programming
And if YOU don't like it, no one should!
You are correct, nothing compares to strapping on the old plate mail and taking at few swings at a dragon.
Except dominoes. God I fucking love dominoes.
it's going to take more time.
I had a roommate who would only watch "realistic" movies and television shows. That ended up being Mexican soap operas where the husband gets shot in the stomach by the wife. One reason why I don't Latino women.
You forgot Fear and Surprise.
???
Profit!
Shall we play a game?
Lets play "Global Thermonuclear War".
When the game isn't fair, people quit playing.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
Wait, does Oculus have the same Michael Abrash that worked on Doctor Dobb's Journal? And author of numerous graphics programming books? That guy's pretty awesome! I remember reading his stuff when I was just in high school. In fact it may have been one of his articles where I *really* started to understand derivatives (way back when I was in high school studying calculus).
Wait, does Oculus have the same Michael Abrash that worked on Doctor Dobb's Journal? And author of numerous graphics programming books? That guy's pretty awesome! I remember reading his stuff when I was just in high school. In fact it may have been one of his articles where I *really* started to understand derivatives (way back when I was in high school studying calculus).
That's a bit like saying that a car is there to be tinkered with, not to drive it. Not saying that it isn't fun to tinker with cars (I do it from time to time), but in the end most people have them in order to use them for something else (i.e. getting around or just driving them for the hell of it)used. Same as with computers. Programming is fun, but that's not why I own a computer.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Wouldn't you prefer a nice game of chess? Or perhaps you'd like to write a Quick Sort routine instead?
Indeed, I concur. I find computer gaming to be rather shallow and pedantic.
The ambition to be absolutely real, allowing a full experience is in my mind overrated. I don't want to walk or climb, I have plenty of opportunities to do that in real life (and take advantage of them). I however do thoroughly enjoy my DK2 as it is, just letting me look around. The ability to have the 'oculus touch' type of controls is appealing, but I personally do not have a lot of excitement over things like treadmills, spheres, etc. I of course would love some wind and acceleration applied to aid in the experience of things like roller coasters, driving, and flying, but really don't need full locomotion on a grand scale..
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
"Five pillars"
"Four, sir"
"Four - four pillars"
Take it to the limit, everybody to the limit, come on, everybody fhqwhgads.
Well played Picard
I program in games you insensitive clod!
Any other introverted wiffs of your brain you would like to share with the class?
Human perceptual systems
Sensing and reconstructing reality
Interaction
That's 3.
So ... when people spend all that time programming, is the assumption these programs sit like museum pieces in their pristine glory to be admired?
Or do you acknowledge that at some point people will actually use the programs?
Because, you know, not planning on how people actually used all this glorious programming would pretty much scream "totally pointless endeavor".
You don't have to like VR, but it the sum total of your argument is "computers are for programming not using" ... well, welcome to your pointless existence. Please keep your existential malaise to yourself.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
I was unaware that was a verb.
I may have to German some beers tonight.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
The word "date" never made it to the keyboard. Then again, you don't want to "Latino" (i.e., pissed off) a women unless you want a gun shot to the gut.
That's 4. Are you a democrat because they can't count either? They constantly lose track of numbers like how much they're spending, and how much they owe.
If you French them, you won't get Greeced.
I'll wait for the holodeck. That seems like it would be the ultimate VR.
We have 4 divisions: Marketing, Accounting, Research & Development.
Mr. Potato Head!! Backdoors are NOT secrets!