What happened to the future of VR?

[Matmulder]

Remember those old days, of SegaVR (Clicky) back in 1993, and companies telling us that VR was the future, we'd all be shunning nasty old 15" CRT's in favour of headsets that immersed us into the game.

Well, 16 years on, and still nothing, we're still staring at small screens (well, slightly better than in the early 90's) and VR is still just heresay and pipe dreams.

This is coming out soon, but still seems poor. With the LCD revolution of late, and components getting smaller, you'd think we'd be getting close to having 3D Glasses (that didn't pull your face to the floor due to weight) and gyroscopic guns* so the gun moves independantly of your head movements.

So why is no one doing it? Surely the technology is there?

*I borrowed one of those gyroscopic mice they use for presentations from work, and trust me - it works fantastically in FPS's. Someone should make a gyroscopic gun

 

[Jongo]

it is here.. there are actually virtual reality headset things on the market. Though they cost a fair bit maby some1 could find a link

 

[DaveyD]

To me, it's something that's going to take a long long time to get going. One thing, you're going to need a hell of a lot of money for something like this, to develop it and make it affordable for the public. These things have to be a good alternative to peoples big HDTVs remember, and surround sound systems.

Currently, if the Nintendo Wii takes off as it should, we'll be seeing this as one of the early steps towards VR gaming, as the Wii control system is based on movement and all that, giving realtime interaction with body movements.

If something VR based ever does come out, it's going to be in the form of either a niche PC based market, or, a big time next next generation console in terms of marketing. It's all well and good having the technology for this kind of stuff, but when you don't have developers to make the games that'll make all the money, it's a wasted gimmick that nobody will want to buy.

 

[ScarySquirrel]

Four games were apparently developed for the system, using 16 Mb cartridges they were to be bundled with the headset.

The company claimed the project was stopped because the VR was so real users would move while wearing the headset and injure themselves.

LOL!!!

 

[insane200]

probably cause everyone get sick useing them . id rather look at a screen then strangle my self with cables.

 

[Digital Punk]

I've often wondered what happened to the whole VR thing.

Would love to play a game like Half Life or FEAR with a VR headset on and be totally immersed in the game.

Probably die of a heart attack, but what a way to go, lol.

 

[Edinho]

Until someone develops a 'screen-less' monitor without the need for a stupid headset and cables its never going to happen. I see more VR been more like it was in Total Recall. You'll buy an implant that will let you play the game in your head, and communicate without even doing anything.

 

[ramdor]

Wireless headset, with built in screens (two of them at 1920x1200) and a mic. 100 meter range. One day

Richie.

 

[tim_enchanter]

VR back then was a waste of time anyway, IMO we are just getting to a stage when it could be implemented well.
Simply because we are just getting to the point where we can actually create and render the kind of graphics that make it all worth while.
I would rather my VR experience to be something like inside the eye candy of Oblivion than looking like TRON.

I've always said VR will make a come back when the technology allows

 

[badgermonkey]

We have a nice VR room here at the uni

 

[Glaucus]

problem is Vr headsets are a waste of time IMO without having the docking bay type thing. Where you stand in it and hold a toy gun with a kind of 360 tred mill. And it traces your entire body using several cameras. Now not only is it ridiculously expensive, you really need a separate room to put it in. I can't see that happening anything soon.

 

[One More Solo]

I remember playing Doom with a VR headset years back, it was ace.

 

[Hades]

The old headsets were too bulky and I could never foucs properly when using them. But they will make a comeback one day when technology has advanced enough to get around those issues.

 

[timbob]

I remember playing Quake 3 at the Tomorrows World Live exhibition a good 6 months before Quake 3 was released - so just a demo with q3dm17 (the tiny floating map) on it. They had two PCs on the stand, one with a mouse/keyboard and monitor, and one with a VR headset connected. Whichever way you turned your head, the screen moved for aiming, and there was a keyboard to use for movement. It was a tad disorientating at first, but an awesomely immersive way to play!