The quest is such a beautiful device. I hope they continue to work on it and release new versions. VR is so good and still in it's infancy.
back
3 comments
I have to agree. Is it perfect? Hell no. Is it an insane value for the $250 I paid for my Quest 3s last year at Target? Hell yes.
My kids and I use our two headsets a lot. Sure, it's not a daily driver for workflows, but the uniqueness of many of the game experiences just can't be replicated on desktops/consoles.
It's a damn shame because Facebook bought up Oculus, poured gasoline on a fire by pumping $100B dollars in and now seems set to walk away because it didn't make a $100B + 1 dollars.
In its current state, it was never going to be a replacement for PCs or phone experiences. It's just a different lane all together. But Beat Saber, or Walkabout mini golf, or the I Expect You to Die series are insanely fun and unique. I'll be sad if they fold the quest down entirely, but I hope that Valve or others take up the banner. VR doesn't have to be a $100B industry to be viable, especially in its infancy.
Meanwhile, Apple tosses a $3,500 headset onto the market and then is surprised that it's treated as a novelty. Why is it so hard for these companies to get their strategies right? Maybe it's because it's not a product suited (today, at least) for two of the largest companies on earth to focus on. These are moonshot companies who make products that half of the globe uses on a daily basis.
I just want a solid VR platform with a healthy pipeline or quirky, interesting games.
> VR is so good and still in it's infancy.
I believe 30% of the population cannot use VR in any way shape or form because your inner ear has decided the floor is the only place you can be.
FYI: This is usually solved by placing a fan on the floor in front of your boundary (designated play area). This isn't just a "community tip", it's been studied:
https://www.computer.org/csdl/journal/tg/2025/05/10916971/24...
It's interesting, but this is the kind of barrier that makes Zuck's idea of everyone using VR all the time everywhere impossible. Putting a fan in the space is the kind of hack only someone highly motivated to play VR games would do, not someone who wants to do online shopping.
Even for games or experiences with no artificial locomotion whatsoever?
Yes, my understanding (and I suspect the reason why the airflow experiment worked) is that a large part of the reason this happens is because of a mismatch between the output from the vestibular and visual systems. So, the automated defenses of your body freak out and go into a defensive mode.
I think that ~30% of the population just has more sensitivity to the mismatch.
But surely that requires (virtual) player movement in VR for there to be a mismatch?
There is always going to be some movement. It’s impossible for there not to be. Whether it is rendered in the VR environment or happening in real-life through small little motions, there’s a lot of little things that help to establish the mismatch.
It’s probably most like getting car sick. You are obviously moving, but you are also stationary at the same time. This doesn’t happen to folks suffering from motion sickness when they are driving, though, because there is now a physical action tying the motion to your inputs.
This may lead you to ask why people watching a movie in a theater don’t get motion sick and the reason is the same, multiple inputs tell you otherwise. You can see the edges of the screen, you can see the audience, there’s a lot of input telling your body there’s nothing weird going on here. The more immersive, the more some people’s bodies do not handle the illusion well.
I also worry that the whole idea will die before it had a chance to truly blossom. It's really amazing as is and with higher resolution and better field of view it could be on another level altogether. I hope that Valve will keep the tocrch and I plan to get their VR glasses to support the industry.