VR the champions of the world?

[Skybird]

Lufthansa has announced that it will provide passengers on certain flight routes (in the US, I think) with Quest 3 headsets during the flight, for entertainment. This and the fact that Meta has signed cooperation with several US universities to provide Quest 3 headsets to them for various purposes and courses, opens the door for the possibility to introduce new users to VR who never used it before, may have heard of it, now can test it, get convinced of it and then may want a headset in their private life as well.
Clever moves by Meta considering that they are opening their OS and will see it being used on VR hardware by other manufacturers as well.

[Oubaas]

The involvement of Meta is exactly why I quit using VR.

Maybe I'll give a go again when a reasonably priced VR headset that's like a pair of Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses, with extreme clarity, is marketed by a company that is not Meta.

I just don't care to deal with Meta intruding into my gaming, nor do I like having a brick strapped to my face.

Unless there's a sudden giant leap forward in the technology, and some company that is not Meta sells the new stuff at a reasonable price without requiring accounts and data mining software, I doubt that VR will be much of a factor in gaming five years from now.

I already see a movement away from VR-only titles by software developers.

It's a shame, because I like VR for flight and racing sims, but Meta buying Oculus was like enjoying a nice cup of punch at a party and then discovering a turd in the punchbowl.

As for other VR manufacturers, their pricing is tantamount to shooting themselves in the foot.

I think that it won't be many years before we're saying, "Remember VR?" and laughing. It will go the way of 8-track players and those huge video discs the size of a vinyl LP album.

[Skybird]

I was angry when Facebook made a mandatory link of the Rift account with a Facebook account years ago. After some years of legal battles and tow years when the Quest was not sold in Germany - or who,e Europe? - Facebook/Meta then abandoned htis poicy. The Meta account needed for the VR headsets of today ARE NOT linked to the social media ccount of same name, its two separated accounts. The Meta VR account works like Steam works. You boycott Steam, too?

Secpond, the Quest 3 is cheap. They make a financial loss with selling it with the current price tags, hardware and production cost them more than what they get in mony form customers. Thats why every other headset of this sort costs more, and this will stay that way, becasue Meta makes compensatign wins with the software environment it had created and dominates, its the appshop that bring sthem the profit, not the hardware. Other manufacturers can no longer hope to easily rival the Meta Appstore, and so much add "honest" price tags to their VR headsets.

You could google for an independent cable-bound PC linked headset named BigScreen however, its linked to the software of same name. Its rudimentary in features, but is said to be superior in image quality. Its very small (but cable bound). Cannot comment on compatability, I dont know much more about it.

Yes, Meta is Zuckerberg and I hate it that he bought Oculus, but the deal breaker of making a Facebook account mandatory is no more existent. The Quest 3 is damn good, i dont want cable-linked headsets anymore. I use it every day, for movie watching, youtubing, sometimes internet browsing, fitness, Golf, Google Earth, racing. And I can do it comfortably on the balcony, in my favourite armchair, I must not sit on an office chair at my desktop anymore. Sound is good, image quality is amongst the top there is, handtracking is leader in class, controllers are outstanding. Apple's 7x more expensive headset hates the Quest 3.



You can wait for a long time before getting a better deal. Except Meta products. More are in the pipe, and they too will be cheoaer tha producitinc osts.

VR is slowly, but constantly progressing, sales are not as spectacular as they hoped they would be years ago, but they grow slow, but constantly. There is a market clenaign currently, Microsoft dosangages sicn eit never got its probkems under control with Mixed Reality, Sony gives up since it made the kistake to not support its 2nd PS5 headset with the needed VR games - there is not sufficient arugment in favour of buying it when you cant use it, right? And Quest 3 suffers a bit that Quest 2 rolled up the market and many are not yet ready to once again buy a new headset already. But in Ste am user hcrats, Quest 3 now has reached Quest 2 user numbers, and overtook them recently. I predict that in the forseeable future the Quest 3 will be the dominant headset in use at Steam. And as I explaine dearlier, certaun policy chnages at Meta pened the OS for other producers, and the Meta Appstore will benefit from that. These othe rheadsets will enver become as cheap as Meta's own, however. I explkained in the beginning why that is so. Meta can afford to sell under production costs. So, I see a spitive future for VR, and the past years confirm me. Its slow, but constant growth at a not sensational but natural speed. Evolution before revolution. I think that is good.



Dont know what it costs. Note it has no native controllers, you must add their costs by buying third party controllers. And its cable-bound, that is a no-go for me now.

P.S. Oooops, I looked it up. Costs 1400 coins. A steal. And you need a beefy platform. And if need be: controllers.

[Oubaas]

No more Facebook? Hmmm. Maybe I'll contemplate looking at this Quest 3. Thanks for the info. I didn't know that they had done away with the Facebook BS.

How is the clarity of the Quest 3 vs. a Rift S?

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Oubaas

No more Facebook? Hmmm. Maybe I'll contemplate looking at this Quest 3. Thanks for the info. I didn't know that they had done away with the Facebook BS.

How is the clarity of the Quest 3 vs. a Rift S?

Rift S....? That was 2019. I had a Rift 1, from 2017. No comparison. Its 2024, man. Those pancake lenses make a universe of a difference. You can glance at your phone and read small text on it with the Quest put on. Quest 3 vs Rift S: 4416 x 2064 px vs 2560 x 1440 px. 120 vs 80 Hz. 2.5 times higher processing power.

[Skybird]

Oubass,
this video is seven months old, done after release of Quest 3. It shows image quality through-the-lenses and compares it to Quest 2, the predecessor. Please keep in mind however that there have been several substantial upgrades to the Quest meanwhile, namely to Passthrough (=mixed reality, which looks better now than it did at the time the video was done). As I said, you can read text on your smartphone now with it, no problem if not doing fast head movements.
You also have no visible screendoor effect (fly screen effect) and super-obtrusive god-rays with the Q3. Its new socalled pancake lenses (no normal fresnel lenses anymore) really work miracles and wonders. I watch movies on movie screens, huge screens that is, and do not see single pixles, its as sharp as on a really good TV or moviescreen. I must not accept vosual compromise of any sort. Its fantastic to sit in your own virtual cinema hall.








And this is a side-by-side through-the-lenses comparison with the actual Pico 4.

[Oubaas]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Rift S....? That was 2019. I had a Rift 1, from 2017. No comparison. Its 2024, man. Those pancake lenses make a universe of a difference. You can glance at your phone and read small text on it with the Quest put on. Quest 3 vs Rift S: 4416 x 2064 px vs 2560 x 1440 px. 120 vs 80 Hz. 2.5 times higher processing power.

Thanks for all the info, Skybird! It looks like there has actually been some forward progress, finally. I'll probably give it another try, especially with the Facebook requirement gone.

[Skybird]

You're welcome. This thread is your friend, there is probably no answer that I have not already given in the pages before.


If your rig can handle it, try Quest 3 on FS. But put a cushion on the table first so that your jawbone does not break when it slams down. My rig unfortunetly does not run well in VR with FS, maybe its settings issue, maybe performance. It first worked, then came an update, and then it was broken for me. But it looks STUNNING. Also, Google Earth via SteamLink or Virtual Desktop. Thats what VR was made for!

[Skybird]

Here is celebration. First tiem ever that I pushed my handicap below 15. Free round for the house!





What's more, I seem to finally have gotten rid of my awful slice. Almost no right sided hooks anymore. Thats a biggie for me, it really was killing me. Best round played ever still is 90 strokes, I am trying and still waiting to get my first round below 90. Improving the quality of my play is very, very slow, but it feels substantial, like a lasting acchievement. And it persists over time, when I have not played for 3 days or so, which happened in the past two weeks. Means: I have become a better player at this golf sim, really. Its slow gains, its hard to get, but it feels good. Its not about just a statistical handicap value, its about the quality of strikes I now can do. Yes, very many players are way better than I am, but the point is I see the improvement in my own play, I see that I make progress, even if there are plateau phases that feel frustrating. All in all there is slow progress and that's motivating. Anbd they sa yin real life that Golf is hard to master and that progress indeed comes only slow. Can't agree more.

Over 90 rounds of 18 holes played now. Plus plenty of training, quite systematically.


I love this game!

[em2nought]

My favorite commercial in quite awhile!