
Mainstream VR HMDs Are Coming, with a Range of Specs and Features - SkarredGhost
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/mainstream-vr-hmds-intel-microsoft,33217.html
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arcanus
What about the computer needed to drive these displays? Will they all require
a 1k computer with a top of the line AMD/NVIDIA GPU?

That is the biggest cost barrier to large scale VR adoption. To say nothing of
the lack of killer software...

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drzaiusapelord
Only if you want to play gorgeous looking games. For TPS report writing, your
built in card is fine. It won't be pretty but you'll be able to use VR Excel
or casual gaming with mobile-like low poly and low textures.

I think its very clear MS is pushing into the low end to entice businesses,
not gamers. I imagine a separate Xbox VR product is going to come out that
will be higher spec than these HMDs and will come with proper spatial
controllers.

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ashark
> It won't be pretty but you'll be able to use VR Excel

> I think its very clear MS is pushing into the low end to entice businesses

I can't come up with a reason this would be desirable. There are eye and
mental health issues that seem like serious roadblocks to making everyone use
these things for whole workdays, and if you have to revert to a normal screen
much of the time then what's the point of messing with VR? Just one more
gadget. Plus any battery-powered device will suffer from greatly increased
power drain compared with doing the same stuff in a normal desktop, even with
a lower-fidelity VR experience. 8hr battery with monitor versus 4hr battery
with VR (I'm being generous)? The productivity benefit from VR would have to
be _enormous_ to make that look like a good trade.

I can see it for some niche applications (3d modeling or CAD, maybe) but for
MS Office cowboys? What's the pitch?

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drzaiusapelord
I sometimes use my Vive on Windows for 2D tasks. Its pretty neat, if not a
little unpolished. I can make my screen be the equivalent of a 60" TV only a
few feet from me, use my full FOV, tile a lot more windows, control how much
and what color lighting enters my eyes (goodbye awful office fluorescent),
etc. I think there's merit to the idea of a VR windows manager environment
running native VR apps. With the proper polish this could be a game-changer. A
bit how everyone was skeptical of the iPad, but it really added something to
the computing ecosystem that wasn't there before, but didn't and wasn't mean
to, replace desktops.

I could see AR/VR headsets adding to the computing ecosystem similarly.

>I can see it for some niche applications (3d modeling or CAD, maybe) but for
MS Office cowboys? What's the pitch?

This is what people used to say for multi-core processors, dual displays, high
res displays, etc. The reality here is that even "average" computer work will
find ways to use extra capacity via innovation, features, etc. Who knows what
a VR Excel would look like, but I imagine it can be done well.

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pault
I'm just waiting for the next generation of HMDs to come out with "retina"
pixel density so I can go all in on virtual desktops.

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drzaiusapelord
I was pleasantly surprised to see how good my Vive looks with a certain level
of super-sampling turned on. The default resolution does look grainy, I admit,
but SS really helps and its nearly night and day between the two. Us first-gen
buyers probably will be riding the SS train a bit and may even want to skip
gen2 for gen3 depending on how fast the industry moves.

Some before and after pics:

[http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/super-sampling-vr-
viv...](http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/super-sampling-vr-vive/)

The screen door effect still exists even with SS but I find I mentally tune it
out after a few minutes anyway.

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pault
I just need it to be able to render an ultra-wide-screen tmux session with
several 80 column splits of 12 point type. What's the lower limit on font size
that you can easily read on the vive?

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yodon
Microsoft and Unity are doing an amazing job building development tools for
Windows Holographic devices like these (yes, I know today it's just HoloLens
but these run the same tech just in a VR context). My concern is I've not seen
any support for 3dof or 6dof tracked controllers in those dev tools, which
means applications supporting those controllers could be dangerously late in
arriving (I love Unity's integrated HoloLens simulator and debugger, but it
took a long time after device release for that to hit release builds of the
tooling)

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drzaiusapelord
I don't think MS is going to sell controllers for Holographic or Hololens.
It'll be BYOC perhaps with the exception of a Xbox VR headset.

I suspect the game plan is to use all those cameras on the Hololens to not
only do tracking but to also track hands and perhaps fingers, Kinect-style for
a seamless experience. Its suspicious MS isn't talking controllers and I think
its because they want to usher in a controller-less solution first with the
option to use a kb/m, gamepad, or 3rd party spatial controllers if need be,
say for gaming, but for general purpose, your hands will be all you need.

In some early hololens concept videos they featured people interacting with it
using just their hands. I think they want to make this happen when they
finally release hololens, so they aren't going to invest in controller
solutions. Worse, from a more practical level, hololens uses inside-out
markerless tracking so without a bunch of USB cameras or a Vive-like
lighthouse system, they actually can't support controllers.

