
VR is a dud – here's why - jrbedard
http://www.businessinsider.com/vr-is-a-dud-2016-4
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jonnathanson
The author's arguments about lack of currently available content are his most
valid. But for the rest of the piece, I can't help feeling he's playing a game
of "no true Scotsman" with us. Does VR need to be _totally immersive_ in order
to be viable? And if so, how do we define _total_ immersion? (To use the
author's phrase: "enter into virtual worlds." How do we define that?)

This author, along with many others, seems to believe that VR fails if it is
anything less than the Matrix. I'm not convinced that's the case. My strong
suspicion is that this generation of VR will be evolutionary, and not
revolutionary -- an enhanced presence, if you will, adding to (but not
replacing) the state of the art in console gaming. Perhaps we'll see some
immersive adventures in filmmaking, television, sporting events, concerts, and
so forth. But it's time we stopped looking at VR as an all-or-nothing
proposition. There may well be a commercially viable middle ground between the
clunky "VR" of yesteryear and the Star Trek holodeck.

The current hype cycle has engendered this inevitable backlash. What we need
now is neither hype nor hate. We need progress, and progress is often
iterative. We will need to accept the warts and all of the current iteration
as it develops and becomes more and more.

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justanotherbody
The article has reasonably valid points though I'm not sure I agree with any
of them

1 content is limited now, but is not likely to stay that way forever. The
commentary about porn is humorous but unreasonable - vr does not need porn to
succeed

2 hardware will get cheaper and lighter rapidly. Also I expect a notable
market to develop for vr as an alternative to monitors (which requires about
the same space as a pc).

3 kids don't drive $1200 high end gaming pc sales. The vr market the author
addresses is not today's market

4 direct-to-brain vr will be cooler than today's tech, but they both have a
place

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ratfacemcgee
don't forget that business insider is gawker, so keep your salt shaker ready
when reading.

