I agree though I'd argue it's not a single axis of "bulkiness/easy of use", and more a balance between "bulkiness/ease of use" and "functionality".
The Quest (and self-contained VR devices generally) has done a lot to move the ball forward on bulkiness/easy of use, but IMO has not done a lot on the functionality part. Most VR experiences are toys that don't have lasting power. It is revealing that FB's marketing for the devices is overwhelmingly about a single game (Beat Saber).
I have a Quest 2 that has been sitting in the closet collecting dust for close to a year now. The experience is pretty mind-blowing the first few times, but there isn't anything there to keep me coming back. Once in a blue moon some novel (and usually rather short) VR experience will draw me back in for a day or two, but then the device goes back into the closet again.
The breakthrough hinges on the combination of easy of use and what the heck there is even to do with the device that is compelling.
[edit] Seeing some other folks opine about the lack of content elsewhere in the thread - yes it's true, but I think framing the issue as one about content leans heavily into the local maxima (which is a very low local maxima) we are in right now, where VR is really only about gaming. I remain unconvinced that gaming is the best use of this technology - and if we implicitly/explicitly define this as a "content problem" rather than a more general "things to do" problem I think we're missing something key.
The Quest (and self-contained VR devices generally) has done a lot to move the ball forward on bulkiness/easy of use, but IMO has not done a lot on the functionality part. Most VR experiences are toys that don't have lasting power. It is revealing that FB's marketing for the devices is overwhelmingly about a single game (Beat Saber).
I have a Quest 2 that has been sitting in the closet collecting dust for close to a year now. The experience is pretty mind-blowing the first few times, but there isn't anything there to keep me coming back. Once in a blue moon some novel (and usually rather short) VR experience will draw me back in for a day or two, but then the device goes back into the closet again.
The breakthrough hinges on the combination of easy of use and what the heck there is even to do with the device that is compelling.
[edit] Seeing some other folks opine about the lack of content elsewhere in the thread - yes it's true, but I think framing the issue as one about content leans heavily into the local maxima (which is a very low local maxima) we are in right now, where VR is really only about gaming. I remain unconvinced that gaming is the best use of this technology - and if we implicitly/explicitly define this as a "content problem" rather than a more general "things to do" problem I think we're missing something key.