Comments on: Why immersive virtual reality is the next generation of gaming: part 1

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 21:58:44 +0000

Hi Gabriel,

Did you try the ST1080 for this? I would like an HMD for pretty much the exact same use case. Hopefully you get emails when someone replies to your post on this forum

By: Tom Piazza

Tom Piazza — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:40:16 +0000

Can’t wait for part 2. The Oculus Rift is a really promising step in that direction. I feel like this greedy tendency of the consumer console market to slowly role out improvements, and new generations, of products is not a true indication of how capable we are to have this technology in the consumers hands at this very moment.

By: vinny

vinny — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 22:18:07 +0000

i think bendable display will be perfect for a wrap around display

By: Phillfrog

Phillfrog — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:38:25 +0000

If you would like to see the 3D effect in the first video,, but don’t have a FOV2GO, simply place your hand as if you were karate chopping the video in half and put your face up to your hand. You’ll also look about as silly as using a FOV2GO, but this way you can look silly for free! :)

By: Cybernettr

Cybernettr — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 03:09:54 +0000

Wow, technology is moving soooo fast, I’m already having a hard time keeping up with it! I vaguely knew the current iPhones/iPod touches/iPads had built-in gyroscopes, but the gravity of that never really sunk in. I mean, isn’t a gyroscope a kind of spinning top, and how could that be in something as small and flat as an iPhone? Well, it turns out that it uses a special gyroscope called a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) that integrates electronic and mechanical components at a very small scale. Whether this will provide very effective VR with a fold-out viewer I don’t know, but it’s pretty amazing. You can read more about MEMS here: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone-4-Gyroscope-Teardown/3156/1

By: Giant Robo

Giant Robo — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 00:23:19 +0000

actually its easy. i make video games for a living and realized immediately how I could implement this into my work… i won’t go into the details here but trust me its no problem!

very cool tech. i see something like this taking off big… someday at least.

By: James Iliff

James Iliff — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 02:31:39 +0000

ST0180 sounds like a great product for your purposes.

By: James Iliff

James Iliff — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 02:30:45 +0000

Hey Matthew! These are some great questions. I think VR games will eliminate most non-diegetic content, such as cutscenes, HUDs, interfaces, and anything that isn’t directly part of the game world itself. VR as a medium tends to immerse you in a sense of presence – so everything that enhances your feeling of presence will change game design significantly. A lot of great first-person shooters are being modded for VR, but I doubt anything other than a first-person experience could work. Check out my other article on this exact topic, let me know what you think: http://www.jamesiliff.com/level-design-for-head-mounted-displays-mood-atmosphere-and-narrative-architecture-in-virtual-environments

By: xaviergalax

xaviergalax — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 07:29:12 +0000

I think, its quite difficult to achieve stereographic display on games, but t will be great features if it will work.

By: Matthew Fuller

Matthew Fuller — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 14:20:31 +0000

Right right, as he said, “pseudo vr situation”.

By: Editor

Editor — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 02:46:59 +0000

As I understand it, the FOV2GO is actually a combination of AR and VR. VR requires 3D immersion in a virtual world, which requires stereographic display and the ability to move around in the world via head tracking, which is achieved with the iPhone’s (or other other smartphones’) gyroscope.

By: Editor

Editor — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 02:27:38 +0000

CORRECTION: Shayd Mobile was developed by James Illiff, not Perry Hoberman, who developed the FOV2GO stereoscopic Unity package (my error).

By: Matthew Fuller

Matthew Fuller — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 22:10:09 +0000

yeah that does sound cool. But that sounds like AR, not VR. None the less, it would be very cool if AR could make us more engaged in general (at home, school, work) to make a game out of anything. Or at least more events and tasks, and problems too.

By: Matthew Fuller

Matthew Fuller — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 22:08:17 +0000

Wow, you really are at the edge of where VR game design may go. How do you think VR will effect game design and being engaged with the action and story of the game? What will change with current design, that just won’t work in a VR world? Also, do you think many great games will become modded to work with VR? There are HD remakes of some old school games, but they are pretty rare. How much work is needed to get a game like Assasin’s creed: brotherhood to work in VR for the occulus rift?

I hope there is a part 3!

Thanks for the info.

By: James Iliff

James Iliff — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 18:46:10 +0000

Hi andivar!
Thanks for the comment! It is fascinating how AR is also making great strides alongside VR, with robust AR experiences now becoming available on smart devices such as Android phones and iPads.

While it is currently possible to fight monsters and see non-player characters overlaid with the real world, it isn’t quite yet possible to augment actual people (with new clothes, styles, genres, etc). This is mostly because an external device is required to track individual people, such as a motion capture stage (optical tracking) which can get kind of expensive :/

Without positional tracking of the body, the game doesn’t know where people are, or how to put clothes on them. However the Kinect can work as a very simple optical tracking device and accomplish a lot of cool effects, like giving players weapons in an AR experience:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/11/23/your-daily-kinect-hack-a-laser-sword/

The Matrix is the ultimate dream, and its not as far away as one would think! The VR industry is expanding rapidly, we are truly in the middle of a revolution. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the next article :)

Cheers, -James

By: Gabriel Kent

Gabriel Kent — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 16:19:53 +0000

I plan on purchasing a siliconmicrodisplay ST0180 HMD.

Despite the lack of head tracking, I see many uses. For me, I am very interested in doing my work from a zero gravity chair so that I can be more comfortable. I will also be using it on my treadmill which should be pretty great.

Gaming also becomes more immersive because the virtual screen is 100 inches at 10 feet away.

According to the reviews I have read, the ST1080 beats out competitors and seems to be the first viable HMD.

By: andivar

andivar — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 06:21:37 +0000

Interesting stuff. I’ve been thinking it could be fun to use AR for more advanced LARPing (Live Action Roleplaying) to create a pseudo VR situation. LARP never interested me before, even with friends that love it, but if I could have a device that overlays the real world and allows me to see other players with clothing and items related to the world set and possilbly using whatever powers are available in the game as well as seeing creatures and monsters popping up in the real world that would be sort of cool. Would also probably be a good way to get us up and moving around, though it would be odd seeing people running around play acting and reacting to things that others don’t see.

On the VR front, any development is good since its been languishing for so long. A matrix type situation is still my ultimate dream but any advancement is good. I’m interested in seeing what you reveal in part 2.