| Author | Message | ||
     John Muldoon (Doon1) New member Username: Doon1 Post Number: 2 Registered: 5-2008 Rating: N/A |
I started stereo gaming on my 3Dfx Voodoo3 card several years ago. I've been a participant in this forum since the 90's (I've had to re-register three times). It seems we hear and read about a new product every time we turn around only to find the new product has poor resolution for gaming(800x600), lack of head tracking, and a small FOV. Not to mention that from the time of anouncement until the product is available for consumer purchase is usually two years or so and the price is 2 to 3 times higher than originally stated. Each company assures us that there will be a higher resolution model available in the future if they sell enough of the sub-standard units. So we wait, and wait, and wait... The thing is taht there is higher resolution, good head tracking and wide FOV available. Someone just has to put all three together on the same unit. How many of us purchased simgle or dual projector setups at a cost of between $1000 and $3000? I did. I would have gladly thrown that much at a decent HMD if it was available. Now with Nvidia's proprietary stereo drivers it seems as if Stereoscopy has taken a step backwards. Oh well, I'm only 45 years old. Maybe there will be something out there worth spending my money on before I'm too old and arthritic or too blind to enjoy it. John Muldoon | ||
| Lane LastNamePrivate (Vrjunkie) New member Username: Vrjunkie Post Number: 3 Registered: 11-2007 Rating: N/A |
John, I hear you loud and clear - and couldn't agree more. I'm also 45 and been around here on this board quite a while! -VRJUNKIE | ||
| Andres Hernandez (Cybereality) Intermediate Member Username: Cybereality Post Number: 64 Registered: 1-2007 Rating: N/A |
Yeah, I hear that. I'm not that old, but I've been into VR since the mid 90's so I've been following the developments (I think I registered here a few times too, not sure what happened to my old accounts). There is no reason they can't produce a "Lawnmower Man" quality VR headset yet no one does. I could probably afford up to like $1200 for an HD headset with the FULL 180 degrees FOV. It makes no sense. They have telescopes that can see light years into space, but they can't make some plastic optics that cover more than 30 degrees?!?!?! Maybe I'm just missing something fundamental but I just don't get it either. Right now I've been getting my fix on the VR920, which isn't that bad considering it can be had for like $350. But if they had a unit with double the FOV, I would easily drop $800 on that baby. Maybe the TDVisor will be a bit better, but we are just not there yet. | ||
| Steve McPrivacy (Steveuk) New member Username: Steveuk Post Number: 1 Registered: 7-2008 Rating: N/A |
I've been waiting for VR home game systems for about the last 20 years and I'm still waiting. Yes, I could buy a HMD with a pathetic resolution and a field of view so crappy I'll think I'm suffering from Glaucoma. However, I would rather not spend a fortune on disappointment. There just doesn't seem to be any motivation to develop immersive VR gaming. I don't know why. It's the sort of thing that could make all the difference in the console wars. Which would you buy, the normal console or one that has high resolution Human Field of View VR glasses? There are quite a few companies offering video glasses of different types, but they are mostly all awful. They tend have poor resolutions and worse FOVs. However, mobile video and computing is becoming increasingly popular and some kind of video glasses offer a clear advantage in both resolution and FOV. This is sure to spur some development in the area of affordable HMDs. At the moment I'm waiting for the Indicube to appear. http://www.indicube.com/ It's a mobile video player with 800x600 video glasses and an FOV equivalent to a 17 inch monitor on you desk. If this sort of thing becomes popular, it's bound to lead to a 1080p version and people are going to start to think how cool it would be to play games that way. "Right now I've been getting my fix on the VR920, which isn't that bad considering it can be had for like $350" Hmmm. They say it's like a 62 inch screen at 9 feet. That translates to a 14 inch monitor on your desk two feet in front of you (2*62/9 , so actually 13.78 inches). I personally have no feel for how big 62 inches looks 9 feet away, which is exactly why they advertise it that way. None of these companies are going to say "It's like having a 14 inch monitor on your desk!". The best I've seen at an affordable price has been the stuff from Emagin. Their stuff tends to be 800x600 and equivalent to about a 17 inch monitor on your desk. Actually, Emagin are the company who are making the glasses for the Indicube. I'll buy the Indicube when it comes out, but I'll pass on the Emagin HMD. For a games HMD, only full human field of view is good enough for me. Tunnel Vision goes completely against the whole idea of immersion. |
