Why the Oculus Rift Won't Work

[RJ 17]

Apparently the OP won't be happy until someone invents The Matrix.

You said it yourself under the point about smells: they're not trying to be that immersive. They're not literally trying to send you into another form of reality as though you were stepping onto the Holodeck of the Enterprise or, indeed, plugging into The Matrix. That level of immersion would be pretty terrible if you ask me, and I certainly wouldn't want any part of it. Tying in with the "you can't feel everything" bit, would you REALLY want to feel every bullet your character takes? Every Creeper explosion right next---oh, well I guess we wouldn't have to worry about that one . But feel it every time your Dragonborn gets chopped with an orc's act? Every time your Commander Shepard gets killed by a grenade?

I have given this some thought and it would be awesome to feel every bullet and axe hit you, so long as the sensation is not pain.

I do wonder though, if this were to happen, would someone that plays videogames a lot also associate this placeholder sensation with pain and actually get hurt? I think that would prove that VR is coming closer to something akin to the Matrix.

AND FOR THE RECORD I WANT A HOLODECK NOT THE MATRIX

Ahhh but you specifically said that VR is supposed to be as close to reality as possible. So close, in fact, that you can even smell the game. What good is it if you don't feel like you're being shot every time you get shot? Or getting axe-chopped every time you get axe-chopped? You can't have it both ways, my friend. You're either seeking absolute reality immersion in which you completely enter a new virtual world with all your senses coming along for the ride or you don't. You wouldn't be able to say "Well we want to be able to smell flowers, but just have the suit vibrate in the area your character got hit in" because that would break the absolute immersion that you're looking for.

 

[Gatx]

3. People still think Virtual Reality is having the TV inches from your face. I mean, I think it would be awesome to have a headset for most games like this, which is one of my hopes for the Oculus Rift. Having a view of your mask like you would in real life helps with immersion, especially in games that are unrealistic otherwise, such as Halo (you can make out the shape of your Visor) and how your Gasmask shows up in Metro 2033. It would better serve for HUDs as well. But just being closer to the screen itself is not immersive, and it is rather silly that the headset is what our technology is trying to focus on. I much rather feel than see, and then smell. EVerything else can come after.

I really don't get your point here. Yeah maybe having a TV inches from your face is a bad misconception of Oculus Rift but that most definitely is not what the Oculus Rift is. Part of the campaign for the Oculus Rift would presumably be to dispel this misconception and really wow people with what it's really like.

Also with the amount of shitty situations that games put us in - post apocalyptic wastelands as settings, zombies being a very popular enemy, and let's not forget the ubiquitous sewer levels, I'd rather not have simulated smell any time soon.

 

[newfoundsky]

3. People still think Virtual Reality is having the TV inches from your face. I mean, I think it would be awesome to have a headset for most games like this, which is one of my hopes for the Oculus Rift. Having a view of your mask like you would in real life helps with immersion, especially in games that are unrealistic otherwise, such as Halo (you can make out the shape of your Visor) and how your Gasmask shows up in Metro 2033. It would better serve for HUDs as well. But just being closer to the screen itself is not immersive, and it is rather silly that the headset is what our technology is trying to focus on. I much rather feel than see, and then smell. EVerything else can come after.

I really don't get your point here. Yeah maybe having a TV inches from your face is a bad misconception of Oculus Rift but that most definitely is not what the Oculus Rift is. Part of the campaign for the Oculus Rift would presumably be to dispel this misconception and really wow people with what it's really like.

Also with the amount of shitty situations that games put us in - post apocalyptic wastelands as settings, zombies being a very popular enemy, and let's not forget the ubiquitous sewer levels, I'd rather not have simulated smell any time soon.

Maybe I should clarify as far as the smelling aspect goes.

You would not necessarily have to smell a sewer if you were in a sewer. All you would need is a smell that would make you think "this is a sewer". The principle is the same as a character having a backpack and is able to carry more due to that, even if he is carrying stuff that could not fit in a back pack. It is MORE realistic without being a burden, feel me?