VR will go mainstream when gaming and the internet did - when it fits in your pocket, can turn on and off instantly, and allows you to split your attention between it and something else. The last one seems like a contradiction but maybe someone will figure it out.
The Nintendo DS fit in your pocket but it didn't hearld in mainstream gaming.
Gaming went mainstream because it went mainstream. Technogy improved, it became easy to setup and play (unlike a computer at the time), competition was high between Sony and MS which resulted in quick generational leaps. And finally, all the gamers grew up inviting more gamers to be gamers.
Once it became big money, gaming attracted attention propelling it further.
Like any technology, it's a combination of things that leads to high uptake.
My opinion is that VR will go mainstream when it becomes afford, useful and easy to use. IMO we are years away from good useful VR.
Maybe you’re right in terms of true broad adoption, but I’m also curious about whether there’s a sustainable (and slowly growing) market in other market segments.
Maybe vr gaming is it? I hope so because I’d like to see the platform grow from there into other application areas.
Personally I’m curious if I can use it for something, maybe data visualization. Like a more powerful matplotlib. Maybe I’ll just try it if it’s affordable to try and possible to use it that way (custom code).
I already tried GOpherVR and the like (without glasses) and there's more 'cyberspace' in Usenet, Gopher, Gemini, IRC with actual people talking about real life issues than under 3D sims.
You can have realist environments but without people it's just a boring videogame with no interaction. And for that we already have Street View and multimedia CD's with virtual cities since the mid-late 90's.
We just need a pervasive virtual computing environment where every inch isn't controlled by the manufacturer tuning the reality to their buisness.
Steam Frame ships with a closed virtual environment to create a StoreOS but launching an alternative open environment might be feasible. Then we just need good contained programs to explore safely over the net.
Should be totally feasible, I believe they have said its not locked in any way and you can put any software or OS on it that you like.
It will be a huge, huge breath of fresh air. I know I for one have not been building in VR because it has felt quite vendor locked with regards to hardware and stores. Same reason I don't do software for mobile.
Everyone likes to shit on Meta for pouring unfathomable amounts of money into VR and the metaverse, but I still think it was a wise play. Once AI crashes into VR properly it will produce the kind of disruptive changes the article touches on. The reason we're not detecting any alien species is because they gave up on exploration after they all disappeared into their personal Goonspheres and never re-emerged. Heroin has nothing on what the future is bringing.
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Gaming went mainstream because it went mainstream. Technogy improved, it became easy to setup and play (unlike a computer at the time), competition was high between Sony and MS which resulted in quick generational leaps. And finally, all the gamers grew up inviting more gamers to be gamers.
Once it became big money, gaming attracted attention propelling it further.
Like any technology, it's a combination of things that leads to high uptake.
My opinion is that VR will go mainstream when it becomes afford, useful and easy to use. IMO we are years away from good useful VR.
Maybe vr gaming is it? I hope so because I’d like to see the platform grow from there into other application areas.
Personally I’m curious if I can use it for something, maybe data visualization. Like a more powerful matplotlib. Maybe I’ll just try it if it’s affordable to try and possible to use it that way (custom code).
You can have realist environments but without people it's just a boring videogame with no interaction. And for that we already have Street View and multimedia CD's with virtual cities since the mid-late 90's.
Steam Frame ships with a closed virtual environment to create a StoreOS but launching an alternative open environment might be feasible. Then we just need good contained programs to explore safely over the net.
It will be a huge, huge breath of fresh air. I know I for one have not been building in VR because it has felt quite vendor locked with regards to hardware and stores. Same reason I don't do software for mobile.