The Metaverse Is Bullshit
pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
The ideal environment would be one where I can create my own "town square" and put the things I want there, including my friends "buildings". In Facebooks version, we won't be allowed to do this, because then they wouldn't be able to sell the real estate.
A lot of the criticism is valid but it seems to me that many critics haven't experienced "embodiment". To me, that is the killer feature. Without it, the author is right, we already have the internet. I have a Oculus Quest that I don't use because there is not enough of that sense of embodiment. When the field of vision is extended to the periphery and the resolution is enough to not have the screen door effect, it will be much more likely to feel embodied. It's kind of mind blowing actually and the source of much of the quasi-religious fervor when some talk about VR.
And even in our early exploration there's already huge variety, from e.g. spatial CAD to novel social formats to new physical/coordination skill based games, virtual theaters, educational tools etc.
There is a wide range in how much being embodied is going to matter depending what you're doing in software. I think for an artist virtually sculpting 3d works it's not a stretch to say this could be life-changing, for example.
My guess is that very few watchers would prefer a 3d reenactment over the 2d original stream, as the reenactment will always have less details or even show things incorrectly.
a big coporate rallying cry that they need to do something new to stay relevant in the future in truth they are as creative as a bag of rocks which is telling by their 3d re-creation of a boardroom and how unfun horizons is
virtural worlds are going to continue to evolve and be a big thing but meta's not going to win
I feel like FB is already adding to much baggage and bloat to their stuff going on horizon a month or so ago annoying and frustrating overall. it's the whole cart before the horse thing; eg. their cryptocurrency project
either way it gives the vibe of out of touch execs with massive resources at their disposal trying to prevent roblox/recroom/whatever from ending their fun by aiming "big" but they wont be able to
Who gives a shit about that? The Internet is an immediately-accessible universe of ideas; that's infininitely bigger than any silly VR-based walled garden, which this oh-so-tediously-obviously is an attempt to create.
So of course the robber barons / garden proprioetors in spe have to try and kill it and replace it with their puny "vision".
Un-fucking-believable how anyone can fall for it.
I don't quite get that some do. :-) Heck, aren't we all embodied -- that is, in our actual bodies -- already?
(And yes, I have tried it. Only the once, but at a facility with, AIUI, fairly high-end equipment.)
Only if it's perceived on the level of a separate arm can it really become intuitive.
We're definitely several decades out on that type of human-computer interaction.
It just depends if VR can step into that market or not.
There's also the issue of broad appeal. VR will remain a furry / anime / vtuber thing for awhile. Casual audiences aren't going to fit in.
AR is bullshit beyond Snap and Instagram lenses. Nobody is going to wear that full time outside of an industrial application.
People get motion sick in a car or on a boat. Its not a software problem.
If your are attempting to build your VR experiences without moving the camera through the world then you'll be extremely hamstrung.
I really enjoyed Alyx, but building a simulation of this world that you can't actually walk around is just weird.
VR "looks" cool, but you can't do anything in it that you can't do just as easily using a traditional screen.
(i.e. the eyes needs to focus onto an object if it is nearby, and shouldn't always focus on infinity)
There is no way that it will become a mainstream activity until vr headsets are as comfortable as a pair of reading glasses.
There also needs to be a major cultural shift. VR forces you to turn off your loved ones. You can't see or hear them at all.
Whats more, VR will only every occupy the space that gaming does now because it's an "active" activity that requires you to do something. It will never replace TV which allows you to turn off the decision making part of your brain.
But if they're in the same room, you can punch 'em in the face...
Not everyone has loved ones and not everyone's loved ones are physically near them.
VR has always been very social for my friends an I as we mirror the display to the tv so people can see. And the headset we use doesn't cover your ears so you can still talk.
Plus, vrchat and the likes feels much more intimate than any video game I've played. Many in my circle live too far to meet up IRL.
Using a browser is actually viable even with low res headsets (tested rift S). While the low res is a constraint, turning your head quickly adjusts the viewport, so that your "virtual" resolution is quite good.
Other than that The Metaverse seems like a novelty, not the future of the Internet.