Hacker News Reader

Comment by tjohns | Hacker News Reader

I can't comment on Facebook's vision for VR, but speaking more broadly...

During the pandemic, VRChat let me reconnect with friends that I hadn't seen in person for 1-2 years. Combined with body tracking modules (so you can walk around fluidly), the experience can be extremely immersive, like you're in the same room with someone.

When I upgraded to a Valve Index and gave my older headset to my roommate, he later mentioned that VRChat and the social experiences he had on there saved him from a deep depression brought on by isolation during the pandemic.

I'd consider that an extremely positive experience.

View on HN

No offense to you but I think part of the human experience is to miss out on connections then feel the joy and excitement when you do actually meet again and catch up.

i talk with friends in other states daily on discord and it doesnt hold a candle to how much more fun we have when we get together.

i see value in brief moments for VR experience but beyond those it just seems half asses and tacky

That's actually a very good point (though still a niche market). For those of us having relatives/friends in distant places (or colleagues in the global workforce), this could be immensely useful. I do think this is far from a ubiquitous need though, outside of troubled times/environments like the global pandemic.

There are about 280 million first-generation international migrants. That’s a group that is highly likely to benefit from close social interaction online.

And more broadly, the majority of the world population uses some kind of internet communication and many of them would probably use a higher-fidelity version if it became available. To give an example from a more mature technology, the share of internet communication happening over video increases each year (this trend predates the pandemic).

Personally, I’ve found that VR takes away a lot of the awkward downsides of Zoom socializing. I’m pretty optimistic it’ll be popular when it matures.

Believe me, I would love to chat with my parents living across the ocean over VR! I guess what I'm trying to say is this need would not be replaced with VR though - it would be more of a necessity because of distance. I also think we vastly overestimate the number of people maintaining long-distance relationships (of any kind) beyond close relatives or friends on a daily (!) basis. I cannot back it up with numbers, but my gut is most friends and families (and workers) are still and will always be "local" enough. So, for occasional use when traveling etc. sure - this would be a killer app. I just don't think this would be as ubiquitous as phones for daily use - unless the technology is so seamless it doesn't occupy or need any more space or weight etc. and be as portable as a phone. So, if we're talking about mass adoption by the majority of the population for daily (as opposed to occasional) use, I just don't see VR in particular replacing phones anytime soon.

AR on the other hand, could become more ubiquitous in that sense, if it can be worn casually and be looking "cool" enough to not warrant weird/dorky looks. But time will tell, I guess.

the problem is when you provide a substitute for a real human need and it's cheap and addictive, the net effect is going to be negative. people will jump to the cheap thing and everything else deteriorates. i'm sure people have positive anecdotes about something they did with instagram but clearly the net effect, on teenagers in particular, is horrible.

even without the issues around biometric data and privacy, sitting inside with lights strapped to your eyeballs is not healthier than doing something with people in real life.

there will be specific applications where VR makes new things possible and better, but as a household entertainment device i think it'll be terrible.

Exactly this, you can't hug or kiss someone virtually, no matter the technology (outside of some truly out-there sci-fi like virtual surrogates). It's just crazy to think this would replace face-to-face (outside of real necessity) - even FB couldn't do that, though maybe they're aiming for the same role as FB does now, logically.

Unfortunately, teens would be the most vulnerable to adopting this though. But I can't imagine this being anything but another "temporarily popular" thing that will get boring quickly.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com