Virtual Reality General V3 - You've got the Touch - Games

Apparently they're selling an eGPU enclosure. Let's not let our feelings and biases influence our reaction here. If they're actually trying, they deserve to be commended. Ridiculing them gets us nowhere.

iOS now has a AR kit, improves previous apps with that capability and allows cool new stuff like seeing lego kits [t]http://i.imgur.com/eiWMiW0.png[/t] [t]http://i.imgur.com/ZF0PSQX.png[/t]

You can see all the Lego you can't afford!

[url]https://blog.vive.com/us/2017/06/05/apple-embrace-vr-and-the-vive-platform-at-wwdc17/[/url] [QUOTE]Today at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2017, Apple announced they are embracing Virtual Reality and demonstrated it on the Vive! Through a newly announced external GPU, developers and content creators will be able to use a beta of SteamVR and the new MacOS, High Sierra, to access the creative power of Vive with their MacBooks. Vive is driving the VR industry forward, and in just the last month alone, we have partnered with the world’s most prominent and innovative tech giants including Google, Intel and Apple, who are aligning their VR efforts around Vive. On stage during WWDC, Apple demonstrated their commitment to VR using a Vive with ILM and Unreal. They showcased high-end VR for the first time running on a Mac in front of thousands of developers. We built Vive to be an open and always growing platform for VR. The Vive ecosystem is expanding every day through efforts including the more than 60 companies in our global Vive X accelerator program that are defining the future of VR technology, products like our Vive Tracker with new content and experiences for VR, and Viveport, our hardware agnostic content and distribution platform. With partners like Apple, Google, Intel and dozens more, we will continue to make Vive the best VR platform for consumers, developers and enterprises alike.[/QUOTE]

[url]https://steamcommunity.com/games/250820/announcements/detail/1256915122285021922[/url] [quote]As part of our efforts to make VR available to developers and players on as many systems as possible, SteamVR for the Mac is now available in beta. The beta comes in tandem with the macOS High Sierra developer seed and hardware news from Apple's 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) that helps enable VR on the Mac. SteamVR on the Mac offers players the same 360-degree, room-scale tracking as the Windows and Linux variants. On the development side, we have worked closely with Epic and Unity to make Mac extensions of content built on those engine technologies as simple as possible. Extension tools for those engines, and others, are available as part of this beta. We’ve also worked with Mozilla to help enable WebVR support on Firefox, so macOS-based web developers can start trying out VR.[/quote]

[QUOTE=Orkel;52315520]Now how many thousands of dollars will a VR-capable top of the line Mac be [editline]5th June 2017[/editline] I'm gonna be pessimist until VR Macs are at the same price point as VR PCs "Our strongest Mac yet, now capable of VR, only $4,999" meanwhile people with a brain buy a $1000 PC that runs games better and more of them[/QUOTE] You can use an external GPU. Then you'll just need a Mac with a proper CPU. Will probably still cost you around twice to thrice as much as a comparable PC though.

Breaking news: Valve just sent out emails minutes ago about new tracking chips that are soon going to be available that are both cheaper and are going to be part of upgrades that will allow [b]more than two base stations[/b] while also making parts cheaper and simpler for the base stations as well (will no longer need sync pulses, which is a big component of range limitations as well) They're calling it steam tracking 2.0 in the email, base stations with no sync array and a single motor

[QUOTE=Elspin;52316334]Breaking news: Valve just sent out emails minutes ago about new tracking chips that are soon going to be available that are both cheaper and are going to be part of upgrades that will allow [b]more than two base stations[/b] while also making parts cheaper and simpler (will no longer need sync pulses, which is a big component of range limitations as well) They're calling it steam tracking 2.0 in the email, base stations with no sync array and a single motor[/QUOTE] Ah, so they're finally coming with frequency domain sensors instead of time domain ones? I remember Alan Yates saying the current base stations were already capable of this mode, but the sensors on the current Vive hardware aren't. This should allow for the tracking in even larger areas, by covering them with different stations.

[QUOTE=Clavus;52316362]Ah, so they're finally coming with frequency domain sensors instead of time domain ones? I remember Alan Yates saying the current base stations were already capable of this mode, but the sensors on the current Vive hardware aren't. This should allow for the tracking in even larger areas, by covering them with different stations.[/QUOTE] You can use old base stations with the new sensors but they won't provide the new features. The email they sent out is available in post form here: [url]http://steamcommunity.com/games/steamvrtracking/announcements/detail/1264796421606498053[/url]

Could also further improve tracking accuracy because base stations can now overlap pulses, and won't have to wait for each other.

[QUOTE=Clavus;52316372]Could also further improve tracking accuracy because base stations can now overlap pulses, and won't have to wait for each other.[/QUOTE] You might be jumping the gun a bit with this. If it was frequency vs time domain I doubt it would work with the old base station, the major difference here is the chip outputs information about the laser instead of just outputting that it was hit.

Talking about sensors and such, does anyone have any tips for playing in a room with two french doors? They really fuck with the tracking on my left side. My hand likes to float away from me at times in game, which makes throwing grenades further much easier, but not much else...

[QUOTE=Elspin;52316377]You might be jumping the gun a bit with this. If it was frequency vs time domain I doubt it would work with the old base station, the major difference here is the chip outputs information about the laser instead of just outputting that it was hit.[/QUOTE] The new base stations are only compatible with the latest sensors, but the latest sensors are capable of handling all existing base station modes, since SteamVR can provide this info. A sensor that can differentiate between different frequencies can just as easily still run the 'old' algorithm based on time delays between pulses. [editline]6th June 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Revenge282;52316382]Talking about sensors and such, does anyone have any tips for playing in a room with two french doors? They really fuck with the tracking on my left side. My hand likes to float away from me at times in game, which makes throwing grenades further much easier, but not much else...[/QUOTE] Curtains I guess? There's not much else you can do that doesn't involve relocating the VR space or the doors in question.

[QUOTE=Clavus;52316384]The new base stations are only compatible with the latest sensors, but the latest sensors are capable of handling all existing base station modes, since SteamVR can provide this info. A sensor that can differentiate between different frequencies can just as easily still run the 'old' algorithm based on time delays between pulses.[/QUOTE] Keep in mind there's wavelength/frequency of light and modulation at a frequency of the same wavelength of light. If the wavelength is the same and the sensors are filtered to accept the same wavelength, even if the frequencies are modulated it can require a fair amount of extra processing to eliminate errors caused by data received at the same time. The old lighthouses also already modulate data into their lasers containing a lot of information. They haven't mentioned all their plans, or exactly what details the new lighthouses will have, so I'm just saying I'm reserving judgement until all the details are out. Nothing you're saying is wrong or anything, or even unlikely.

[QUOTE=Elspin;52316423]Keep in mind there's wavelength/frequency of light and modulation at a frequency of the same wavelength of light. If the wavelength is the same and the sensors are filtered to accept the same wavelength, even if the frequencies are modulated it can require a fair amount of extra processing to eliminate errors caused by data received at the same time. The old lighthouses also already modulate data into their lasers containing a lot of information. They haven't mentioned all their plans, or exactly what details the new lighthouses will have, so I'm just saying I'm reserving judgement until all the details are out. Nothing you're saying is wrong or anything, or even unlikely.[/QUOTE] I could be talking bullshit, it was just my best guess with my hobby-level knowledge of the Lighthouse hardware. You're right that we should wait for more details.

[QUOTE=Kylel999;52314613]TBH both sound like they'll get bad VR support. Tacking vr onto games doesn't tend to turn out nearly as well as a game designed for it and I hate to imagine people getting their first VR impression from a game with shitty vr support[/QUOTE] I can't imagine it'd take this long for just shitty HMD support. If it ends up being terrible it'll kill any real confidence I currently have in them, if it's good (and by that I mean they fix the physics fucking up at over 60 FPS, fix the city performance, and have real hand-and-head roomtracking support) then it'll restore all the faith FO4 made me lose. We'll just have to see.

[thumb]https://i.violet.pm/2017/06/06/00_29_27.png[/thumb] Tested SteamVR on Mac OS Sierra. Couldn't get any actual content to work on it yet besides the standard VR view (there has been nothing published yet), but it's a start and it works!

So I just played Tales of Glory, and I think it has to be one of the most intense VR experiences I've ever played. If you're into Mount and Blade, and you haven't played Tales of Glory yet, you're doing yourself a serious disservice. ToG is basically trying to be a VR version of that, simulating huge expansive medieval battles over large areas. There's nothing quite like signalling your troops to attack and charging in along side them. It's pretty janky, I warn you, and performance is a right bitch with all those NPCs running about, but they have a demo that gives you more than enough of an impression on how well your rig would run it and how much you'd like the game. I seriously urge you guys to check it out, it's pretty incredible. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGYJVoAGMko[/media]

HTC just sent back an email saying my replacement lighthouse is on its way. Took a little while but I'm glad it's getting done.

the Deluxe Audio strap for vive is out on amazon [url]https://www.amazon.com/HTC-Vive-Deluxe-Audio-Strap/dp/B06Y2GDXMC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496776660&sr=8-1&keywords=deluxe+audio+strap[/url]

I never even used the ear buds that came with the Vive considering I always use my Sennheisers. Are they decent?

[QUOTE=Kylel999;52320069]I never even used the ear buds that came with the Vive considering I always use my Sennheisers. Are they decent?[/QUOTE] i heard the headphones are pretty good, though i dont like over-ear headphones from what i heard, the strap also essentially helps center the weight of the headset away from the front of the face, so it feels more lightweight some microsoft stores already have them on the display headsets, see if you can demo them there if theres one nearby. (funny enough the dude on /r/vive that posted about it actually went to my local store so i know not to go near there till later)

[QUOTE=Kylel999;52320069]I never even used the ear buds that came with the Vive considering I always use my Sennheisers. Are they decent?[/QUOTE] They are good, but nothing more, according to reviews. I wouldn't be buying that headstrap for the audio equipment though.

[video]https://youtu.be/aSBZILo_H9E[/video]

[QUOTE=Orkel;52315520] "Our strongest Mac yet, now capable of VR, only $4,999" meanwhile people with a brain buy a $1000 PC that runs games better and more of them[/QUOTE] Oh PLEASE. Are you serious? The iMac Pro is not for average person that plays some games and bought VR, it's for people that work. It's not only computer, it's a whole package, 5K monitor, MacOS, High end server grade CPU with safe ECC memory, very fast SSD, and highest end GPU with new memory technology not used in consumer technology before, and outstanding performance in many professional workloads, like machine learning etc. Please tell me how does 1k PC beat that.

[QUOTE=Xanoxis;52320655]Oh PLEASE. Are you serious? The iMac Pro is not for average person that plays some games and bought VR, it's for people that work. It's not only computer, it's a whole package, 5K monitor, MacOS, High end server grade CPU with safe ECC memory, very fast SSD, and highest end GPU with new memory technology not used in consumer technology before, and outstanding performance in many professional workloads, like machine learning etc. Please tell me how does 1k PC beat that.[/QUOTE] A $1k PC can be upgraded later.

Macs make sense for companies who need uniform hardware distribution with group policy. There is a section of the market where a $5,000 workhorse all-in-one with this kind of hardware makes sense. That is not the home market.

[QUOTE=Xanoxis;52320655]Oh PLEASE. Are you serious? The iMac Pro is not for average person that plays some games and bought VR, it's for people that work. It's not only computer, it's a whole package, 5K monitor, MacOS, High end server grade CPU with safe ECC memory, very fast SSD, and highest end GPU with new memory technology not used in consumer technology before, and outstanding performance in many professional workloads, like machine learning etc. Please tell me how does 1k PC beat that.[/QUOTE] I can see that Apple salesman job gets into your everyday language fast. But yeah for that new iMac Pro, you probably need around a spectacular $2000 to surpass it with a PC or less if just going for game performance (since you don't need all those cores). [editline]7th June 2017[/editline] When are those bloody Vega cards coming though.

[QUOTE=Xanoxis;52320655]Oh PLEASE. Are you serious? The iMac Pro is not for average person that plays some games and bought VR, it's for people that work. It's not only computer, it's a whole package, 5K monitor, MacOS, High end server grade CPU with safe ECC memory, very fast SSD, and highest end GPU with new memory technology not used in consumer technology before, and outstanding performance in many professional workloads, like machine learning etc. Please tell me how does 1k PC beat that.[/QUOTE] Tbh I'd rather buy a PC for gaming and a laptop for work and end up saving myself a couple thousand rather than buy that. [editline]a[/editline] Unless the laptop is Apple-branded in which case the savings are quite a bit less. [editline]a[/editline] Who the fuck needs a 5k monitor for work realtalk [editline]a[/editline] Like fuck what occupation can you not get by with a 4k monitor at least

The 5K monitor was developed to facilitate ease of editing 4K video at full resolution while allowing for a timeline and application frame to be displayed simultaneously. I'm not making a value judgment here, but that's the justification Apple provides. I don't edit video, so I don't know if that's particularly useful.