Any of you guys have a VR headset?

[Reverend Conehead]

The more I hear about these VR headsets, the more I think I want one. My sister uses an Oculus Rift headset with various exercise apps. She has some kind of game that give her a good workout. She says it motivates her to keep doing it because it's a challenge, and that you can even compete with other people in the game over the Internet. Sounds like a good way to stick with exercise. I've also heard of AI-girlfriends. I personally don't think that some kind of supposed relationship with a VR app could substitute for a real person. However, I thought of one reason why it might be cool. An AI "girlfriend" who can speak French would allow me to practice my French every single day. Currently, I video conference with people in other countries to practice my French. It's helped me to get a lot better. However, if I could talk with an AI person every single day in the language, I would progress even faster. When I learned German, I went on exchange programs to Switzerland and to Germany. It made me need to speak in German every single day, and that got me really, really good at it. There are programs like that for adults, but good luck finding a way to take 6 weeks off your job to do something like that. If an AI person could converse in French convincingly like a real person, that would be huge. Even if I only spoke in the language for 30 minutes each day, that would be a huge help. Maybe they even have apps that teach you a language. I've wanted to learn Spanish for ages. While I don't feel the need to have some computer app tell me she "loves" me, the foreign language practice sounds like a cool idea. And there are probably VR apps designed specifically to teach you vocab and grammar. And if the VR headset could speak to me in Swiss-German, that would be huge. When French and Standard German, I run into people from time to time who speak those languages. The same is not true of Swiss-German. I don't get to practice that dialect much, so my Swiss-German isn't anywhere near as good as my French or Standard German. If my AI "girlfriend" could speak with me every day in both Swiss-German and French, that would be cool.
...
I'm pretty sure my sister's Oculus Rift doesn't have to be plugged into a PC. The apps just install into the headset, which is its own computer. You can't, in real life, hop in a spaceship and explore the solar system, but maybe that's possible in VR. It would also be cool to scuba dive down to the Titanic, something that's also impossible in real life, but could happen in VR. If anyone here has a VR headset that you like, I would love to hear your impressions of it.

 

[rags747]

This is the one that blows those all away, Apple Vision Pro. I just starting to read the reviews and they are quite fantastic.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/tim-cook-apple-vision-pro

 

[big dog cowboy]

The more I hear about these VR headsets, the more I think I want one.

You should get one. I got my son an Oculus for Christmas a couple of years ago. It's amazing. Loaded him up with games too. He said it's the 2nd best present he ever got behind his PS5. I'll forewarn you about one thing. It's highly addictive.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

You should get one. I got my son an Oculus for Christmas a couple of years ago. It's amazing. Loaded him up with games too. He said it's the 2nd best present he ever got behind his PS5. I'll forewarn you about one thing. It's highly addictive.

I'm leaning toward some kind of Oculus. I also read up on Apple Vision Pro. The want $3500 for that thing. That's funny. I'm not forking over that much money. You could get a basic used car for that. The various versions of Oculus are way more affordable, and it's not even close.

 

[CyberB0b]

Knowing me, I’d use it like crazy for a week, put it in a closet, and never use it again.

 

[Jammer]

Knowing me, I’d use it like crazy for a week, put it in a closet, and never use it again.

I have a PS5 PSVR2. I love it, but like you said, I play the heck out of it, put it away for a month or two, and then come back. I don't regret my purchase.

 

[Jammer]

This is the one that blows those all away, Apple Vision Pro. I just starting to read the reviews and they are quite fantastic.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/tim-cook-apple-vision-pro

It had better blow everything away for the price.

 

[rags747]

Agree that the price on the Apple Vision Pro is too high right now, it will come down significantly though. Read all of the various reviews, nothing comes even close to this unit. A lot of the reviewers are saying that the problem with this unit is that once you take it off it makes every other piece of technology that you interact with on a daily basis seem quite boring and dull! I’ll wait for the hype to slow down and then slip into an Apple Store to see firsthand what all the hype is about.

 

[Jammer]

Agree that the price on the Apple Vision Pro is too high right now, it will come down significantly though. Read all of the various reviews, nothing comes even close to this unit. A lot of the reviewers are saying that the problem with this unit is that once you take it off it makes every other piece of technology that you interact with on a daily basis seem quite boring and dull! I’ll wait for the hype to slow down and then slip into an Apple Store to see firsthand what all the hype is about.

I understand the reviews and I am impressed. I watched a video on YouTube comparing the Apple Vision Pro against the PSVR2. I thought yeah, my Nissan Altima should be able to complete with a car 3X as much.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Agree that the price on the Apple Vision Pro is too high right now, it will come down significantly though. Read all of the various reviews, nothing comes even close to this unit. A lot of the reviewers are saying that the problem with this unit is that once you take it off it makes every other piece of technology that you interact with on a daily basis seem quite boring and dull! I’ll wait for the hype to slow down and then slip into an Apple Store to see firsthand what all the hype is about.

It does look really good in the videos I've seen of it. I just doubt that they'll ever lower the price enough. If I can't get it for $600 or less, that's just too much. Right now they're not even in the neighborhood. Plus, their competitors will get a lot better. When the Apple Macintosh first came out, nothing else was even remotely like it. However, it was too stinkin' expensive, and you could get your work done on an IBM or IBM-clone for way less money. In time, the PCs caught up. Today PCs (both Windows and Linux ones) have caught up with the Mac for graphics and pretty much everything. Someone might still buy a Mac out of preference, but, IMO, the difference in cost isn't worth it.

 

[rags747]

Very cool review here. I find this crazy exciting, needs more apps!

 

[SlammedZero]

I have one for my PS5. They're pretty awesome, but VR can be a bit hit or miss as the tech is still in it's early infancy. There are some really good games out there that are fun and then there are some really gimmicky games out there. Really, it's just something you have to experience for yourself if you can get the chance. I go through stages with mine where I play it a lot or where it sits for awhile. Really, like any hobby or interest.

All of these are on Sony PlayStation, but here are some good VR experiences I've had:
Gran Turismo 7
Astrobots
Batman VR
Moss 1 & 2
Beat Saber
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Tetris Effect
Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy's Edge

 

[SlammedZero]

Ok, so I just watched the review video. So this is more like an augmented reality vs virtual reality. Microsoft has been working on something like this for quite a few years as well (Hololens).

Seems neat and I love tech, but something about the future with it feels grim to me. So instead of people walking around with their faces in their phones all day, now everybody is going to have their face stuffed in some VR facemask. The irony of everybody being connected but nobody is connecting as we isolate ourselves deeper into our technology.

 

[rags747]

Ok, so I just watched the review video. So this is more like an augmented reality vs virtual reality. Microsoft has been working on something like this for quite a few years as well (Hololens).

Seems neat and I love tech, but something about the future with it feels grim to me. So instead of people walking around with their faces in their phones all day, now everybody is going to have their face stuffed in some VR facemask. The irony of everybody being connected but nobody is connecting as we isolate ourselves deeper into our technology.

Exactly where we re going. The ski goggles will eventually come down to a normal pair of glasses, as the reviewer said the glasses will replace the phone, the laptop etc etc. I love tech as well and this just seems really cool to me. Soon you will be able to watch a Cowboys game on a 100ft screen while poolside all in 4K quality. The tech is really mind blowing to me.

 

[Jammer]

Ok, so I just watched the review video. So this is more like an augmented reality vs virtual reality. Microsoft has been working on something like this for quite a few years as well (Hololens).

Seems neat and I love tech, but something about the future with it feels grim to me. So instead of people walking around with their faces in their phones all day, now everybody is going to have their face stuffed in some VR facemask. The irony of everybody being connected but nobody is connecting as we isolate ourselves deeper into our technology.

I never thought of it that way, but I believe you are right. Of course, I'm a Boomer, so what do I know?

 

[Jammer]

I have one for my PS5. They're pretty awesome, but VR can be a bit hit or miss as the tech is still in it's early infancy. There are some really good games out there that are fun and then there are some really gimmicky games out there. Really, it's just something you have to experience for yourself if you can get the chance. I go through stages with mine where I play it a lot or where it sits for awhile. Really, like any hobby or interest.

All of these are on Sony PlayStation, but here are some good VR experiences I've had:
Gran Turismo 7
Astrobots
Batman VR
Moss 1 & 2
Beat Saber
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Tetris Effect
Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy's Edge

I really hope they release Resident Evil 7 for the PS5 VR to see the tech improvement. I played the heck out of it on the PS4 VR1. I already have RE 2 and 4 in VR.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Ok, so I just watched the review video. So this is more like an augmented reality vs virtual reality. Microsoft has been working on something like this for quite a few years as well (Hololens).

Seems neat and I love tech, but something about the future with it feels grim to me. So instead of people walking around with their faces in their phones all day, now everybody is going to have their face stuffed in some VR facemask. The irony of everybody being connected but nobody is connecting as we isolate ourselves deeper into our technology.

Yeah, see ... that's what I don't want. I've never been a gamer, not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just that I want something pretty basic. I want an AI assistant that can help me to improve speaking foreign languages. I want to be good at those languages in order to meet real people in the real world in their languages. If some people want to play games like World of Warcraft or whatever, that's fine. That's just not what I'm after. If I want to write an article, I'm perfectly happy doing it on a normal computer. I don't feel I need VR for that. I would love to do cool stuff like explore the solar system or go back in time to see prehistoric humans. I don't feel like I need to watch a Cowboys game in VR while I'm video conferencing with other fans. If other people want to do that, that's cool. It's just not for me.

 

[The Fonz]

What can you use it for? just games?

 

[Reverend Conehead]

What can you use it for? just games?

You'll probably also be able to use it for stuff like dictating letters, but I want it for having a digital assistant whom I can always converse in French with, and maybe it can even correct my grammar. I see it as a cool learning tool. My sister also uses one for her exercise program. You could call it a game, but I think a fitness program is more accurate.

 

[VaqueroTD]

Give me a holler when it becomes like Ready Player One and they sell mobile treadmills I can put in my van and bodysuits that give me orgasms. By then the visors probably won’t be as clunky and hurt as much to keep on and the headaches won’t be as bad. Maybe the dead Mark Zuckerberg will have contests for us to find the three keys.