Recently, US virtual reality market intelligence company Greenlight VR released a set of data, saying that in November 2015, US virtual reality startups raised $136 million. At the same time, Sony also claims to bet on virtual reality in the future, and its pursuit of PlayStationVR also says it all. The world's enthusiasm for VR has been ignited again.
Wear a helmet and brain-filling three-dimensional space to bring an immersive experience. This is considered to be the beginning of the change of dynasty of games and movies.
Moreover, the most amazing thing is that VR technology has gradually gotten rid of the initial visual deception (complementary, polarization, time and division) and entered a new stage of creating illusions. However, VR's exploration and innovation are forming a huge position game in 2015. Who can bring greater surprises in 2016? Let’s first examine the strength of all the experts in the VR industry today.
The heroes competed for the first time: IT giants rush to the beach virtual reality
Oculus Rift ranks first, well deserved. Palmer Luckey, a 21-year-old engineer, got the Kickstarter crowdfunding VC with this crazy idea, and then became a fairy tale of marrying into a Facebook wealthy family. $2 billion! At present, OculusRift can be plugged directly into the computer to experience the 3D experience through DVI and USB interfaces. It will be released in the first quarter of next year, with two wireless controllers attached and compatible with Xbox One.
Speaking of cooperation with game consoles, how could Sony be missing? At last year's GDC conference, I don't know how many players were playing the VCR of "God of War" played by Yoshida Shuihei. That's right, this is the Project Morpheus that Sony advocates. Morpheus is a dream god in ancient Greek mythology. It can transform into different human forms in dreams. At this year's GDC conference, the 5-inch LCD display was amazing. Later, the OLED version improved the problem of tailing and lag, and the screen refresh rate was up to 120hz. PSVR obviously hopes to bring players a dreamlike feeling. Currently, the PS4 exclusive helmet Mk1 was also launched in the first half of 2016. Although
is stubborn in the mobile phone market, HTC under Wang Xuehong is still looking for a new landing point, so the streaming VR helmet, Vive, which HTC cooperates with Vavle, naturally appeared in MWC 2015. HTC joins Vavle's huge ecosystem. 70 sensor, 360-degree head tracking, and 90Hz refresh rate are enough to complete the battle and fighting in the virtual world.
Samsung, which is also frustrated on mobile phones, also regroups with the help of VR. Gear VR is a product that is collaborated with Oculus Rift and needs to be experienced with Samsung Galaxy smartphones (Note4 or S6). In terms of content, the two have worked together to provide MilkVR, which has solved the film source problem. However, this is also one of the important factors that restrict the development of many VR.
Microsoft is not idle either, so HoloLens is a half virtual and half extended reality. It virtualizes real-world food, for example, when you see it as the surface of Mars, but it is actually just a table in the living room. The application of Kinect technology allows HoloLens to recognize gestures and sounds. The 120-degree field of sight can bring a high-definition control experience. The pre-installed Win10 system cannot be connected to the PC, and it is also a big shot in 2016.
FOVE VR has a weird way. It does not provide interactive line-of-sight tracing like OculusRift or PS VR. The sensors in the helmet will transmit the direction signals of moving eyes in real time, bringing a control experience of the intersection of virtual and reality. The system can clearly know what you see and make it more realistic.
Zeiss VR is a bit similar to Samsung's GearVR, but when it is good, it takes all to iOS and Android platforms, so Zeiss VR is more compatible. In terms of media content, photos, YouTube videos and augmented reality AR apps can all be used. The open source Unity3D SDK provides developers with the opportunity to show their magical powers.
Many of the above VR helmets are extremely heavy, but the Avegant Glyph is very light and attractive. This is thanks to its display technology, not traditional smart phone projection, but a microscope reflects images onto the Retina screen, where each eye can watch 720p HD video. Correspondingly, the field of sight is also limited to within 45 degrees. However, this may eliminate conditions such as hypoxia.
Razor OSVR is the public enemy of OculusRift, PS VR, Samsung Gear VR.It allows developers to freely contribute to VR hardware without any restrictions. The open source world is complex and even Oculus Rift knows how many tricks to keep. However, users hope that more people will join in, work together to make VR helmets more humane, and at the same time reduce the price point.
At this time, imagine Google's simple cardboard 3D glasses back then. Will you find that VR helmet technology has made rapid progress in the past 2014 and 2015? The trick of stuffing a smart phone into a paper box to deceive your glasses has always been despised by users. But it is precisely because of this trick that the cheapness of VR is highlighted. No matter how you fly into the homes of ordinary people, the king is the way to go.
Moreover, users who have experienced VR helmets for the first time generally feel dizzy, load-bearing, unclear, etc. Does that mean we have not touched the direction of the future yet?
Zeiss VR
Gear VR
Experience difficulties: The reality of prosperity requires facing four major problems
Of course, we still need to look at the reality of prosperity of VR optimistically. Whether it is entrepreneurs or investors, we gradually began to set our goal as the direction of pan-entertainment. In terms of implementation methods, traditional cinemas and game consoles are being swept by the Internet, and how to turn passive to active has become a key proposition for VR's life and death. Virtual reality + augmented reality may not be the perfect answer, but it provides a possibility. But we need to make this possibility more beautiful and fuller. Therefore, the following problems must be faced directly.
is the first, VR's vision and control require developers to redefine time and space. Paul Bettner, founder of Playful and developer of VR game "Lucky'stale", admitted that VR design often makes you angry because this platform always needs to avoid one kind of problems or another, and there are many dead ends. You need to consider the field of sight, light, effect, and composition, which is very different from traditional screens. You can imagine that Super Mario is too small before, but once VR comes and 3D comes, you have to be as tall as a Coke bottle. This requires measurement and shaping.
When doing "Lucky’s tale", Bettner often considers the relationship between the length of the player's movements and the appearance of the picture. Flash and movement, here, are transformed into a problem of the relationship between time and distance. James Green, the founder of
Carbon game, also believes that maps and perspectives increase the difficulty of game design, and the implementation of 3D effects is simply a closed purgatory in VR helmets. The tricks that used to deceive the eyes won't work here.
The second problem, UI interface and menu selection, also requires wisdom and attention. even for those ready-made games, VR helmets still need to be rebuilt and built. Green admitted that the VR version of "Air Mechanic" is a completely new UI design that has been rebuilt. The screen is no longer the past, so we have to start over every little bit. Moreover, many menus are placed on the edge of the light, which does not affect the ongoing game, but can also remind you who are from the first perspective. Do not add anything to the player's face as much as possible, and this requires natural reactions. For example, if I come to say hello to you and pat your shoulders, it will not show you patting your face, but your reaction is a coordinated response between the face and the shoulders. This is realistic.
Pat Harris is the designer of MinorityMedia's time machine VR. He talked about an example of the failure of Oculus Connect line, and then said seriously that VR does not have a blind spot, so in UI design, the direction without content must be strictly blocked to avoid the disaster of floating sight. For example, if you design an underwater space-time capsule, the player will be in a virtual situation and will inevitably ask for help everywhere. If the subtitles are reminded at this time, he will not be able to read them immediately and enter the next round. The third problem of
is the problem of action recognition. is also the example underwater just now. Harris said that players' actions need to be delayed to meet the plot needs. At this time, after the dynamic capture of the helmet, it is necessary to convert it into the action amplitude of the composite scenario through an algorithm. This way VR makes sense. Otherwise, it will not bring immersion. Instead, it will become ridiculous. This is why the HTCVive or other VR platforms introduced above emphasize the use of external cameras for motion capture.In the situation, whether you and your surroundings are in line with common sense will become an important sign to determine whether the game is successful or not. Those designs that violate the laws of motion are destined to be cruelly eliminated. Imagine you are sitting on a train, but the scenery on the window does not fly away, and you will definitely feel that the train is broken.
The fourth problem is environmental positioning and layout. In the large VR scene, players need to be able to grasp the distance between themselves and other scenery. This positioning actually helps make the movement more coordinated and not abrupt. Under the premise of 90FPS, every time a player changes the scene, it actually requires the behind-the-scenes team to conduct careful measurement, calculation and design to achieve real results. This feels like the work of film special effects.
Rational Outlook: A Fierce Debate on the First Year of VR
Overall, VR helmets have led a new wave of consumer electronics trends, and technology is making up for the shortcomings and winning the support of seed users. The post-80s and post-90s who grew up in virtual environments such as movies and games are gradually becoming the main force of this group. The situation of separatist forces in the industry has not yet been formed. Every VR startup is claiming to be a rulemaker, and at the same time believes that other competitors do not do anything. The developers remind everyone to pay attention to content copyright when dividing cakes and not kill chickens to get eggs. Users believe that these mixed VR manufacturers are just using new concepts to cheat money. The hardware is complaining that the software is not powerful, and the software thinks it is the hardware that needs improvement. In short, this chaos triggered a fierce debate on the first year of 2016 VR.
Brendan Iribe, the ambitious founder of Oculus, looks forward to the VR helmet that will allow people to reach the future earlier. Samsung hopes that wearable devices represented by GearVR helmets can boost the active level of the product ecosystem. Google, which once launched $5 carton 3D glasses, told all disguised manufacturers that the right way to let consumers experience it at the lowest cost without breakthrough technology. Sony and HTC also use video games to grab the VR market next year.
Also in China, VR has received unprecedented popularity, with more than 100 hardware teams, among which mobile helmets far exceed PC helmets, highlighting its direction of wild growth. However, user experience problems are also similar to those in foreign countries, including: lack of film sources, insufficient clarity, bulky wear, dizziness in viewing, long-term fever, etc. It hits the current situation of the industry one by one, with serious lack of content, low hardware standards, lagging software development, and poor content interaction experience. In terms of investment and financing, the low technical content of VR ecosystem, from hardware, software, content, interaction, etc., is a common bottleneck. But domestic participants all have a consensus: VR points to the future.
According to Jupiter research institute's forecast, the virtual reality field led by VR headsets will have a global market with 3 million sales next year. By 2020, this number will increase to 30 million, creating more than 4 billion US dollars in sales. Nvidia CEO Huang Renxun believes that more and more manufacturers are entering this field, with the purpose of taking advantage of the trend to make money, and the mentality of making a vote is very common, which is not conducive to the healthy development of the industry.
Observation: The loneliness experience that needs to be changed
Currently, VR technology is quite embarrassing to go abroad. Although it can bring dazzling visual impact and unrestrained audio surround, the technology is far from reaching touch perception, and it is even far from the user experience of some products such as iPad. More importantly, it is a lonely experience, unable to be shared, and does not conform to the laws of Internet communication.
However, intervention in other fields has provided a new landing point for the dissemination and development of VR. First of all, Hollywood has closely watched the development of VR technology. "Martian Rescue" produced by 20th Century Fox and played by Ridley Scott, specially designed a single-man show by Matt Damon for VR promotion. It is estimated that it will be released in 2016, allowing more fans to experience the male lead's feelings. Under the premise of 360 degrees without blind spots, the real protagonist is not the director, but the player. They will control the range of focus, which is completely different from the previous art form. Facebook's CTO, Michael Schroepfer, admitted that VR broke the game rules about appreciating art in the past hundred years, and this immersion is undoubtedly revolutionary.However, it is not easy to get them to wear a helmet. This is somewhat similar to the situation in which Avatar taught everyone to wear 3D glasses in the early years.
The difference is that many industries are now optimistic about the prospects of VR. In their eyes, such a VR helmet will create more business opportunities by enhancing interaction with the audience in the future. Raja Rajamannar, marketing director at Mastercard, believes that people will eventually tend toward the former in the measurement of experience and wear. In addition, they are developing VR technology to introduce credit card consumption scenarios, allowing users to experience the scenery of the attractions they are about to visit or the hotel they are staying in in advance. Advertisers and media are trying their best to use the new VR platform to implant the powerful news to conquer users. Ford has also begun working with Oculus to provide designers with simulation effects of the concept car control experience. Some people even believe that VR technology will one day replace smartphones and become the mainstream. Facebook is the most beneficial. Previously, the valuation of US$2 billion was just the beginning. nbsp
This article is from the 2015 issue of "Computer News" published on 2015-12-14 A. News Weekly (Website Editor: shixi01)
