I went to a Facebook Invite only AR/VR event last week in Austin Texas.

kdh

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Basically the giants at Facebook that are in charge of AR/VR, Oculus, hardware development, and over all directional road maps where there. I was surrounded by some of the smartest people I've ever had the chance to stand next to. On top of that? They were some of the nicest, most humble and beyond appreciative people I've ever met. Not one single bit of ego. They made it a point to talk with anyone who wanted to talk with them.

What I learned:
SDE is something that they and most other vendors are actively tackling.
Refresh Rate is something they are working to increase.
FOV is a very real thing they are working.
Eye Tracking. - Saw a Demo on it. Pretty amazing stuff.
Comfort and Eye Fatigue is a huge thing they are working.
Bringing the cost barrier down while increasing the experience is a big driver.
Bringing the level of complication down.
Removing a lot of the hardware requirements.
They realize that content isn't there yet, and they are actively investing into a lot of companies to increase the content past what is basically considered glorified demos.
I was blown away by the woman who talked about the mechanics of putting a screen in front of your face, handling FOV, and eye strain. Its not just putting a screen in front of you eyes and hoping for the best but how your eyes actually work. I'm minimizing her talk but it was one of the most thought provoking parts of the whole demo.
They are investing a huge amount of resources into A/R stuff. The Portal device is one of them.
There is talk of a google glass like device.

If you forget that its Facebook, and look at it like technical people trying to solve technical problems.. That's exactly what that demo was. It wasn't people high up in towers with nice desks looking down saying here.. this is what you get. It was people who not only design and build this stuff, but actually really use it. They have the same exact gripes as us, but they are the people who have the ability to solve those problems long term. In other words.. They eat their own dog food. My take away? People in the VR space are actually 100% listening to us end users.

There was more to the meeting, I just can't remember it all. Please feel free to ask any questions and if I remember any details I'll do my best to communicate what I remember.
 
Did you happen to snag any Hololens 2s that may have "fallen off the back of a truck"?
 
I would be excited to stand next to the likes of Carmack and Abrash. But FB owning them is definitely a full show stopper. Even Apple would've been much, much better.
 
I would be excited to stand next to the likes of Carmack and Abrash. But FB owning them is definitely a full show stopper. Even Apple would've been much, much better.

Carmackand Abrash were not there, but folks who work close with them were. I had the most ridiculous deep in the weeds ffmpeg question in regards equirectangular vs cubemap and the ffmpeg plug in that FB wrote. I asked the question and was specifically told to reach out to Carmack about it. If im going to try and reach out to Carmack, I better have researched the hell out of my question before I pop off and waste his time with it.
 
I'm certain where the future is going with this stuff and it's kind if exciting. I believe it will happen in my lifetime.

I'll put on a VR headset and lets say pay $49.99 for a virtual trip to maybe somewhere in Italy because I have always wanted to go. I will walk down real Italian streets with real Italian people, tourists, others who are using the VR. Talk with them, sit with them at the bar. Look at real items that are for sale and it's delivered to my real location from Italy.

If that isn't where all this VR stuff is going, then it should be in my opinion.
 
I'm certain where the future is going with this stuff and it's kind if exciting. I believe it will happen in my lifetime.

I'll put on a VR headset and lets say pay $49.99 for a virtual trip to maybe somewhere in Italy because I have always wanted to go. I will walk down real Italian streets with real Italian people, tourists, others who are using the VR. Talk with them, sit with them at the bar. Look at real items that are for sale and it's delivered to my real location from Italy.

If that isn't where all this VR stuff is going, then it should be in my opinion.

Unmm its total recall

or the Matrix

you can keep your pipe dream. I like talking to real people with my real voice in my real flesh


VR is for shooting virtual mufuckas
 
I'm certain where the future is going with this stuff and it's kind if exciting. I believe it will happen in my lifetime.

I'll put on a VR headset and lets say pay $49.99 for a virtual trip to maybe somewhere in Italy because I have always wanted to go. I will walk down real Italian streets with real Italian people, tourists, others who are using the VR. Talk with them, sit with them at the bar. Look at real items that are for sale and it's delivered to my real location from Italy.

If that isn't where all this VR stuff is going, then it should be in my opinion.

Thats already happening this second right now right now with todays tech. Its not 49$, but for 450$ the quest does it. Its more or less there this very moment with google earth, and there are a few social media apps that are vr based that allow you to chat in a virtual environment with people from all over the planet. I've done it with my vive. Just not for 50$.

The general consensus is if VR and AR are really going to have a huge impact in our lives, you have to make it compelling for people to want at the price point they want to pay. I mean.. I was cool with spending around 2.5K on a gfx card, a vive, and a few other upgrades back in 2016. That's not how everyone rolls. Most of us are already comfortable with spending 500$+ on a smart phone. Make your AR/VR device cost sub 500$, increase the resolution 2k or better in each eye, resolve SDE, and make it work off your phone? That's when it'll become a thing that everyone has to have.

Remember when a lot of people made fun of phones playing mp3s and having a camera 12 years ago? Well... Now, we can't live with out them. AR/VR will be the same way in a few years once the hardware catches up and the cost goes down.

They are very focused on the AR side of things. I mentioned a google glass like device. Their take on it is to allow you to wear their glasses but be able to adjust the brightness of them so you can better see in the dark. Or the same pair of glasses has the ability to to do noise cancellation of a crowded room, and you just hear the person you are talking to better.
 
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Carmackand Abrash were not there, but folks who work close with them were. I had the most ridiculous deep in the weeds ffmpeg question in regards equirectangular vs cubemap and the ffmpeg plug in that FB wrote. I asked the question and was specifically told to reach out to Carmack about it. If im going to try and reach out to Carmack, I better have researched the hell out of my question before I pop off and waste his time with it.

Have you considered that maybe all those guys without ego are like that because they have to work the likes of Carmack and Abrash. Man, I'd shit my pants just to say hello, let alone show them my code
 
Interesting about the emphasis on eye fatigue.

I feel like it's less strain on my eyes playing VR than playing on a normal monitor personally.
 
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Have you considered that maybe all those guys without ego are like that because they have to work the likes of Carmack and Abrash. Man, I'd shit my pants just to say hello, let alone show them my code
For fucking real. If I sent them something and got an email that said "looks good!" I'd probably print and frame it.
 
Have you considered that maybe all those guys without ego are like that because they have to work the likes of Carmack and Abrash. Man, I'd shit my pants just to say hello, let alone show them my code

A lot of those guys are just like you and me. At the end of the day, normal everyday people who just happen to have a skill set we appreciate. They put pants on the same way we do.. Even if they have enough money to never have to wear pants again. ;)
 
There was more to the meeting, I just can't remember it all. Please feel free to ask
did you attend the after party where things get fonky? I hear that's when Carmack arrives...
 
deleted my facebook. god ridance... it's just advetising, sharing of private info and +++ best thing i ever did. if ppl want to fucking talk to me, call, send me a text. all those things still work. on there is all about projecting your perfect self.
 
did you attend the after party where things get fonky? I hear that's when Carmack arrives...

Nah.. We even ran into a few of the folks who grabbed a bite to eat after the event at the same after hours bar we went to.. Was very tame. Those kinds of things are very tiring for the people putting them on.. The wildest they probably wanted to get was to drink a glass of wine and crash for the night.
 
deleted my facebook. god ridance... it's just advetising, sharing of private info and +++ best thing i ever did. if ppl want to fucking talk to me, call, send me a text. all those things still work. on there is all about projecting your perfect self.
Same.. it turned into one giant mass advertising platform and political weapon, while censoring your posts you make. After my 3rd post got deleted, I completely abandoned the platform. Apparently, posting a video of your 1yr old son so family members who live 1000 miles away can see constitutes copyright infringement and hate speech.

Now if some awesome VR stuff comes out of it, great -- but I'm not using anything Facebook related in the future.
 
Thats already happening this second right now right now with todays tech. Its not 49$, but for 450$ the quest does it. Its more or less there this very moment with google earth, and there are a few social media apps that are vr based that allow you to chat in a virtual environment with people from all over the planet. I've done it with my vive. Just not for 50$.

The general consensus is if VR and AR are really going to have a huge impact in our lives, you have to make it compelling for people to want at the price point they want to pay. I mean.. I was cool with spending around 2.5K on a gfx card, a vive, and a few other upgrades back in 2016. That's not how everyone rolls. Most of us are already comfortable with spending 500$+ on a smart phone. Make your AR/VR device cost sub 500$, increase the resolution 2k or better in each eye, resolve SDE, and make it work off your phone? That's when it'll become a thing that everyone has to have.

Remember when a lot of people made fun of phones playing mp3s and having a camera 12 years ago? Well... Now, we can't live with out them. AR/VR will be the same way in a few years once the hardware catches up and the cost goes down.

They are very focused on the AR side of things. I mentioned a google glass like device. Their take on it is to allow you to wear their glasses but be able to adjust the brightness of them so you can better see in the dark. Or the same pair of glasses has the ability to to do noise cancellation of a crowded room, and you just hear the person you are talking to better.

im not sure of the bias tyoe here but its something, ill call it "monday morning quarterback bias." long story short- you have no evidence that AR/VR will be the biggest thing after phones. before phones there were 1000 things that could have been the next big thing. and precious few invested in phones, mostly apple making it work. if you disagree i submit that you invest all of your savings into the top 5 AR/VR companies. regardless of current stock price it should make you are rich rich man.
 
Money talks.. Bullshit walks.. I may not have sunk my life savings into ar/vr.. but i've definitely diversified my portfolio over the last 3 years as any good investor does.
 
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