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Vr survey

Started by
11 comments, last by yaustar 7 years, 10 months ago

Hi guys!

If it’s possible, could you answer a few questions or just leave your feedback. It’s enough to read the first paragraph to make it; other information is food for thought)

How often do you integrate the newest technology in your life - whether gadgets, apps or methods?
What do you think about all this hype around Virtual Reality or, to be more exact, about the last high-tech HMDs?
What if you, as a designer, could construct buildings and interiors for free, using your own objects in a seamless 3D reality, which would not be harder than to build a settlement in Fallout 4?
What if you, as a VR game developer, could solve capability, control and content distribution problems?
What if you, as a user, acquire a graphic operation system and could spend most of the day in VR working and resting?
Would you become an active user of a universal 3D platform, which could fully unleash the potential of VR devices?

Sounds fantastic like a cyberpunk novel, but remember how many prophetic ideas the sci-fi writers of the 20th century founded in their creations. In case if you are not a fan of reading and don’t get what I am talking about, just try to recall the GTA 5 scale then or think of MMO nowadays, for instance. The only difference it makes is the scale and the audience coverage.

I have a dream about integrating VR in our life as social networks did before. Earlier there was a possibility to communicate at forums, blogs and chats but as social networks arose – it made it possible to combine communication under one platform. I’m old enough to remember how the Internet and SNs have changed our life and I do want to see another social transformation throughout my life and, if possible, to participate in it.

I started thinking about VR in 2011 when it became clear that PCs could finally produce a photorealistic image. As it turned out to be, not only me alone started developing a console and HMD. Thanks God, it did not go any further than just a patent back then. However, a year ago, finally getting confident in VR potential, I decided to resume my work, but this time, based on already working devices. My efforts are aimed at creating solid VR platform where people could fill it with diverse high-quality content and create a place to make anyone’s dreams come true. It’s like a book – it is senseless until you read it, the content– that is what really matters.

I have no illusions that making VR is a matter of only a couple of years. It is hard, expensive and time consuming. I don’t want it to become just a global server for MineCraft or Rust. VR has different goals, interests and points of contact for users. Although, there is already a good example of a complex project design - the Star Citizen devs’ module approach. Until each module becomes ideal…

Among all of the planned modules the most important is the VR Constructor, because I’m confident that only those users who have no restrictions can create a lively world. And the most significant part of the Constructor is GUI, where everyone can feel as Tony Stark and share creations immediately. Convenient, fair, fast and most important, simple. You only need to pick an object, place it anywhere and set it up. However, one should keep in mind that GUI development for VR is a new field and not all trusted methods suit it and this is what I focus on now. Here is the latest version of my GUI concept:
VRC5.gif

I see it in a sci-fi style with customization possibilities. Some features:
- Assets auto loading. All you have to do is to copy your mesh to a special folder and the core will scan and add it to UI at the start of the app.
- UI is a standalone object not tied with a user viewport.
- Free placement of objects depending on the surface angle with a possibility of changing parameters whenever you like.
Right now, I am finishing work on animation, parameter changing and loading. So, now or never it's time to unite like-minded people on the way to a new information revolution.

Currently, there are 3 people in the crew. First of all it’s me, a person who has 10 years’ experience at the building automation, system integration; design of MCU devices, communication systems, and HMI. Since July 2016 I have been fully occupied with VR project. The other two guys are programmers as well but with server specialization. We only lack a designer, a real artist!

If you know how to make a convenient GUI, how to launch a friendly and cool website, what interior to make to record a platform presentation and you are willing to handle it all, write me up!

We have a detailed work plan for 3 years ahead, even though, the design doc has been written with the expectation of 10+ years of development and support. After the UI, we will start making basic content, server/client and integrate the third-party applications and functions (voice chat, data communication and share desktop). We all work remotely and the alpha version of the constructor will be tested right at our Virtual Office. But this is a side-project, which I can tell you about when something serious in this direction will be done.

Unfortunately, you can’t read a full project presentation now; it will be available as soon as MVP is ready. To help us to move towards the right direction we need your feedback. We would be glad to any opinion both positive and negative to help our VR concept become better!

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Okay, let's cut through the fluff. What are you actually trying to do? Because it sounds like you're trying to build a game engine which works within VR. If this is true, you have some serious competition between Epic and Unity, and you've got some serious scope and resources problems, and I'd really want to know a lot more about any potential business plans, risks, and risk mitigation strategies.

Are you trying to recruit someone? It sounds like you're looking for a designer and an artist. The two roles are distinctly different... But even if you didn't have an artist, why not just do gray box prototyping for now to get a working proof of concept? It sounds like you've got two programmers already, right? Why does it matter that they have "server specialization"?

If I was in your position, I would take a step back and start asking some more fundamental questions, like "What problem am I trying to solve? What need am I trying to fill? Who is asking for it? Who are my customers? Are they actually asking for what I'm building? How many customers do I actually have? How do I sample that? What's my average customer profile? How much would they pay? What's the scope of my project? How am I going to fund it? Who could I partner with? How will I distribute my product? How will it get monetized?" These are hard questions to answer, and you should seriously take a good week or two to think about them. The worst thing you could do right now is start designing and engineering a product without any idea on the background / context, and you could waste years of time (and money) going in a wrong direction.

What do you want to achieve with the question Do you need such VR platform? I doubt many people think they actually need something remotely like what you are describing.

All I heard was "Second Life in VR" ¯\_(?)_/¯

SlimDX | Ventspace Blog | Twitter | Diverse teams make better games. I am currently hiring capable C++ engine developers in Baltimore, MD.

All I heard was "Second Life in VR" ¯\_(?)_/¯

If that's the case, then this is his biggest source of competition:
https://highfidelity.io/

This is being produced by the guy who invented second life. He's got an established team. He's got funding. He's got the original product vision. They're setting the quality bar. So, if the OP wants to build a competing product, he's got his work cut out for him and absolutely *must* find a more compelling competitive advantage than what's currently available.

I'm also quite curious to what this is?

Half of it sounds like something similar to what Unity is working on:

While the other half sounds like Second Life in VR.

Are you developing a level designer tool to be used in VR? or are you developing a tool specifically designed to create VR games? (or both?)

Second Life in VR would be cool :) but I have a hard time as seeing it as something with a huge targeted audience currently.

My personal opinion regarding the future of VR, is that it might become huge for gaming platforms and productivity tools for architects and the like within next 5 years, but I don't see any indications of it moving into social medias anytime soon. What we've seen from Facebook is the concept of how always being online can be somewhat seamlessly integrated into our everyday life in a non-intrusive way (or at least in a way we can convince ourselves is non-intrusive). This also aligns with the rise of casual games, that can be played while at commuting, or during a small break. While hours can be spent on a casual game, we can still convince ourselves that we can easily plug out and get back to our everyday life. Also both Facebook and casual games (free to play mobile games at least) share the constant stream of notifications, telling you that there is always something interesting going on.

For VR to come close to this, we both need to solve the issue of making it non-intrusive to go into VR and we need to solve the issue of most people not being online at the same time. While it often feels like I'm often online at the same time as my Facebook friends, I'm rarely 100% dedicated to Facebook i.e. while at work. For VR you don't have the option of not being 100% dedicated.

Sorry if I went a bit off topic, but yeah VR is amazing and I hope it will be utilized a lot in the future :)

Wow, here is only place i've got such harsh comments. Don't even sure is it worth to explaining now) But strictly saying VildNinja is right. Shame on me I don't even know about Unity VR Editor. I'm using UE4 and they did just a tools for vanilla editor to work with assets in HMD, but Unity team tries to simplify GUI. But my goal not an editor at all this is just a way to build VR world. And not a world like SL. (don't know exactly what about SL2 will be, as everyone i guess)

Think about it like this is gonna be 3D OS with all your everydays apps and social but in photorealistic environment. And VR solves last tech problem - fast user presence traveling. Internet through browser only teleports world to you, not you to the world) Smth like that, guys, sorry if all this unclear again)

P.S. Btw highfidelity is pretty solid. 12,5M could be spent sensibly... Is there will be scripts, Virtual Office, unlimited content? At least this is the only metaverse in developing))

Wow, here is only place i've got such harsh comments.

Where else have you posted it? Any other communities where they actually produce software/games?

SlimDX | Ventspace Blog | Twitter | Diverse teams make better games. I am currently hiring capable C++ engine developers in Baltimore, MD.
Where else have you posted it? Any other communities where they actually produce software/games?

Socials, ue4 forum and you know local country gamedev communities) So I can blame my shitty translation))

I guess we're just a cynical bunch then.

SlimDX | Ventspace Blog | Twitter | Diverse teams make better games. I am currently hiring capable C++ engine developers in Baltimore, MD.

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