Virtual Reality (VR) Headsets

[Mainstreet]

I'm looking to explore Virtual Reality headsets, but I don't know much about them. Below is a link to what I'm examining.

The world of VR seems fascinating to me with the introduction of Apps. Kind of like taking a vacation without leaving the farm. Reminds me a bit of the old View Master but more interactive.

I'm wondering if anyone has tried them or wants to talk about it.

Meta Quest 3S: New Virtual Reality Headset - Buy Now

Discover the Meta Quest 3S, a revolutionary virtual reality headset. Explore new immersive games, social experiences, and more - buy now and start experiencing the future of reality.

www.meta.com

 

[Devilmaycare]

I have the original Quest sitting here collecting dust. I stopped using it when they started requiring a Facebook account to use it. All I ever really used it for was playing Beat Saber. That game's great especially when you mod it so that you can play custom songs.

I also have an Apple Vision Pro. Great hardware, blows away any of the Quest models, but the price tag is a bit ugly. The big problem I have with it though, and my complaint with all VR, is what to use it for. Watching media is amazing on it but I don't want to sit with it on for 2+ hours to watch a movie over sitting in my home theater. The immersive videos that Apple puts out are great though. The Metallica one was awesome.

The only other really good use for it that I've run into so far is using it as my monitor. They pair great with Mac Book Pros and you can use it as an ultra wide monitor. This use is generally limited to business trips though. I always use it when I have to go to our office in SF but at home I have my multiple monitor setup that's already doing the same thing.

I really wish I had some other great use cases for it. I'm ready for the Oasis from Ready Player One.

 

[Mainstreet]

I have the original Quest sitting here collecting dust. I stopped using it when they started requiring a Facebook account to use it. All I ever really used it for was playing Beat Saber. That game's great especially when you mod it so that you can play custom songs.

I also have an Apple Vision Pro. Great hardware, blows away any of the Quest models, but the price tag is a bit ugly. The big problem I have with it though, and my complaint with all VR, is what to use it for. Watching media is amazing on it but I don't want to sit with it on for 2+ hours to watch a movie over sitting in my home theater. The immersive videos that Apple puts out are great though. The Metallica one was awesome.

The only other really good use for it that I've run into so far is using it as my monitor. They pair great with Mac Book Pros and you can use it as an ultra wide monitor. This use is generally limited to business trips though. I always use it when I have to go to our office in SF but at home I have my multiple monitor setup that's already doing the same thing.

I really wish I had some other great use cases for it. I'm ready for the Oasis from Ready Player One.

It makes sense. What got me intrigued were the Apps. I've always wanted to visit and see places I've never been and mix it up with some games. Even Google Earth sounded more interesting.

 

[Chaplin]

You don’t need to use Facebook to have a meta account. The Meta Quest 3 is a pretty good device.

 

[Devilmaycare]

You don’t need to use Facebook to have a meta account. The Meta Quest 3 is a pretty good device.

They used to requiring one. Looks like they changed it to a meta account. Not much better IMO though.

 

[Devilmaycare]

It makes sense. What got me intrigued were the Apps. I've always wanted to visit and see places I've never been and mix it up with some games. Even Google Earth sounded more interesting.

Yeah, those are cool. The planetarium ones are cool too. It's the category of apps though that, at least for me, are in the cool but don't justify the cost category. I'll use them for a few minutes here or there to kill time but not something I'm going to use for extended periods.

 

[Mainstreet]

You don’t need to use Facebook to have a meta account. The Meta Quest 3 is a pretty good device.

I'd like to know more about the Meta Quest 3 from your perspective.

 

[Chaplin]

I'd like to know more about the Meta Quest 3 from your perspective.

To be fair, my use is a little limited because I get motion sickness really easily. I do know some of the first person games are pretty good, we just got a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game that is fantastic.

What I like most BY FAR is a single game called Walkabout Minigolf, along with Pinball FX. Walkabout is definitely the best VR game I’ve ever played and in fact is a top 5 game all time for me. I’m perfectly satisfied saying that game alone justifies the cost of the 3. Can’t forget Beat Saber, which is a top 3 game on the Quest as well.

My son has a 3s and he loves it. He does a lot of online multiplayer stuff. There isn’t a huge difference between the 3 and 3s, but the 3s is a little bit less powerful but at a pretty significant price difference. 3s is lower.

I do notice big difference in power between the 3 and the 2 however. I’ll never go back to the 2 again.

 

[Devilmaycare]

Motion sickness can be bad with them. I get it too. I have to do stationary games like Beat Saber. Anything where you're moving around and head is instantly spinning and I want to hurl.

I never played Walkabout Minigolf but I had Golf+ which started life at Topgolf was fun. It had a few putting courses, basically a minigolf game, and then added Topgolf driving range games.

Beat Saber was always my favorite and it turned out to be useful. When I was first starting to try to get back in shape years ago I used it to lose weight. It basically got me to do some cardio. I loaded into it all of the opening songs from Attack on Titan. The maps on them were very high pace. I'd end up burning about 150 calories in the 14 minutes it takes to play through all of them and it would get my heart rate pushing 150 at times. Really fun way to burn calories. AoT is great for Beat Saber too since you can pretend you're in the forest on ODM gear swinging the swords.

 

[Chaplin]

Motion sickness can be bad with them. I get it too. I have to do stationary games like Beat Saber. Anything where you're moving around and head is instantly spinning and I want to hurl.

I never played Walkabout Minigolf but I had Golf+ which started life at Topgolf was fun. It had a few putting courses, basically a minigolf game, and then added Topgolf driving range games.

Beat Saber was always my favorite and it turned out to be useful. When I was first starting to try to get back in shape years ago I used it to lose weight. It basically got me to do some cardio. I loaded into it all of the opening songs from Attack on Titan. The maps on them were very high pace. I'd end up burning about 150 calories in the 14 minutes it takes to play through all of them and it would get my heart rate pushing 150 at times. Really fun way to burn calories. AoT is great for Beat Saber too since you can pretend you're in the forest on ODM gear swinging the swords.

Yeah the topgolf app was great too. But the course designs, the social interaction part of it, the litle extras, all put Walkabout on top. I think it's a significant difference between Walkabout and pretty much everything else.

Beat Saber is one of the better games as well. Many games have a movement system that isn't free roaming, which is where my motion sickness really comes from. Basically it's a point and click that moves you there automatically with no movement motion other than looking around. It works well. Even the TMNT game has that in it, so you don't have to move with the joystick.

If you can, I would HIGHLY recommend Walkabout. It's not that expensive, although a lot of the courses are added costs, and most are 100% worth it. The only thing I haven't bought from that game is one of the avatar packs, which I don't care about. But I play that game with a couple of my best friends, one is in Vegas, one is in Florida and I'm in Texas, and it's like we are in the same space together playing golf.

Also looked at BigScreen and some of the video players. If I have a movie on my headset, we can sit in what seems like a movie theater together and watch. It's mind-blowing. Only problem those apps is the inability to connect to a DLNA server. I wish Plex had a VR app for that headset that would allow for watch parties.

 

[Devilmaycare]

Yeah the topgolf app was great too. But the course designs, the social interaction part of it, the litle extras, all put Walkabout on top. I think it's a significant difference between Walkabout and pretty much everything else.

Beat Saber is one of the better games as well. Many games have a movement system that isn't free roaming, which is where my motion sickness really comes from. Basically it's a point and click that moves you there automatically with no movement motion other than looking around. It works well. Even the TMNT game has that in it, so you don't have to move with the joystick.

If you can, I would HIGHLY recommend Walkabout. It's not that expensive, although a lot of the courses are added costs, and most are 100% worth it. The only thing I haven't bought from that game is one of the avatar packs, which I don't care about. But I play that game with a couple of my best friends, one is in Vegas, one is in Florida and I'm in Texas, and it's like we are in the same space together playing golf.

Also looked at BigScreen and some of the video players. If I have a movie on my headset, we can sit in what seems like a movie theater together and watch. It's mind-blowing. Only problem those apps is the inability to connect to a DLNA server. I wish Plex had a VR app for that headset that would allow for watch parties.

Yeah, it was the free movement that got me too. The point and jump is fine. Topgolf let you toggle between both and I always had to set it to jump. I've wanted to try out of the omni-direction walking pads with it. I've heard that they help a lot since it helps the brain reconcile the visuals with body motion.

Unfortunately Walkabout isn't out for the AVP yet. Since they have an iPhone version hopefully they'll make one. It's not that difficult to port between the two or even quest to AVP depending on which engine they used.

I remember seeing BigScreen but it was years ago. I'm currently using Moon player which is out on both Quest and AVP. I also used to use SkyBox which is on both. I like Moon's controls better on AVP so I use it. Both allow for DLNA and SMB playback but I don't think either of them have a party mode.

 

[oaken1]

It makes sense. What got me intrigued were the Apps. I've always wanted to visit and see places I've never been and mix it up with some games. Even Google Earth sounded more interesting.

right??
Would be amazing if you could strap on a headset and hike down into the Grand Canyon...or scale Mount Everest...you know, do some of those physical things one is never likely to do IRL...

Mabe base jump off the Empire State Building in a squirrel suit or some crazy sheet like that.

Then, after lunch,...take a nice long leisurely stroll along the Great Wall of China.

 

[Chaplin]

right??
Would be amazing if you could strap on a headset and hike down into the Grand Canyon...or scale Mount Everest...you know, do some of those physical things one is never likely to do IRL...

Mabe base jump off the Empire State Building in a squirrel suit or some crazy sheet like that.

Then, after lunch,...take a nice long leisurely stroll along the Great Wall of China.

There's an app that allows you to experience Street View in Google Maps (Google Earth?). I've done it to take a walking tour of Venice before, also found a couple of the places I used to live in Italy and the Netherlands. It's pretty wild, even if it's still 2D images. But you are surrounded on all sides so it appears to be at least a little real.

 

[Mainstreet]

right??
Would be amazing if you could strap on a headset and hike down into the Grand Canyon...or scale Mount Everest...you know, do some of those physical things one is never likely to do IRL...

Mabe base jump off the Empire State Building in a squirrel suit or some crazy sheet like that.

Then, after lunch,...take a nice long leisurely stroll along the Great Wall of China.

That's what I want, but I'm reluctant to cough up $350 plus for it.

Where is my old View-Master or whatever it was called.

 

[oaken1]

There's an app that allows you to experience Street View in Google Maps (Google Earth?). I've done it to take a walking tour of Venice before, also found a couple of the places I used to live in Italy and the Netherlands. It's pretty wild, even if it's still 2D images. But you are surrounded on all sides so it appears to be at least a little real.

yeah you can do that with regular google maps for the most part.
I been looking at some real estate and for the past couple weeks I been hitting street view and walking through neighborhoods...helps you get a feel...and you can walk down a ways to see if its convenient to walk down to the market and stuff like that.
But it never occurred to me to try foreign countries...so at least I could see the outside of the Louvre anyway...get to see the pyramid, lol

 

[Devilmaycare]

right??
Would be amazing if you could strap on a headset and hike down into the Grand Canyon...or scale Mount Everest...you know, do some of those physical things one is never likely to do IRL...

Mabe base jump off the Empire State Building in a squirrel suit or some crazy sheet like that.

Then, after lunch,...take a nice long leisurely stroll along the Great Wall of China.

You should see a couple of the videos Apple put out for the AVP. There's one of a lady walking a tight rope over a fjord with a 3000 foot drop. I have trouble watching it. As soon as you look over the cliff my fear of heights gets triggered. Looks too damn real.

 

[oaken1]

You should see a couple of the videos Apple put out for the AVP. There's one of a lady walking a tight rope over a fjord with a 3000 foot drop. I have trouble watching it. As soon as you look over the cliff my fear of heights gets triggered. Looks too damn real.

yeah that would get me... I love IMAX movies, but they often trigger vertigo, fear of heights, and sometimes claustrophobia ....I can only assume a quality VR system would be so much worse, lol.

 

[oaken1]

There's an app that allows you to experience Street View in Google Maps (Google Earth?). I've done it to take a walking tour of Venice before, also found a couple of the places I used to live in Italy and the Netherlands. It's pretty wild, even if it's still 2D images. But you are surrounded on all sides so it appears to be at least a little real.

I tried to get street view in Paris and it dont work... just satellite view...so maybe thats what that app does is give you "street view" like we already get for addresses in the states...
google earth might do it...I loved that thing when it first came out but I have not played with it in years...
you got me all excited and determined now....I want to take an evening walk in Rome, peruse some of the ancient chapels...they have thousands of them... then run over to Greece and check out the Parthenon...??... or Pantheon?? I always get those two confused...then of course...not the same as IRL, but who can pass up a chance to wander through the ancient mysteries of Stonehenge?

 

[oaken1]

okay...I went to the louvre with google earth...it let me go to street view, but the movement was extrremely limited...just a "-" or "+"..and you were limited to about ten clicks...major buzz kill... was gonna shut it down...but then something occurred to me.... a real head slapper... IT'S THE FRENCH!!!

so just on the whim that google earth has shared my "French" experience...I went to the Roman Coliseum...
I zoomed in a bit...
I clicked the little man icon to switch to "Street View"...and VOILA!!(yeah, I see the irony)... I had walking arrows on the ground to move around just like I have here in the states...so right now,...I am taking an evening stroll around the Coliseum in Rome...WooHooooo.....

Im digging this...
Mr Chap sir, thank you greatly for making me aware of this possibility!!

 

[Chaplin]

okay...I went to the louvre with google earth...it let me go to street view, but the movement was extrremely limited...just a "-" or "+"..and you were limited to about ten clicks...major buzz kill... was gonna shut it down...but then something occurred to me.... a real head slapper... IT'S THE FRENCH!!!

so just on the whim that google earth has shared my "French" experience...I went to the Roman Coliseum...
I zoomed in a bit...
I clicked the little man icon to switch to "Street View"...and VOILA!!(yeah, I see the irony)... I had walking arrows on the ground to move around just like I have here in the states...so right now,...I am taking an evening stroll around the Coliseum in Rome...WooHooooo.....

Im digging this...
Mr Chap sir, thank you greatly for making me aware of this possibility!!

It's also limited to what Google calls "streets", so you can't go in anywhere unless it has a viable street view on an actual street.

 

[oaken1]

It's also limited to what Google calls "streets", so you can't go in anywhere unless it has a viable street view on an actual street.

yeah I noticed when researching real estate...no jaunts down the alley to see of there are any shanty towns down there;... really kinda suxx, having alley access would be pretty cool