What happened to the promise of VR...It was almost at a stage that would be considered functional with the Jaguar...(I know it was functional...but you know what I mean)....We're now at a stage where it's obviously very doable and could be very realistic yet I don't see it anywhere...what gives...I've been waiting too long!
Just my opinion, but it seems to have been pushed to the back burner for the time being. I remember one of the big problems with VR technology was the weight of the headsets and what to do about them (how to slap a screen in there that could fool the eye into thinking it was a somewhat real world and not have it cost a ton), along with what sort of control metaphor to use in virtual worlds, etc. It seems that the gaming industry has moved to creating more realistic games on screen than more realistic games period, which is a bit of a shame, as VR had a decent amount of promise (remember Dactyl Nightmare?), and I for one still get a kick out of finding still-functioning VRML archives online and puttering around in those worlds.
Sega scrapped their project that got very far with the help of Lockheed Martin (Correct me if I pulled this out of my ass) because they couldn't prevent the user from getting sick.
Sega VR Headset I can definitely remember the UK official Sega Saturn Magazine covering (albeit in brief) a completed prototype VR headset displayed at the 1998 Tokyo Game Show, and I'm positive that Takara had a game there as well that utilised this technology. However, I didn't realise that Lockheed Martin were involved in the project, though it's possible that the concept shown was third-party and that Sega's own design was never seen. There are definitely pictures of an official Sega headset, but wasn't this being designed for the MegaDrive? I recall a magazine article (C&VG? Mean Machines?) speculating at the possibility of a SVP-powered conversion of Daytona USA being used to test such a device, though I've since lost any scans that I could have provided - nearly all of the files I'd collected went missing when I moved house last year, and since then I haven't been able to find most of them again. As with most attempts at a headset of this nature, I can imagine that motion sickness was one of the key factors in leading to failure. The cost and weight of such a unit was solved by the VirtualBoy (even if this isn't strictly a VR system), but the stories of nausea associated with even Nintendo's product are now legendary. VR remains an unfulfilled promise, and the potential is definitely there. Sadly, it seems GSL is right with his comments and that we really are living in an age where any real innovation in the computer industry can be found by looking back...
I had the opportunity to play Dactyl Nightmare back in 1994 and I must say, it was truly a revolutionary experience. Simple, yes. But the realism and ability to look around and keep tabs on your opponent simply by moving your head is incredible (at least to me it was). I remember being in awe as I "looked up" at the virtual sky and then by accident looking down and seeing my character's blocky feet as if they were my own! It sort of felt like you were controlling a robot at times since the joystick controlled your forward movement, but the firing and viewpoint was believably realistic and true to life! Shame how this has sort of fallen into obscurity though...
Your correct dude... at least about sega scrapping their project... Allow me to fill you guys in... Sega teamed up with Virtuality to make an arcade game they never finished called 'Tec-War'. This was way back in '94... Aparently they never finished it because the media all thought it sucked after it was shown at AOU that year. It basicly had a headset with 2x 2inch screens in... and the action was displayed on a screen for others to see what was going on... and from memory it was based on model 1. Pretty cool stuff, i have some images somewhere, ill see if i can dig them out... Perhaps if sega and others didnt listen to people (for want of a better word) dissin' the first gen VR games.. it would have been a bigger thing in Japanese arcades. )
Dactyl nightmare.....what a fun game...remember when the Pterodactyl picked you up and then dropped you!! Felt like you were gonna splat when you hit. I miss that.
VR makes you dizzy though. Eyes telling your body it's moving, and your ears telling it you're standing still. All gets a bit confusing... Anyways, anyone remember any of those VR game shows that were on TV around the time of the 'VR boom'??
I've been told that the big problem with VR is this: lean your head sideways (so your ear is on your shoulder) without having a headset on, and the world doesn't appear to turn with you (ie everything stays flat, it's just your head that's moved). Lean your head with a VR headset on: the virtual world leans with you, or at best the motion sensors take a while to catch up you. It isn't real-time and your head get confused. Unless instantaneous motion adjustment could be introduced, VR's always going to have the motion sickness problem. I'm not sure how much closer it would be now than back in the 90's, as I guess it's a material science problem (motion sensor technology).
I can't see VR becoming a reality until it really is plugging a cable directly into your brain, like Matrix/Ghost in the Shell.
Well thats one of the main factors of why vr failed, motion sicness, i think it has to do with how a persons eyes and their movement coordinate.
I think it's a shame. I've always wanted to try one of those machines, but I was too young when they were introduced (around 7-8 I think). My brother was a huge fan of them, though.
