purple_hamster66 t1_iqt1r07 wrote on October 2, 2022 at 9:46 PM

It should be meaningful to what normal people need above what a cell phone, tablet, or computer can do.

So if it’s just for maps, no go. If it shows you the next exit visually, no go (HUDs do this now). If it navigate within a building to get out of a fire that has no wifi, that’s value you can’t get from a cell phone.

If it shows a video of a recipe, no go. If it highlights where you left the spatula, or detects that your sauce is boiling too much, ok.

If it interacts with your computer by adding depth to the display, no go. If it shows you which keys to press to show a special character, or diagnoses that your right hand is .5” too far to the left to hit keys accurately, ok.

If it lets you meet with people in 3D, and walk around a virtual convention hall to experience different audiences, no go. If you can augment faces with a person’s name and what you talked about the last time you met them, ok. If it can diagnose a person’s health by examining their gate and skin color from multiple angles, ok.

Also: compatible with glasses (2/3 of adults wear glasses), and not get in the way.

Powerful_Range_4270 t1_iqvtyi7 wrote on October 3, 2022 at 1:59 PM

Your missing the biggest one and that is field of view or looking around without having to scroll or hold it in your hand. The smartphone replaced physical buttons on flipphones. We could have made flipphones better by making them faster speeds. But overall functionality on a smartphone is what killed filpphones. The smartphone did nothing revolutionary. VR will increase your overall functionality but again it won't be revolutionary.

purple_hamster66 t1_iqx7uh2 wrote on October 3, 2022 at 7:26 PM

How does “looking around” help me edit a spreadsheet? It’s the utility that leads users, not the tech.

Yes, overall functionality is what killed flipphones, definitely. IOW, smartphones excelled because they made it easy for third parties to write apps, so I could have an app that is useful to me (and to folks in similar situations). Flip phone apps were written by the manufacturers, IIRC.

I think of VR as a smart phone display with a better mount, nothing more. Remember the first popular VR displays were just cardboard boxes that you slipped your cell phone into. Lenses help move the image away and adapt to pupil distances, boxes keep excess light out, elastic bands help with balance — all tweaks. All the really useful stuff - forward looking cams, accelerometers, barometers, depth cams - are in the phone itself.