VR Comes To Wii/360 And PS3 Via TDVision's HD Visor, My Interview!

[Kschreck]

For those interested in the concept of Virtual Reality I recently did an interview with the CEO of TDVision who is developing the first consumer level 720p HD visor for use with the three game consoles and the PC. Here is an excerpt from my interview:

You mentioned before that the TDVisor is compatible with the game consoles. Is it full compatible with every game released for each individual console?

TDVision technology can and will be compatible with the three major game consoles out today, The Nintendo Wii, the Xbox 360, and the Playstation 3. What is required is the inclusion of TDVision's technology into the games for these consoles in order to display 3D to the upcoming high-definition TDVisor using the HDMI output. You can use today our TDVisor with any game console in 2D. The games need to be TDVReady in order to properly provide the 3D geometry information and rendering to our viewing device.

You can check out my full interview here:


http://theboard.zogdog.com/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=11&showentry=13566


I am certainly intrigued by what this company is working on. The prospect of VR of the Wii and other systems certainly sounds interesting. I personally never used VR before but the concept has always made me curious. While past VR sets have suffered from low res displays and horrible eye strains, the TDVisor seems like the first visor that will begin to break free from such problems.

 

[VirusType2]

If it's as good as I hope it is, and is true Virtual reality, where it gives the illusion of being there, then hopefully it gets a good response and people buy it.

I have a feeling it's quite expensive though. The more expensive it is, the less people that buy it, and the less people that buy it, the less likely it will get support.


I think if it's good though, it should be worth the price a display generally costs.


If it's actually really good then it would be a shame if the world doesn't respond well to it, because this is something many people, including me, have been waiting for, for a long time!

Go Virtual Sex games! :imu:

 

[Asuka]

Real VR the day that shows up!

 

[Kschreck]

I have spoken with someone who goes to this high end school where he is learning how to program and work with Augmented Reality applications. He gets to use all the high end Visors. He really liked the Z800 visor and he's really excited for the TDVisor. He told me it was a ton of fun to play games like F.E.A.R with the Z800.

VR certainly has it's share of problems and I don't need to tell you guys what they are. I'm sure you can figure them out but I do see a lot of potential in the field of Virtual Reality but it's going to take interest from the community in order to get things going. For those interested awhile back I did a writeup on how I believe that Virtual Reality can be applied to the many game genres that are available to us today:


http://theboard.zogdog.com/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=4&showentry=2726


I do wish more people were open to the idea of VR. Like I said I never used a VR product before but I still think the concept of being immersed into the games is intriguing.

 

[TechnoHippyChic]

Like I said I never used a VR product before but I still think the concept of being immersed into the games is intriguing.

You've gotta at least try it. Look for a Dave and Buster's (or equivalent), perhaps, in the nearest metropolis?

 

[Xune]

Does this track head movements like TrackIR?

I've been looking into more immersive gaming displays for a little while now. Things like the TrackIR and Matrox's Tripplehead3Go, however none offer true 3d obviously.

 

[Kschreck]

If you use the Stereoscopic function of the visor it does.

 

[Darkside55]

Screw VR, seriously. I hate virtual reality things. Bad memories.

VR certainly has it's share of problems and I don't need to tell you guys what they are.

Yeah, I got one. How about when you die in a VR game, and the stupid goggles glitch and go total black and make you think you actually died?

Friggin' virtual reality. It was supposed to be fun. Instead it scarred my 10-year-old brain.

 

[VirusType2]

Screw VR, seriously. I hate virtual reality things. Bad memories.


Yeah, I got one. How about when you die in a VR game, and the stupid goggles glitch and go total black and make you think you actually died?

Friggin' virtual reality. It was supposed to be fun. Instead it scarred my 10-year-old brain.

Thats awesome as hell.

 

[Darkside55]

You want to hear what's more "awesome?" There were actually two glitches that happened.

Like I said, this was awhile ago; it was at a mall in the Bay Area where they had two VR machines set up for a test. The game was a really primitive 3D game called Dactyl Scream, where you fought an opponent deathmatch style, shooting little polygon balls at them. Overhead loomed a green pterodactyl that'd swoop down every now-and-then, grab a player, and drop him.

What's SUPPOSED to happen is it cuts to a 3rd-person view of your low-poly avatar being dropped, hitting the ground and exploding. Then you respawn. What happened to me was that damn prehistoric bird picked me up and it DIDN'T switch to 3rd person, so I got a 1st person view of myself slamming into the ground. Then total blackness.

Unnerving to say the least. I just froze right there on the spot.

 

[Eejit]

Well sounds like they at least succeeded in being immersive.

 

[Kschreck]

You want to hear what's more "awesome?" There were actually two glitches that happened.

Like I said, this was awhile ago; it was at a mall in the Bay Area where they had two VR machines set up for a test. The game was a really primitive 3D game called Dactyl Scream, where you fought an opponent deathmatch style, shooting little polygon balls at them. Overhead loomed a green pterodactyl that'd swoop down every now-and-then, grab a player, and drop him.

What's SUPPOSED to happen is it cuts to a 3rd-person view of your low-poly avatar being dropped, hitting the ground and exploding. Then you respawn. What happened to me was that damn prehistoric bird picked me up and it DIDN'T switch to 3rd person, so I got a 1st person view of myself slamming into the ground. Then total blackness.

Unnerving to say the least. I just froze right there on the spot.

VR has went through a lot of changes since those days. A friend of mine works with all sorts of VR gear and he plays games like F.E.A.R using the older Z800 visor from eMagin. He claims that it's awesome. Eventually when I get my hands on a visor I intend to do a full review for my site (and maybe here if anyones interested) in which I will answer any questions you guys might have about VR and where the technology stands today in the industry. I have done a lot of research on VR in the last couple of years so if anyone does have any questions now I can try and answer some of them.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Just as Ray Kurzweil predicted. Excelent. Can't wait. Kschreck, I presume it onyl immerses sight and sound at the moment?

 

[Kschreck]

The visor immerses in sight and sound so far. Sound will likely be regular speakers but you can really do some magic with headphones as far as making 3D sound. As for video it will use 720p HD screens and will support Stereoscopic 3D which creates the illusion of objects actually coming out of the screen. I never used Stereoscopic 3D but apparently the more recent stuff is really impressive. Also headtracking is another way to help immerse players into the games though the first model of the TDVisor will not have headtracking in it but TDVision is exploring the option for future versions of the TDVisor. Here is a post I wrote on another forum detailing some of the problems in the past and still today with VR that is finally starting to be overcomed:


I wrote this for another forums site but I might as well post this here as well:


There are a number of things that have kept VR from going mainstream. I will list a few along with whats being done in these areas:


-Size does matter but in this case the smaller is better. For a long time VR has been big, bulky and plain out ugly and heavy. As technology progresses companies have been working on new ways to decrease the sizes of HMD's. Here is one of the smaller visors available today in the market:


http://www.cesweb.org/shared_files/innovations/innovations_2004/6445/mainphoto6445.jpg


-Price, this is possibly the biggest complain by customers. The fact of the matter is the good visors are pricey. Why? Not because the parts are expensive to make. Instead it's due to the difficulty producing the equipment by hand. So far all VR companies have small teams and most of them make their products by hands and not through an assembly line. I have spoken with people in the industry who claim that if a company like Sony was to take VR seriously then they could produce a good VR set for around $200 or less. Right now a good consumer grade one will cost you $1500 or more.

-Field of view is another complaint. People have always complained that it was not immersive enough as the internal display technology did not meet the demand of everyday consumers. Over time the field of view has been increasing. Still it needs to increase even more before fully satisfying consumers.

-Resolutions. The Virtual Boy and most other VR gear of the 90's suffered from extremely low resolution displays that left users with pixelated images. This problem is finally being corrected as TDVision will be one of the first companies to over a 720p HD visor this fall.

-Headaches and eyestrain have always been a big problem in the past. According to the people I have spoken with the problem has been greatly reduced with some people saying the problem doesn't even exist anymore.

-Another feature people want is wireless sets. No one wants to have a wire coming from their head and of course new technology advancements will make this happen. Companies believe that it could be ready within the next few years (2-5 years maybe?)

-Bad past, with all the negative press that has surrounded VR since the 90's with horrible products such as the Virtual Boy many people don't even want to hear the word VR. It's understandable as well but of course if you spent the time I have investigating where the VR industry stands I think you will be a little more open to the idea. You just need to let go of the past.

-Headtracking is another feature that needs some work done. Most modern visors now have it and it's suppose to be working pretty well now. It won't work with console games (same with Stereoscopic 3D) unless the game developers release software updates to support these functions. So if you ever plan on getting a visor for console gaming you will only be able to use it has a bigger immersive display without Stereoscopic 3D or headtracking unless a company like Bungie releases a patch to add the support for their games. Headtracking doesn't just let you turn your gun or whatever in a game. You will have three available moments instead of the tradition two:

-Walk around.
-Aim/turn with gun or whatever in front of you.
-Look around while keeping your weapon where you left it (like real life).


Headtracking demonstrations:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkvhQtDp8Gc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13cKljc1qyA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWj2sClIGzg

-Quite possibly the biggest problem is getting people to wear a visor. It is up to the VR companies to figure out away to show people that their immersive game experience will greatly improve if they wear a visor. As all of the above problems are reduced or completely taken away I believe consumers will be more interested in what VR brings to the table. If people have no problem wearing a pair of glasses then there should be no problem with wearing a visor. People who wear glasses can of course use some of the modern VR sets as you can adjust the eye piece for your glasses subscription.


As you can see there are certainly plenty of reasons why gamers have not grabbed up VR and accepted it. A lot of these problems are being corrected and a lot of these problems will eventually be corrected. If a large company was to work on VR I predict that all or nearly all mentioned problems could be easily fixed nearly right away. These small companies don't have the man power, money or resources to fix some of these big problems. However it's a drop in the bucket for a company like Sony.

It will likely be years before the mass market will eat up VR but I think for the hardcore gaming market who rushes out to by Crysis or Halo, VR will be meant for them and should appeal greatly to these people. With the added Stereoscopic 3D support for PC gamers it should be a no brainer. I never used Stereoscopic 3D but I know a friend of mine has recently purchased some Stereoscopic 3D movies and glasses and claims that it's very awesome. I heard this from two people. I also believe that Stereoscopic 3D is about to get big again for movies and theatres but thats another topic of discussion.

People who want the most immersive experience should truly consider VR. People who don't care about immersion should just skip VR. It's as simple as that. If you want to feel like you are actually a part of the game then you will want/need VR. It's a long ways until holographics takes off. The very first prototype isn't even due until 2014 and it will likely be quite a few years later before it goes mainstream. VR is the only promising option in the near future for those who are not satisfied with gaming on their TV's.

Games like Metroid, Halo, Crysis and of course Heavy Rain is meant for VR:


http://www.ageia.com/flash/heavyrain.swf


I also believe that VR can be applied to all game genres and not just FPS games as most people think. I wrote an old article on that which can be viewed here:


http://theboard.zogdog.com/index.php?autom...;showentry=2726


I plan on trying VR later this year. If this happens you can expect an in depth look into VR and my personal thoughts on it's future and whether or not I still think it has one. I will do a huge review, video review, discussions and more for those interested.

It will take a lot of effort from developers to be able to convince the general public that VR is good for them but I think as the technology improves and more people are willing to give it a try then things will set in motion which will cause major interest in the topic of VR to take off.

As a trend follower I do believe that Nintendo's new way of casual gamer will affect gaming for awhile. Like all trends gaming will keep changing as it has done before from arcade games to more action oriented games. Nintendo's Wii has shown that there is a huge interest for casual styled games. Simple games are all the rage and it will last for a few years but then I believe that after awhile people will start wanting a more immersive game experience and then maybe and a big 'Maybe' VR will finally look like a tasty option.

---

I certainly hope the few of you who are interested in VR will check out some of the later articles and hopefully a review of the TDVision later this year. For me it will be interesting to finally see what VR is like and finally I can actually tell people if VR has a future in the industry based on my experience with one of the best consumer level VR products in the marketplace.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Thanks. Do you know how much this one will cost? Around the ?1500 mark you mentioned for reulgar ones?

 

[Kschreck]

The TDVisor will sell in two versions. The best version is $1500 which is for the 720p HD one and then they have a slightly cheaper model as well.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Sounds awesome. Thanks. :thumbs: One final question - when will it be realeased?

 

[Kschreck]

Sometime this fall. Other then that I have no clue. You can preorder it here:


http://www.tdvision.com/Preorder.html

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Cool thanks.