When it comes to the current generation of VR, it still seems like it’s not forward enough. For one thing, the three platforms that really support it are Windows, PlayStation, and some Android things. Mac and Linux could possibly support it but it’s not very active there, and the Switch did have some Cardboard-like thing as more of a novelty, but it’s still mainly those three platforms. At least it’s more than one platform, but it’s still limited.
Considering what VR hardware actually is, effectively a bunch of sensors and inputs paired with a screen, it shouldn’t be locked out from devices that can support sensors, inputs, and screens, that is, pretty much anything. Given that whatever would be sending output to the VR headset could support the rendering and processing requirements, it should work. Apparently it’s possible to hook up PSVR equipment to a Windows PC with the right drivers, so if all it takes are the right drivers and supporting hardware that can run the programs, it should just work.
However, Facebook being Facebook, they seem to want to kill off anything that’s not someone scrolling through their social media properties. And for all I know they might try to kill off Instagram and force everyone there onto Facebook eventually. This also goes for their VR division known as Oculus, which not only are they locking out access with a Facebook account requirement, in addition to all the usual Facebook surveillance, but the build quality is apparently really crap on their latest VR kit. Somehow they downgraded the whole thing as a sequel. Clearly their funding isn’t focused on advancing the field of untethered VR.
The Oculus Quest, a cool idea, provided whoever’s using it isn’t going to run out into the road or off a building or something dangerous like that. If it has a good enough battery to last for a good-sized session, multiple facets of comfort adjustment to get the feel and focus just right, and controllers that function, that’s all great for a VR experience. It seems the Quest 2 just cut all of those aspects in half. If Facebook’s plan is to kill off VR by destroying what was one of the more accessible approaches, we may just be waiting around for another couple decades for when someone invents better holograms or something.
With Oculus out of the equation, the next most accessible option is PSVR, where someone can get a complete setup, from console to headset with all the accessories, probably well under $1000 USD. I certainly did, looking secondhand for all parts of that equation, but I’m sure it’s also possible new. And it seems it’s going to somehow work with the PS5, though I don’t know if they’re redoing the headset or controllers or what, if someone would need to get new equipment, at least controllers maybe if they go more the route of whatever Vive or Index controllers are. And then when it comes to PC VR, it may end up being around $2000 USD, maybe more, to get a decent computer that can run whatever VR programs, on top of the actual VR equipment. The headsets don’t seem to be getting any cheaper aside from the usual secondhand department. Of course you should sanitize the hell of any VR equipment you get secondhand, regardless of any plague. I sure did. Too bad that sanitizing the Facebook out of Oculus stuff from here on out is going to require some hacking. For something that runs Android at its core, they really want to close up their ecosystem worse than whatever Apple’s doing. Long story short, VR should be much easier to get into if they want it to take off and not end up like it did the other times they tried it.