New Year's Prediction Thread (2014)

Thomas

It's time to look back to see what was predicted a year ago and how successfully it was.

But even more, it's time for the fresh predictions for the following year, 2014.

It's time to look back to see what was predicted a year ago and how successfully it was.

But even more, it's time for the fresh predictions for the following year, 2014.

The problem with all this 3d headwear seems, to me at least, to be that they don't really offer any substantial improvement over a monitor and mouse. Our brains don't need stereoscopic displays to percieve a 3d world. Our brains are very very good at building up a 3d representation of a world from just a 2d image (something that comes in very handy in the real world when one of your eyes is closed or non-functioning). And moving around a 3d world with your hand seems to be about the same, if not easier, level of difficulty than moving around with your neck. And the main disadvantage with headwear is discomfort.

I'd give the Oculus Rift a 50% chance of success.

At least augmented reality headwear (such as google glass or the very amazing Meta Spaceglasses: https://www.spaceglasses.com/ ) have something to offer that can't be had by a traditional monitor. However, it still remains to be seen how much people will actually desire those things. I can definitely imagine the Spaceglasses being widely used by creative professions.

EDIT: Changed 'fatigue' to 'discomfort'.

Have you tried an Oculus Rift? I did, and I had the same "this is awesome!" reaction most people seem to report. Having more 3d space show up when you turn your head around is a big deal, as is having the 3d world take over your entire field of view.

There might be fatigue problems that show up with long-term use that we haven't seen yet, and strange cultural reactions to the way the headset user becomes totally isolated from the surrounding real world, but the initial reaction where almost everyone who tries it on thinks it's awesome predicts at least a fad success.

4Hyphen-ated12y

The big advantage over a monitor is immersion. When I tried out an oculus rift I felt like I was inside the virtual space in a way that I've never felt while playing FPSes on a monitor. That's not a small thing. Another advantage is that it increases how many input axes you have. Think of games where you're flying a spaceship or driving a car and you can freely look in all directions while controlling your vehicle with both hands. That's impossible on a standard monitor.