They might suck right now, but this is a relatively nascent application of the technology.
Wait until resolution improves and we break out of the "desktop" paradigm. We could have a collection of unlimited windows and tabs that exist in a continuum around us, and we could use gestures to organize and surface the contextually relevant ones.
We won't need a bulky multi-monitor setup, and we could work remotely nearly anywhere. Imagine carrying your workspace with you.
> The big win, as far as I can tell, would be to engage the user's spacial memory.
Absolutely! Physical workspaces and work benches are incredibly functional because we are spatial animals. Breaking out of the limitations of using a screen could unlock more of our senses for use in problem solving.
I'm extremely excited about this technology. It will be great for software engineers, creatives (2d and 3d artists), mechanical engineering, CAD, ... you name it.
I really hope this keeps getting pushed forward. While I'm using all of my spare cycles on a tangentially-related problem ___domain, I'd be more than happy to donate money and ideas. This technology will be a dream come true if it continues to mature.
@echelon: This is exactly along the dimension we were thinking: VR as working environment for problem solving & creativity (via killer VR office apps that have yet to be invented). If you're curious, we have mapped out our long-term ideas in writing/deck format elsewhere. If you email me, I can send it over to you: george.w.singer [at] gmail.com.
> Wait until resolution improves and we break out of the "desktop" paradigm. We could have a collection of unlimited windows and tabs that exist in a continuum around us, and we could use gestures to organize and surface the contextually relevant ones.
You can get 90% there by just using multiple desktops IMHO, at least that's my experience.
I think in the mid-term, the big win would be ability to have 4-10 large monitors but with a cheaper, mobile, and compact solution with the eyes focused further away.
Headsets have improved almost ~2x in resolution and have halved in price and some have become wireless with better optics. A long ways from 4-5 years ago, but still need another doubling of resolution (or maybe more) and an increase in wearing comfort (lighter, more compact) plus an improvement in wireless latency and maybe a reduction from $400 to $300, and you’re looking at something that would be useful just as a replacement for multiple monitors.
Plus probably improvement with registering where your laptop and mouse are automatically. In principle that could be done with a software update to inside-out tracking software.
Additionally, some improvement is possible with similar to current resolution but with improved subpixel rendering and RGB pixel layout.
Seeing what has been done with the Oculus Quest since I last checked out VR like 3 years ago has left me pretty impressed. A lot of this stuff with multiple windows in this demo could be done natively and wirelessly with the Quest (which runs a kind of Linux). The inside-out tracking is impressively good. If combined with an insert you can put your tracked controllers on Bluetooth mouse and keyboard (so the Quest can register their positions in3D space to allow proper rendering in-headset), it could give you a high productivity workstation experience just about anywhere with WiFi (could be through phone). Hand-tracking (Which works already) could even allow gestures, although I’m not sure how important that is. Can the Quest do subpixel text rendering like ClearType but 3D?
This. I can't see moving my head and making gestures with my hands ever beating tiled windows and good keyboard shortcuts. I don't want a VR enabled workspace (ie I don't want my windows to move when my head moves), but I might prefer a sufficiently high resolution headset to multiple monitors if the software support was reasonably seamless.
Wait until resolution improves and we break out of the "desktop" paradigm. We could have a collection of unlimited windows and tabs that exist in a continuum around us, and we could use gestures to organize and surface the contextually relevant ones.
We won't need a bulky multi-monitor setup, and we could work remotely nearly anywhere. Imagine carrying your workspace with you.
> The big win, as far as I can tell, would be to engage the user's spacial memory.
Absolutely! Physical workspaces and work benches are incredibly functional because we are spatial animals. Breaking out of the limitations of using a screen could unlock more of our senses for use in problem solving.
I'm extremely excited about this technology. It will be great for software engineers, creatives (2d and 3d artists), mechanical engineering, CAD, ... you name it.
I really hope this keeps getting pushed forward. While I'm using all of my spare cycles on a tangentially-related problem ___domain, I'd be more than happy to donate money and ideas. This technology will be a dream come true if it continues to mature.