[Pxtl]

In a certain sense this isn't first-generation. This is really a long-delayed second generation. Most of the gotchas of VR were examined over a decade ago, and this new kick at the can has come out of cellphone technology making the old systems viable.

[arrrg]

Right time, right place. To me that seems like a pretty standard way (some) tech breaks into the mainstream. Tablets also existed at the beginning of the last decade (maybe even earlier in some form, I don’t know) but they never broke out of their niche.

It took the right technology (low-power SoCs that are nevertheless fast enough for desktop PC level UI performance, better batteries, compact capacitive touch screens, SSDs – and all that together at the price of a budget PC) plus the right software (not just a desktop OS) to make it work.

It seems and I hope we are at a similar point with VR. The tech is finally good and cheap enough, plus the software mature enough to allow developers easy integration.

Hopefully it will work out.

(Also relevant: The Hype Cycle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hype_cycle But I’m never sure how much confirmation bias is in that way of seeing the world – but it seems to apply to a great many things.)

[vacri]

I remember a guy around '97-'98 who was trying to get me involved in his research around giving the impression of movement in VR systems. Electrodes would be applied to the base of your skull and they'd be used to stimulate your cerebellum (or somesuch, I can't recall) which would give you a sense of movement. This was amplified by standing on a gel mat.

Talking with other people, they said that a side effect of this process was that the electrodes kind've hurt, and none of them would do it again.