this post was submitted on 19 May 2025
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VR will never become mass market until it no longer means wearing a big silly looking thing on your head. Source: Used to work for a game developer who tried (and like so many... failed) to make their own headset during the VR goldrush in the 90's. Also around that time bought a Forte VFX (screaming headache and eyestrain) headset and can't believe no one's managed to shrink the technology down to a pair a glasses yet in any kind of successful way. Kind of excited by the Bigscreen Beyond 2 though. Still a long way to go. I think the test is simple. Can I wear your VR technology out in public (so no wires, tiny form factor, battery life on par with a smartphone) and not look like I want to be robbed immediately?
Sorry for being so salty about this. It's just bitterness from being a ridiculously early adopter lol
There are various types of HMDs that look more or less like glasses, though those aren't really VR-oriented.
For myself, I don't care what it looks like to other people.
But what I want is a monitor replacement. Something that is at least as good as a monitor. Comfort, resolution, clarity, ability to be worn all day, etc. Give me a better monitor, and I will buy that.
Existing headsets aren't there.
They can provide a wider field of view than a monitor, which is good for filling peripheral view in some games. But they aren't something that people would use as a general monitor replacement. You don't want to code or web-browse all day on them.
If it's not a monitor replacement, then it's a toy, a specialized accessory for a small number of games. I'm not saying that that isn't worthwhile to some people. If I were a hardcore flight-simmer, a genre that is a good match for the technology, that might be worth it to me. But it's definitely not a no-brainer, and it's something that I'd just pull out on specific occasions to enhance a game.
I have a flightstick, throttle, and pedals, and those are, frankly, probably larger wins for flight-simming, and I rarely wind up pulling those out. They mostly gather dust.
Out of curiosity are you familiar with the meta glasses? If you have, what are your thoughts about those?
I don't think they're VR, I think they're AR? nonetheless, what do you think?
I'm not too familiar with those. Top of my head reaction to Googling them just now is that I can't stop feeling there's something a little sneaky about them. "What? these totally normal looking yet suspiciously thick sunglasses? No no no... I'm totally not filming you right now".
I think if it's a VR contraption then it needs to be honest about it which is why the Beyond 2 seem to be going in the right direction. I just re-watched a review of the B2 and saw that it only weighs 110g (less than a peach) which is so much less than the Apple Vision Pro at 600g. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on how the VR industry decides to compete with the B2.
Yeah, I'd feel creeped out with those glasses too, lol.
The Beyond 2 looks pretty neat especially with the light weight. In addition to the points you've made above. The main things which stops me from using my VR headset now is that there is no real killer app for me (Beat Saber, and Superhot were awesome but I'm largely done with those now) and it feels a bit lonely doing VR a lot.