Inspiring

Question

The Scope of VR Arcade

41 replies
7262 views

bigmike20vt said:
elboffor said:
kevinw729 said:
Need to be careful how you define Niche.

The big problem is many of you use the term "arcade" as if it was still a thing. The arcade industry back in the 80-90 represented "street route" business (operators running a number of amusement pieces in a mall unit). But today the amusement industry represents "Family Entertainment Centers" and Entertainment facilities, combining large numbers of mixed-use entertainment systems.

Arcades are not a thing, its the amusement industry and as cane be seen by the profits being made by Dave & Busters, Chuck E. Cheese and Main Event these are multi-million Dollar corporations seeing great expansion.

Just as an example of how VR plays into the amusement scene lets just look at the brand new The VOID installation in the new FEC opened in Canada. The Rec Room kind of places in perspective the danger of sweeping assumptions when thinking that the amusement model with technology attractions is "niche"!

'VR Arcade' is just the beginning of the story - wait till you see the new 'Location-Based Entertainment' centers coming to the West!
Looks like a normal arcade to me...
indeed.. .the thing i dont get (and sorry @kevinw729 if you have already explained yourself) I dont understand why he seems to think the term arcade is a slur?

I bloody love arcades, and it kills me that the seaside arcades i grew up with in the 80s and 90s are now rotting filled with gamblers and a few screen burned machines with ropy joysticks and stuck firebuttons.

they can rebrand em however they want, if places like the image above make a comeback, i am all over it (tho please include a "retro corner".

I am biased tho. I spent £1500 building a twin stick 2 banks of 6 buttons , with trackball arcade for my man cave... and would never be without it.

I AM convinced there is a market for such a thing to make a comback, in big cities at least.... esp now with LED screens the power use should be a lot less and hopefully they have a longer life before failure... mixing in the classic stuff with the cutting edge... - which is how it always was even back in the day, with your sega R360 and the like on show at the front with the older stuff buried in the back.

edit;... oh and back on topic

the vive strap thing is not only a vive issue.. :( the foam around the nose piece of my rift has started to come away and break up :(

Okay - have moved the discussion here - what are the elements you need clarity on regarding this offering?

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kevinw729Author

Inspiring

elboffor said:
....
I find the way you are speaking to me (and they way you speak to others) rather condescending Kevin.

Your comment is noted - and we look forward to your views in the future.

https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

kevinw729Author

Inspiring

nalex66 said:
....
I don't like the term "head-mounted display" for VR headsets. It doesn't adequately represent everything that a VR headset does.

Those old Sony HMZ viewers, those were head-mounted displays; they were simply a display mounted on your head--no immersive FOV, no head tracking, no sense of looking at anything other than a small screen in front of your face. That in no way compares to a VR headset, which is so much more than a secondary monitor in an unusual form factor.

Funny how the HMZ gets so much stick. The number that were turned into excellent VR HMD's even up to the DK1 launch (and those units had position tracking)! Makes me wonder if the issue with the HMZ was trying to avoid how much it help usher in the environment for DK1?

https://youtu.be/7vcGqha6xJ0

https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

nalex66

Honored Contributor

kevinw729 said:

nalex66 said:
....
I don't like the term "head-mounted display" for VR headsets. It doesn't adequately represent everything that a VR headset does.

Those old Sony HMZ viewers, those were head-mounted displays; they were simply a display mounted on your head--no immersive FOV, no head tracking, no sense of looking at anything other than a small screen in front of your face. That in no way compares to a VR headset, which is so much more than a secondary monitor in an unusual form factor.

Funny how the HMZ gets so much stick. The number that were turned into excellent VR HMD's even up to the DK1 launch (and those units had position tracking)! Makes me wonder if the issue with the HMZ was trying to avoid how much it help usher in the environment for DK1?

It was fine for what it was (a head-mounted display) when there was no competition, but it doesn't compare to a Rift. It's very expensive, has a narrow fov, low resolution, and as your video shows, wasn't useable as a VR headset without a bunch of jerry-rigged add-ons.

To call VR headsets "head-mounted displays" is to lump them in with stuff that is functionally inferior.

DK2, CV1, Go, Quest, Quest 2, Quest 3. Try my game: Cyclops Island Demo

kevinw729Author

Inspiring

I think we have to be careful as not to paint the picture as if there were no other HMD's in the scene - we have to remember that obviously there were the expensive commercial / military systems, and there was a slew of hard faught viewers, such as the HMZ and the iGlass and the 3Glasses systems:

Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/VR-Helm.jpg

I understood originally the argument that OVR did not want to use the HMD term as that was associated with the failed last attempt with VR and they wanted to be seen as different.

But your argument "...VR headsets "head-mounted displays" is to lump them in with stuff that is functionally inferior... " seems not to give a clear distinction between what is a headset and what is a HMD. I had problems with headset, because this is a term already used in helmets, music production and radio.

Also you have to be careful with the issue of trying to define acceptable separation - look at the arguments that rage over if DK1 or GearVR can be called "true VR" as they do not have positional tracking.

https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

HiroProtag0nist

Honored Contributor

I just can't wait for The Void type experiences to open up across the UK!

Please let it happen!

Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3

kevinw729Author

Inspiring

Hiro_Protag0nist said:

I just can't wait for The Void type experiences to open up across the UK!

Please let it happen!

Are you able to visit London to see the new VR ZONE Portal?

Regarding The VOID, I think it will be some time before they are ready to come over to the UK - they just opened a UAE site and they are getting ready for the Star Wars facility, but there are other 'Arena-Scale' VR venues planned for the capital. B)

https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

HiroProtag0nist

Honored Contributor

kevinw729 said:

Hiro_Protag0nist said:

I just can't wait for The Void type experiences to open up across the UK!

Please let it happen!

Are you able to visit London to see the new VR ZONE Portal?

Regarding The VOID, I think it will be some time before they are ready to come over to the UK - they just opened a UAE site and they are getting ready for the Star Wars facility, but there are other 'Arena-Scale' VR venues planned for the capital. B)

I don't go to London often but i might have something coming up soon and i'll definitely try to visit.

It's the big one-off warehouse experience i'm really interested in. I can buy a steering wheel for home, i've got a HOTAS and a reasonable space to move around and shoot things. I'd rather pay the £30 - £50 to wander around a warehouse-world than £5 a pop for several little "games".

Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3

kevinw729Author

Inspiring

https://www.vrfocus.com/2017/08/vrroom-to-launch-syndication-program-for-location-based-vr-centres/

https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

kevinw729Author

Inspiring

elboffor said:

He openly advertises as do a lot of the vr arcades in england. But I'm not going to highlight his company on the official oculus forums.
...

Thought this maybe of interest to your "friend"!

https://uploadvr.com/how-to-legally-start-vr-arcade/

https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

kevinw729Author

Inspiring

And over in SK we see a time-lapse of a average day in a VR arcade there:

https://youtu.be/sUtRACzDtC4

https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

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