It's really easy to do a VR flight sim that simulates what you see out the windshield, but much trickier for the instruments and controls inside the cockpit. Where do you put them? Do you build a real, physical cockpit and AR what's outside? Or do you simulate the instruments in VR space? If so, how? Do you need haptic feedback? To what degree does this emulate real flying?

Not saying it can't be done--it's being done--but it's tricky and not as universally desirable as many non-pilots seem to think.

You're making it unnecessarily complex. The current version of x-plane does VR really well, viewport is in the pilot's seat and all you need for full immersion is a set of rudder pedals and the VR controllers themselves.

Using VR controllers, you can manipulate any modeled knob, switch, throttle, yoke, lever and trim wheel in the cockpit. With rudder pedals, it is as close as it gets to reality. I even felt nauseous after trying out aerobatics in it.

The biggest problem with VR in X-Plane is the headsets aren't high-res enough for the text on the instruments to be clear and readable. It's a bit better on the newer headsets with slightly higher resolution, but then the framerate tends to suffer. There's still a lot of room for improvement.

With Odyssey+'s new SDE filter, and 150% superscaling - I get smooth and really nice looking graphics! I compromise slightly on autogen ground scenery (one notch below ultra) and no ground shadows but everything else is maxed out.

I'm consistently above 45fps using 7700k and titan Xp (3 year old), I'm sure a 2080 or 2080Ti would do better.

HP Reverb was finally released: 2,160 x 2,160 resolution per eye! That's good enough for even reading text in VR!

I actually just lean forward a little bit with my Samsung Odyssey (original) if I want to know the exact figure - but I learned to fly in old 6-pack C152's so I'm quite used to the gauges and can generally tell I'm on the right speed / altitude / power setting pretty easily.

The resolution will get there eventually, but until then, VR flying is pretty awesome short of having multiple large displays wrapping around you.

On the HTC Vive Pro it's a non-issue, especially if you get some supersampling added to it. Crystal clarity. Issue then becomes FPS

My old version of x-plane sorely needs an update, so I'll check this out. Thanks!

This year at PAX East, Thrustmaster had a VR demo of their HOTAS controllers[1], which are intended to allow pilots to access all critical functions of the aircraft without removing their hands from the controls. It's been a long time since my flight sim days, and I've never had such a strong urge to drop a couple thousand dollars on a new gaming PC. (Thankfully I don't have that kind of money available at the moment.)

Your questions are all valid, and I'm sure the answers vary for different people. There's definitely a market though, and hopefully it's enough to motivate continued improvements in the tech.

[1]: http://www.thrustmaster.com/products/hotas-warthog

I'll be so disappointed if it does not have native support for VR. My Rift has been gathering dust, when I first bought it all I could think about was a great flight sim... been waiting so long now.

xplane 11 does not disappoint, I use it with WMR (Odyssey+). Can't wait for Microsoft to be back in the competition.

First of all, you're an outlier. Most people don't want a box on their head, especially for any length of time.

Second of all, I don't know of any GA or airline simulators that use VR.

Source: commercial pilot.

An FAA Qualified Level simulator can easily cost six figures, no one is suggesting a VR simulator is going to replace it - however once you've tried a sim in VR you'd likely never want anything else again.

An FAA certified tampon will set you back $10 each if you want to use the tampex tampon with the appropriate tracking number for a Piper. :P I'd expect uncertified to surpass it for far less.

(I've tried VR flight sims.. my god, having the view track with your head is amazing. One of a handful of killer VR apps)

especially for the cost! All you need is a $500 headset and a set of rudder pedals.

Have you tried flight/driving sims in VR? You might change your tune once you realize how much closer to reality it feels compared to having a bunch of monitors in front of your face.

You also get that close to reality visual experience for a few hundred bucks, compared to professional sims that would be totally out of reach to anyone but actual flight training companies (and hobbyists with large amounts of time and money).

I tried once and I felt like I was going to throw up. Hopefully the software and hardware is better now

I believe for most people the following applies:

Camera movement independent of what your body is feeling = vomit

Camera movement consistent with player movement = no vom

For the most part inside the cockpit of a plane or car it's not so bad (for me at least) as you're largely experiencing the same forces as your eyes make you think you should be experiencing. But as soon as I play something with a third person camera that follows something I get immediately sick (Lucky's Tale was the specific game I remember doing this to me).

YMMV of course, but you should try playing something where the only continuous movement is controlled directly by your head movement. The way VR action games usually get around this limitation is by letting you point to a spot and instantaneously teleport there.

For the VR driving game I played, it was most problematic when I hit a rail or another car. I think my physical sensations not matching what I saw was what made it uncomfortable

I really want to play a flight sim and do loop de loops until I feel sick now...

I don’t understand this reply. It would make sense if they were arguing that it needs to have VR support or else it will fail, but all they did was state their own personal opinion.

Have you given it a go with a REALLY nice VR setup? Dude it's incredible. I'm a private pilot who has friends who fly commercial and who've tried my setup at home. From a systems fidelity perspective and immersion, you can get quite close. They were all awestruck. Short of a Level D sim, they all agreed it's the best they had seen, and in certain respects even felt more immersive (lighting is a big one, since you have a lot more control over shadows and whatnot, compared to level D sims which usually end up having a disconnect with cockpit lighting and the outside, unless its a night flight).