Facebook to acquire CTRL-Labs, a startup for controlling computers with the mind

Re:Facebook to acquire CTRL-Labs, a startup for controlling ... by m12k on Tuesday September 24, 2019 @10:43AM (#21060715)

The thing about VR is that pretty much anyone that's actually tried it will say it's too compelling to not have some measure of success. I don't think VR/AR/XR will ever be as ubiquitous a platform as smartphones are today (which seems to be what Facebook is banking on, owning the next big computing platform), but it won't go away, and it's not just a gimmick either. It's a new class of experience that we are still figuring out how to even do and produce content for, and which will broaden its appeal as the prices come down - but it still remains to be seen if it'll ever be entirely mainstream either.

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Re:Facebook to acquire CTRL-Labs, a startup for controlling ... by tambourine_man on Tuesday September 24, 2019 @11:05AM (#21060960)

Yeah. The smartphone was such huge crazy success that we keep trying to figure what will be next thing. Maybe there won't ever be, at least in our lifetimes, something that compares to it.

The Roomba is a successful product, (10% of the market in the US, most sold vacuum clearer). But it's not what we thought the market for robots at home would be. I remember Gates perpetually betting on robotics as the next hit.

Same for Apple Watch, not as ubiquitous as a iPhones, but pretty popular.

If everything seems like a failure compared to smartphones, maybe we shouldn't use it as a benchmark.

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Re:Facebook to acquire CTRL-Labs, a startup for controlling ... by jammygit on Tuesday September 24, 2019 @02:45PM (#21063339)

I’d say it’s too inconvenient atm to be widespread. It takes a whole room away from you and there is a cord tangle. Even with wireless headsets, moving requires teleportation or else a very small play area. Finally, the headsets add weight and setup time, which makes it less fun for long sessions

Its here to stay, but the motion problem isn’t solvable in the near future

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Re:Facebook to acquire CTRL-Labs, a startup for controlling ... by a_t48 on Tuesday September 24, 2019 @03:04PM (#21063496)

The Quest solves some of this, at the cost of scene fidelity.

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Re:Facebook to acquire CTRL-Labs, a startup for controlling ... by pault on Tuesday September 24, 2019 @06:05PM (#21065125)

I bought a quest and a valve index around the same time, one for untethered casual and social gaming in the living room, the other for hardcore gaming in the bedroom office. The quest is currently gathering dust, the index is used daily for several hours playing racing sims (with a cockpit and a motion simulator the experience is just unbelievably fun). The seated experience is great, but teleportation is boring as hell, and smooth locomotion just doesn't feel right when you're standing still (I can race an F1 car at 200mph no problem, but skyrim VR is the only time I've ever felt motion sickness).

I'm a bachelor so I have a huge empty space in my living room. When I first got the quest I could walk around freely in a 12x12 area, and the first thought that went through my mind was "holy shit, if I could just keep walking this would be incredible. Like, I never want to stop incredible". If they can ever sort out the treadmills, or it becomes common to open up large gymnasiums for group VR sessions, I could see it becoming way more interesting.

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