In this episode of the Voices of VR podcast, I recap some of my highlights from Oculus Connect 3, but also dive into some of my biggest concerns and questions coming out of this year’s big developer conference. My two biggest concerns were the lowering of the minimum specification for an Oculus-ready machine, as well as some new announcements from Oculus about their support for room-scale VR.

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These topics are difficult to really cover since a lot of information is protected by non-disclosure agreements, but I was able to talk to a number of different developers off-the-record and synthesize these conversations into this op-ed podcast. There are still a lot of open questions, unknowns, and concerns that I try to dig into a bit more, as well as the overall vibe and other private hallway discussions that were happening at the San Jose Convention Center.

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Music: Fatality & Summer Trip

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Kent Bye
  • TinyRick

    Can everybody vote for me real quick, it only takes a few seconds. It’s for a design for the htc vive: https://community.viveport.com/t5/Design-a-Vive-accessory-and-win/Pearl-White-and-Champagne-Gold-HTC-Vive/cns-p/1681 Thank you!

    • DiGiCT Ltd

      Sorry i will not vote, as the contest purpose is “design a vive accessory”.
      What you did is just making different colors of the Vive, i dont see what that offers more to a vive, even its not the thing they request.

      What i would vote for is new controller for a vive motion tracked not what you did as icant see the added value at all …sorry.

    • Get Schwifty!

      OMG – R2VR, cant we do something to stop this idiot spamming the discussions on an unrelated item?

      • yag

        The only good thing is his nick ;-)

      • TinyRick

        Sorry man! I’ll stop xD

  • DiGiCT Ltd

    @kent bye Thank you for your honest review, your thought are right, dont feel sorry for what you need to say but i could imagine the disappointment.

    Vive is simply better in usability, their trackingsystem is just way better.
    I can share your thought for like 99%.
    stay realistic is the only thing that can make VR being improved, not recognizing failures will not result to improvements.
    The weird things you experienced I already analyzed before they had this conference.
    The problem you have with oculus is exactly telling the truth, they only need reviews for their marketing profits.
    I know it is sad and not fair but thats what “big business ” mostly is.
    and 1 thing…

    I like your podcast because you are honest !!
    Dont’t forget honeslty always wins and lies always will come out… keep on going your doing great ;-)
    Being honest hurts in this world but it makes you trustworthy at the end.

    • Get Schwifty!

      Do you actually have any first hand experience with the Touch? Just curious…

      People make these comments like “just way better” because they parrot the line and yet we have numerous sources which say there is a slight difference under certain conditions but none crying it sucks horribly which about what the podcast implied.

      • DiGiCT Ltd

        Yes i did, even more as just those vive and rift VR i tried already.
        You did not on the other hand as for real expierences you need to go to China to see what companies are already making, there is much more as you see in europe and usa or even on this website.
        You for sure cant share that as your comments are alway an oculus lover, must be a proud american thing like it always is.
        If you really had some knowledge instead of talking about fake PR copies of other oculus fans you would simply know that camera tracking is not accurate and can loose focus in many conditions, it is very sensitive to you room lighting conditions a thing that occulus never mentioned at all.
        and so there are many more thing they never mention to people.
        I hoped oculus was a product that they promised it would be, but it is absolutely not, there is more PR around it and fanboy talk like you.
        I own a vive for development becuase it was and still is the best product for the money based on the hardware and functionality.
        If you really did your homework you should see HTC background, they made already a lot of features in phones before even Apple did it or others. What background oculus has ?? Exactly.
        Valve’s game platform history how many years of expierence ?

        Just fill it in, your replies and responses are just as sick as oculus itself , just PR and fanboy talk.
        Your mind is so fixed on that crappy rift, which is clearly an unfinished or limited vr HMD.
        The reason to talk good about it is just trying to cover up the realitty that you bought the wrong HMD, seeing what others can do and just say a heck yeah we also have this feature now !!
        Wake up or just tell the truth at least instead of posting the rifty bullshit crap.
        Made in america is long time already not the best anymore.
        Companies like oculus been taken ver by huge invester funds like FB and the only target they have is making Huge profits, no matter how big you need to lie to people to get your money.
        And yeah i can tell you rift sucks BIG time for people with Glasses !
        They were also so big talk on embedded headdset for audio and now selling overpriced earbuds ???
        The entire touch set is 199 but the camera stand alone is 80, that makes the camera even cost more as one touch controller rofl, can you see how cheap that controller is comapred to your camera ….
        Seriously there is only one thing oculus does for me, they show all the time some stupid talk which I even cant believe people can be so stupid to actually even believe that with reality around them showing otherwise.

        The vive is for me choosen after several year testing many devices, even the ones never been mentioned here but directly supplied by factories here and exhibitions.
        I own more as just a vive, but i would categorize them in unfinhed or limited VR devices just like the rift.
        If oculus was that good, why samsung still is going to make a daydream device ready phone ?
        Oculus response is just to make a standalone HMD, becuase they know already samsung will not focus on their platform in future for mobile VR, another lost they need to face !
        The lowering specs for VR is antoher scam and PR from them , just to satisfy the standalone VR quality as being entry level VR.
        We can go on for hours but its just useless for people with a closed mind and still going to promote their rift being awesome instead of awful.
        One thing oculus does good is just keeping up those PR crap, just like most of the US companies do, typically American business way….

        • soloduo11x

          As someone who was going to originally buy the PSVR but then backed out after hearing about all the tracking issues and the whole it’s good enough aspect ive decided to go the PC route I’ve been undecided on which one to get but after seeing this video I’m been leaning toward to the rift.

          https://youtu.be/nIrC7B8YORE

          I would like to hear your argument as to why the vive is better and why I should get it over the rift.

          • DiGiCT Ltd

            The answer is quite simple, laser tracking vs IR led tracking, check out both tech and you will know why laser tracking is better.
            Even in contruction they use laser distance measuremnt and alignemnt equipment becaus it works in nearly any condition and is very accurate.

          • Get Schwifty!

            Not quite the full story, but it sounds good to the uninitiated..

            Taken from another site (newatlas.com) gives a pretty good reason why the camera is preferable in the long run:

            >>>
            This quote is from Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe…

            We’re really big believers in optical tracking, in camera sensors. That is the bet that we’re making. And that’s the future of sensor tracking. If you look at things like the Kinect, or any of these different kinds of infrared structured light sensors, or any of the stereo camera sensors, they’re all based on cameras. And cameras continue to get better.

            If you want to see your full body in the game, if you want to see your fingers and your fingernails … not this generation, but, eventually, if you want to see all of that, that’s going to be done with camera sensors. That’s not going to be done with any other kind of sensor. That’s an optical sensor, and that’s the investment we’re making.

            He didn’t use the words Vive or Lighthouse, but the implication is clear: Oculus is thinking longer-term than some 2015-16 race to see who can say “I crossed the room-scale finish line first.” The company is looking far past that, to the point of being able to see virtual versions of your entire body in the virtual world (and beyond). You aren’t going to get there with Lighthouse sensors, cool and smartly-designed as they are.

            The Vive does now have that optical sensor on the headset itself, but time will tell if the camera on headset approach can eventually lead to those same (presumably) external camera destinations Iribe was talking about.
            <<<

            This is the whole point. It's pretty clear the Lighthouse approach is a stand-in, much like the wand-design controllers themselves. If Oculus is correct (and I believe ultimately they are), then it's likely in time HTC Vive will abandon Lighthouse and switch to cameras as its the only real way to do totally free VR in an effectively unlimited space (talk about room scale)!

            At this stage the game is this: both products are good products, one with slightly better tracking and a slightly coarser headset and much worse controller design, the other with nominally lower tracking but a better overall HMD and much better controller design out of the box. If you put in a little more money you can get three or even four cameras if tracking is that big a concern.

            Which you can live with is up to you. My irritation is the utter FUD and overstatements made surrounding the question of tracking.

          • soloduo11x

            That Sounds really cool, so basically they’re going to get to a point where it’s like Leap motion for the whole body. I really wouldn’t mind buying the two extra cameras for better tracking and I’d also hate to miss out on those games announced at connect3.

          • DiGiCT Ltd

            And here he comes again with some oculus tech bullcrap.
            Can you submit knowledge from non oculus R&D instead ?
            You just copy paste what other people wrote without doing further research yourself.
            Do you believe all what the teachers in school told you is the truth ?

            If you just want to see some handtracking its already be done and you can buy a 3rd party stick that just can be put onto your HMD already.
            But it is again not accurate in tracking, yes on the long term it will be but that what like 5-10 years later from now on?
            Then i just make a statement today too we will fly to venus and we focus on that too as mars is not as good, either is the moon.

          • Aeroflux

            You would be shocked at how similar the technology used in both headsets are. Both use cameras to sense light. One uses IR LEDs, the other IR lasers. One has photo-diode sensors all over the headset and controllers, the other has 1-3 cameras. Both are built to detect IR light.

            It’s a mystery that you are arguing for one over the other when both clearly work well enough to be a consumer product. Both can do roomscale very well.

            If you think 3 cameras are a lot, count the photo-diodes all over the Vive headset and controllers. They are very basic cameras. You’ve been harassing Oculus for using oranges and apples, when Vive is using apples and oranges. It’s hilarious.

          • DiGiCT Ltd

            If you see a photon diode as a basic camera i can live with that, however if you go more deeply in engineering tech they have huge differences and purposes, thats why you could only call it a basic camera to explain what a diode is to non tech people.
            The defintion of a camera he mentioned and even detect hands is a full spectrum camera and doing 3d object recognition via CV, as that whats oculus talks about in future.
            Hololens and google project Tango uses this kind of camera tracking and similar they do it with the standalone ocolus prototype.
            Again for this the light conditions need to be perfect fit to the hardware to get perfect tracking.
            The point however is that laser light travels further and is easier to detect and more accurate than any other light source we have or can create.
            If leds were better we would have used them in our optical line techs too due to huge energy savings but as you know its laser being used and there are good reasons for that.
            Even the statement oculus makes for not being capable to have a full body scan with laser sweeps is untrue.
            If a laser sweep would do also a distance measurement you would have a perfect and accurate 3d model. however this is very resource consuming at this moment to do that kind of fast scans every ms to update a full scan.

            Apples and oranges ? Yes both are tracking ways, the point being made here is which tech is better for tracking not which one taste better or looks better but rather works better.

          • Aeroflux

            If laser-based tracking were clearly better Oculus would be using it. They have no reason to pursue an inferior method of tracking. They have incredibly deep pockets and could easily switch at any point, were this “accuracy” to be relevant in VR.

            The truth is LED-based tracking is more than capable of providing a solid experience in VR. It’s also cheaper and doesn’t require moving parts in the assembly, which directly contributes to the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure).

            LED-based tracking has been prevalent in the animation, game, and movie industries for many years. Motion capture is primarily LED-based; the IR LEDs emit light in a ring surrounding the camera lens. Every time you see motion captured scenes in anything from videogames to movies you are watching the results of LED-based tracking.

            So while laser-based tracking may be more “accurate”, LED-based tracking can handle VR just as well as a laser-based tracking because the kind of accuracy you keep mentioning isn’t required for VR. You’re grandstanding for diminishing returns, which is fine if you were explaining your reasons for buying a Vive, but not when you are trying to convince others of a large difference between the two products. That delta does not exist in this context.

            Both work, and they work very well, and we are not going to see the limitations of either technology unless it has been impeded by intentional design.

            Edit: clarity

          • DiGiCT Ltd

            If you talking about MOCAP you should know it is still alot of work to adjust animations as they are not accurate but saves huge time doing this way instead of animation via CGI software itself.
            I dont say it does not work, just its far from accurate.
            There is even software for doing your own MOCAP my using a MS Kinect camera.
            It does work and it saves time but still you need to make a lot of manual adjustments.

            Anyways both tech are different and will be at later stages implemented in other ways or even purposes.
            The vive comes with a camera already embedded, although it is a low spec and rather useless for doing stuff like handtracking.
            Camera tracking i used a lot already with many devices as we develop AR apps for Mobile phones and pads.
            Results vary a lot on devices, even for the same brand equipment.
            It’s not only the hardware specs that matter but also the software controlling those camera’s need to be well designed.
            AR will probably later on exceed VR as it feels more natural to people.
            But those things are all for later, much later to come.
            VR has a while the market till camera’s are good enough for doing this kind of tracking requiremnets on small scale.

          • Aeroflux

            Wow, what a crock of shit. They are too accurate. The setup I’ve seen captures at 200FPS. I’ve watched a fellow student piece it together at my university. It picks up every nuance and plots it down to thousands of keys that have to manually massaged into a 24FPS animation. You are right, it does take a lot of work, for the exact opposite reason you implied. What the hell man…?!

          • DiGiCT Ltd

            Using a kinect camera or are you talking about high end industry camera’s ?

          • RipVoid

            I think there is a good chance Iribe is wrong about that. The precision of lasers is going to be hard to beat even with improvements to cameras. Lighthouse sensors on gloves will soon be tracking fingers accurately. When will cameras have that degree of accuracy? In a year, lighthouse sensors will be on a lot of things.

            Besides we are talking about 1st gen gear right now. Even if the camera tech gets better you will have to buy the new cameras. comparing what might be available in the future to what is available right now is a never ending fools errand. VR tech from all companies will be better in the future.

        • Get Schwifty!

          LOL being American has little to do with it, in fact going off on that angle shows a bias you apparently have as you’re main focus is some kind of contrived US vs. Asian commentary. I have no dislike whatsoever for HTC Vive (though some of their more robotic fans irk me), and the only commentary I have ever made is that the controller design of the HTC Vive leaves a lot to be desired and I don’t see any kind of real long term plan from HTC Vive and Steam for VR on the whole, rather a prop system to sell phones and games, which is tactical thinking at best and not strategic enough to drive mass adoption.

          OTOH, I have been quite frank that the Touch controllers will suffer _some_ tracking issues relative to the Vive, but that the issue is greatly overstated according to quite a few people who have them in hand, and this my point. Additionally, if you check my posts I have been pretty clear in pointing out that the Sony ergonomic design is clearly better than either Rift of Vive’s, so calling me a fanboy about Oculus hardly holds water, but I will defend their position if I think it warrants it when it comes to the question of the controllers and the overall effectiveness of the system. I have equally been critical of their stances on a basic walled garden approach and have stated categorically that they underestimated the impact of room scale as a selling point, whether or not people actually really would use it in droves (talk about a fractured market creation). Hardly in the realm of fanboy-ism, and actually quite a fair appraisal of things.

          Your comments betray an obvious bias yourself apparently of some national origin which I have never once even hinted at. It’s never once crossed my mind of an “American” vs. “Asian” thing or whatever you have contrived it to. It appears to me you are seeing things from a more nationalistic view than frankly any one else has. Not sure what reason HTC doing things in phones before Apple has to do with anything in this context except you feel some preternatural bias there you imagine I must have. What’s coming through in your post is an ugly anti-American nationalistic tone that shows a predilection towards judgement based on factors outside the technical questions at hand. That is really sad, but its clear redneck attitudes exist in all cultures even Asia and elsewhere.

          Whats funny is you’re opinions run contrary to probably the bulk of the people who seem to have balanced opinions, that the Rift HMD slightly exceeds the Vive HMD in most regards, especially in terms of ergonomics, and hands down the controllers are clearly a superior design, so its really weird hearing someone declare it “unfinished” next to the Vive’s coarser HMD and controller designs. The only thing of issue now really is the question of tracking, and that has been shown repeatedly to be one of small margins, not large and seems to be the last point of refuge against the fuller expression of the Rift coming to bear. The problem is Oculus makes recommendations, and gives people options, which apparently for some reason confuses people and seems to create some anxiety – which means it probably is a bad strategy and I agree on this point except that they are trying to create a market flow that people can come into at lower price points to create demand and adoption. You do realize that by lowering the specs (correctly or not) it also helps Vive right?

          Since you rambled on about other points, let me try to address them in short:

          On the question of the recommendation for a third camera for room scale, the cost is pretty low, especially if one factors out the Xbox controller which will almost certainly go out the window in favor of a bundle which Oculus has stated will happen in time. Putting the HMD, Touch controllers and three cameras in a set will probably run about $829.00 USD (which includes a USB extender), a nominal difference for a an overall better experience but maybe with some minimal loss of hand tracking.

          On the question of the earbuds, who gives a flying fuck, they are optional, and heck the Vive doesn’t even come with any sound support. Otherwise totally irrelevant to the questions at hand.

          As for Google, wow, you think they want to do anything to promote their key competitor in the race to get market analytics? Really, is that a surprise they dont embrace Facebook’s Oculus? For that matter they aren’t embracing HTC Vive either… and its pretty clear Samsung and Google have effectively created a platform of their own at the moment.

          As for the lowering of specs being a “scam” this is one of the most absurd commentaries, hell even Bye himself admitted it might actually be a good thing though some people might be confused in the short term. The problem is they are adjusting specs not towards a gaming environment, they are looking at the market from a home social user as well, and that is what the target for lower specs is about. For some weird reason many folks just dont get this, and are thinking “VR = full on room scale hard core gaming” and this not what will drive most of the relevant VR adoption… I really am surprised how hard it is for people to get this point.

          The extent of your argument boils down to trying to categorize the entirety of my point in some silly American vs. Asian imagined pissing contest, and then trying to reduce down my points to mere fanboy-ism which clearly they are not. On top you have stuck to looking at things through a small lens where every move by Oculus is inherently wrong and bad, and this is just not reality, while at the same time ignoring some of the Vive’s problems. I honestly don’t have to defend a position on a purchase, I have more than enough income as a mature adult to afford either system and switch anytime I wish. OTOH, I do get tired of the constant myopic attacks on a company that at least has a real plan for moving VR forward into real adoption, not just satisfying wonks prancing about their room scale bedrooms playing Job Simulator all day.

          • yag

            What can you do, it looks like the Touch launch and the new cutting-edge ASW tech made some people more bitter than ever… The harsh reality (for them) is that Oculus took clearly the head and that was predictable.

  • Aeroflux

    I’ve watched enough RealityCheckVR gameplay vids to know that two cameras in opposing corners will be just fine. Roomscale is still a vocal majority with a practicing minority. At some point everybody has to teleport or use game controls to move.

    Also, free anything is a nice gesture, and disappointment to the lack of free stuff is…just rude. I enjoy using IEMs and pre-ordered my buds without a second thought. You don’t want them, send them to me. I’ll pay shipping.

    • Shan Solo

      come on man… we paid $1000 to attend this event, it is completely justified to be disappointed that we did not receive Oculus Touch controllers. Especially considering that some events last year gave away Vive’s to all attendees. Considering how few Rifts are in market, each attendee there is basically an ambassador for Oculus, by always demo-ing VR experiences to friends etc. Ear buds are great for personal use, but not when demo-ing to others. You pre-ordered the buds? How much bloody Kool-Aid you drinking man?

      • Get Schwifty!

        I have to agree, its an odd move on the surface considering the impact of Touch. My suspicion is that they don’t want a bunch of folks posting about it until they get it out the door, particularly since they don’t have the software launch ready. OTOH, a gesture of delivering them to attendees on say launch day would have been a good move.

        Personally, the biggest complaints I have with the podcast is that the “red flags” are not really journalism, its an op-ed piece parading under the banner of independent journalism and was tinged with FUD with mostly speculations and not facts.

        I did a series of quick Google checks on Oculus Connect 3 and other people reporting problems with their demos with Touch and nothing I could find. Its common knowledge that since Oculus opted for the design they did which gives greater immersion that the trade off is a slight reduction in tracking when the units are held really close, or you just have both cameras in front. This is really old news. Saying that “we don’t know if a third camera will even work” is just plain disingenuous as two work very well according to a lot of folks who have them (not to mention with video to boot) who clearly don’t have a dog in the fight. Saying you saw tracking problems is very open ended as no one knows how hard you tried compared to regular use, its very easy to occlude on the Vive if you try at all.

        The weird other statement is for a journalist to slip in an opinion that “Vive is crushing Oculus”. Especially weird since its clear FB/Oculus are committed to a move to VR over decades of time, they are not playing the short term and are from from crushed, in fact momentum seems by most accounts to be switching to them so this statement feels a bit like a form of denial. However, even if you go even by short term sales, they are both doing pretty well but not great. What comes out really is a distaste for Facebook/Oculus, and this ultimately undercuts the supposed “independent journalist” who even had to admit to this being more an op-ed piece than anything else.

        Papering it over at the end with “I just want to tell the truth” as though some vast VR conspiracy is underfoot and he represents the community who is being persecuted smacks of a self-indulgent attitude to me personally, especially when you turn around and ask for money to support “the cause”. The minute money is in the picture objectivity undoubtedly goes out the window…. just imagine this article if Facebook was a sponsor. Maybe somewhat critical, but certainly more blunted ;)

      • Aeroflux

        So because you paid $1000 for that tall refreshing glass of Kool-Aid, I can’t pay $49? With free shipping?

      • Brady Wright

        Um, I don’t know about you, but a ticket to OC3 was only $200.

        • Shan Solo

          You are totally correct, confusing VRDC. OC3 was 299 unless you bought early and paid 199.

  • ummm…

    First off Kent, I greatly appreciate the passion and work you put into this site and in this emerging space as well.

    I feel guilty. I’m relieved that I made the decision to invest in a vive. I’m relieved that the more information I receive the more solid I feel about my decision.

    I’m distressed that the VR space has so much explanation to do, at least as far as the sectors unified vision for a “vr future” vs. being torn apart my economics. It feels as if the economics of it is superseding the importance of delivering quality and responsible products to the consumer.

    However, its early days and one must never be discouraged. What we currently can consume is an inspiration and undoubtedly the contributions that VR has and can make is an unstoppable force.

    Kent, please continue giving us your valuable insight. Keep peeling back that onion. I come to this site first, and last, because I trust it. If that is profitable for you then I’m happy. If it is not, then you can at least know that I receive a great deal of pleasure from your hard work.

    edit: im going to your patreon

    • Get Schwifty!

      Wow the fish took the bait…

      • ummm…

        i guess i did. can you give me your opinion on the matter. I’d give you kudos as well for a reasoned argument in defense of your opinion. In fact, id implore you to. Im always happy to hear many viewpoints.

        • Get Schwifty!

          See my posts above…

          • ummm…

            nah im not going to piece together your argument. give it to me hear or dont give it to me.

          • Logan Fuller

            That’s some next level laziness right there. You’re literally asking him to repost something ON THE SAME PAGE so that you don’t have to scroll up?… wow.

          • ummm…

            yeah it could be lazy, or you could have the respect for our possible dialogue and give me a focused and concise argument instead of making me piece it together for you. whatever, dont do it – who cares.

  • ummm…

    HOW DO WE BECOME FISHBOWL TESTERS?!?!?

  • CURTROCK

    Wow. This podcast is depressing. I bailed about half way through. Kinda negative overall tone.

    • Get Schwifty!

      It;s meant to be … you missed the best part about urging listeners to support the “independent journalism” via Patreon.

      • ummm…

        damn. so i guess he took me in. my confirmation bias totally stole my money and gave it to him. can you tell us how it really is?

    • Yeah.. not feeling to ‘hyped’ at the end of this one… I appreciate we all need to share sometimes and I can only imagine the weird atmosphere at Connect this year… Were you allowed to use the word ‘Vive’ whilst you were there?

  • Get Schwifty!

    If the controllers were truly having tracking issues on the order this podcast tries to make out then you would have a lot more reviewers making a serious issue of it and they are not all on the payroll to avoid criticizing Oculus. The most balanced sounding I have heard so far is this: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/10/why-oculus-has-my-favorite-vr-hand-tracking-controller/

    The key here is the reviewer spent a full day and had a handful (no pun intended of cases with tracking issues. I would strongly suspect the tracking error rate on the Vive wands to be relatively close for a day’s game play across the board. Given Bye’s political tendencies and tweets its pretty clear this “journalism” is more opinion than fact.

    • RipVoid

      Schwifty, we have been through this before. There is a reason why Oculus has clearly stated they want to focus on gameplay other than room scale. Give it a rest and let it play out.

      http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-touch-full-capable-roomscale-tracking-not-sure-absolutely-necessary/

      • Get Schwifty!

        And i have pointed this out as well that they recommend a focus on it, I agree, the question here is whether or not 1) it can do it (which clearly it can) and 2) whether there is significant issue with tracking which from all accounts is vastly overstated.

        • RipVoid

          It’s also quite possible that the tracking issues are being understated. The gaming industry has a problem with major players cutting off access and advertising dollars to journalists and sites that don’t give them favorable reviews (actually, this is a problem for all journalism because consumers don’t pay for subscriptions anymore.) Is this what is happening to Kent Bye?

          The Ars article that you cite is an absolutely glowing review of Touch until the very end when it states it had some tracking issues, even in a controlled environment. Is this a gaming journalist trying to be honest without offending Oculus? Does it matter how ergonomic a controller is if it doesn’t track well?

          I will be more interested in your review of the Touch when it finally comes out, Schwifty, than the gaming press. At least you will be testing it in real world conditions and won’t have a financial incentive to be biased.

          I would like to point out that in my opinion, Kent Bye is raising some legitimate issues. What user data is Oculus collecting and what is it going to do with it? Does time warp, or a third camera for room scale, or Santa Cruz fragment the market in a way that hurts Oculus and/or the industry? Was the conference more of a marketing event than a substantive event? And personally, I find his struggle to make a living and keep his integrity in a nascent industry he loves while being black balled by the industry’s biggest player, fascinating. Good luck Kent! (you might have to get a second job for a while.)

  • GroovyMonster

    “Room-Scale Claims”

    …claims??

    Wow, OK. Stay classy, Road to VR. lol

    • Get Schwifty!

      ikr… this type of op-ed piece posing as journalism is what used to be called (and is) “yellow journalism” –

      From Wikipedia:

      “Yellow journalism, or the yellow press, is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers.[1] Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism.[1]”

      A bit further down:

      “Frank Luther Mott defines yellow journalism in terms of five characteristics:[4]

      scare headlines in huge print, often of minor news
      lavish use of pictures, or imaginary drawings
      use of faked interviews, misleading headlines, pseudoscience, and a parade of false learning from so-called experts
      emphasis on full-color Sunday supplements, usually with comic strips
      dramatic sympathy with the “underdog” against the system.”

      About all we got here was a lack of comic strips and drawings ;)

    • yag

      Idk… a new writer maybe ? Usually R2VR stand for their objectivity and journalistic quality… (I particularly appreciate their reviews)

  • Me

    I was moved. No, seriously, i wasn’t picturing such a harsh reality for you, Kent.

    From the early days of your podcasts, I felt a very good vibe, very enthusiatic about VR and its promises. I’m baffled you aren’t seen as the best opportunity for execs to speak about their issues and strategies instead of locking you out.

    It reminds me on how many journalists are kept on this black list Apple supposedly has, and never invited to events, like for instance Leo Laporte from TWIT.

    Anyways, you should be proud of your work, and having doors slammed on your face means you’re doing the right thing as a journalist…

    I want to show you support, but I don’t like monthly fees. What i can give you today might not be there the next day.. Is there another way to show you support ?

    What you’re doing here is fundamental. It’s documenting the early days of VR as a consumer product that changed the world like Internet did. I was born with the personal computer. My kids were born as digital natives. Their kids will be born in world that isn’t limited to the physical space anymore. And you will have documentated all that. We should call you “Pearl”.

  • Logan Fuller

    This guy just sounds so whiny. I was expecting him to burst into tears at any point. Edit: He does around 26:40.

    AND he spends a few minutes complaining about receiving only $50 of unexpected free stuff instead of $199. Seriously?

    This is just more proof that UploadVR is far better if you want grown-up news about VR.

  • Alexander Hogan

    Episodes like this leave me really on the fence about donating to VoVR. Frankly, it stands alone as a VR podcast. No one else is putting out so much quality content as Kent. But when he talks about being afraid of getting blacklisted for his opinion, I can’t help but roll my eyes. This isn’t a new or special problem, just run the damn story. And the whining about not getting Touch for free, christ. We’ve all been following and promoting VR from the beginning. We’d all have been there if we could. I know they usually tell attendees they’re special in the keynote, but that’s just showmanship, bruh. Be happy; having to pay for this shit allows you to stay off the corporate dime, or did you want a ride in Facebook’s pocket?