I am really only willing to continue a conversation with someone that says VR is a gimmick if they have actually played through a number of room-scale titles. Mostly Budget-Cuts, The Gallery, Minecraft in VR, Audioshield, or something like that.
There is still a large sentiment that compares this technology to the Wii style motion controls, and they really aren't even close... at all.
There's the problem though. I don't think all that many people are ever going to get to play a room-scale title.
First there's the expense of the headset. Granted, it might come down a bit, but it's still a large expense on top of a console.
Second, there's the space that you need to play a Motion + VR game. It's not trivial for people to get that. A simple console + TV setup can fit in any tiny apartment around the world. Dedicating a whole room just to play a game? That's like asking people to move house just to play VR...
Even in my house which is fairly spacious, I'd still need to move around furniture everytime I want to play. It's just not going to happen.
Motionless VR, or at least, seated + arm movement VR, has a fair amount of potential however.
Eventually mobile phones will gain the power to provide compelling experiences, and tracking technology like Lighthouse (or low-latency SLAM tracking done by the phone) will allow for room-scale.
The headset itself will basically be a plastic holder with lenses.
Yeah, that solves the price issue maybe, but it doesn't solve the space issue for Motion VR. Even in quite expensive houses, you're still going to be moving furniture to play a game. It just doesn't have the same ease of use of sitting back on a couch playing with a controller. I just can't see Motion VR growing beyond a niche market anytime soon.
The best idea I've heard so far is VR arcades, that would be fun.
I do it in a fairly small apartment without moving any furniture.
Just because you're not able to do it, or unwilling to adjust a few things, doesn't mean others won't. HTC & Valve have sold nearly 100,000 Vives, Oculus probably similar.
> The best idea I've heard so far is VR arcades, that would be fun.
I'm waiting for laser tag arenas that are fully mapped in VR. Walking up real stairs while seeing them in VR... What do you call it when it's past room-scale? Building-scale?
There is still a large sentiment that compares this technology to the Wii style motion controls, and they really aren't even close... at all.