Nun’s Beach VR Development Blog #2
VR HARDWARE
In the first blog we worked out how we got here, now let’s work out where we goin.
/// HARDWARE ///
After much deliberation I concluded that one of those ecosystems is less likely to DESTROY ALL KNOWN SOCIETY.
Hardware hardware hardware. Which side of the VR War are you going to enlist with? Picking your hardware is a huge decision, financially and even ethically. There are (in my opinion) currently 4 primary VR ecosystems for the indie artist. After much deliberation I concluded that one of those ecosystems is less likely to DESTROY ALL KNOWN SOCIETY. Let’s get into it.
MOBILE VR
As we take ourselves seriously we are going to throw the idea of Mobile VR in the fuckin bin. Mobile VR is like reading a popup book in terms of actual immersion. We want to become digipeople, so we need to be truly jacked into the mainframe if we wish to achieve this.
CONCLUSION: The goal here is to WORK IN VR, mobile VR is a delivery platform for VR experiences made somewhere else. Also in 2021 it sucks and is bad and you shouldn’t put your telephone on your face.
PLAYSTATION VR
I haven’t ever tried the Playstation VR system but it looks pretty slick in terms of user experience. One of the most frustrating things about VR is how clunky and unintuitive it can be to get setup, from the looks of it Sony has done a great job. Buuuuut:
CONCLUSION: You will be tethered to Sony’s VR ecosystem and be limited in the experiences you can have. If your primary focus is video game VR it might be worth exploring but for the indie artist on the go, it’s a distraction not a destination.
OCULUS VR
Put your FACE in the BOOK!
When I put together my initial grant application I had settled on the idea of getting an Oculus Rift and the primary reason was because I planned on using a software that was exclusive to Oculus called Quill, due to it’s full 2D animation capabilities and beautiful brushes. Facebook purchased oculus in 2014 but at the time of my grant they hadn’t got their grubby fingers into it. To my horror Facebook then fully “embraced” Oculus and forced users to link a facebook account and is now hard pushing Facebook “business” directly through those lenses millimeters from your eyes. Fuck Off. Get-tae-fuck. Get Fucked.
FACEBOOK should be a concern to all of us for all kinds of reasons. They are now attempting to have a monopolistic hold on AR and VR with a 100% profit driven focus. They’re also investing incredible sums of money into VR and AR and are building a spine chilling “metaverse”. Later today FB is having a conference about VR so I’ll tune in to see what new horrors they unleash on us all. What new subtly corrupting and socially eroding tricks they have up their monolithic sleeves.
CONCLUSION: Ok so maybe I have an overly dramatic and facetious opinion that might not be practically useful to you as an indie developer/artist looking for a suitable platform for your project. The tough thing is you have a good chance of reaching a LOT of people through Oculus and many great software packages are exclusive to their store. The hardware cost is also cheaper AND you can use Oculus headsets with other PC VR ecosystems like Steam... BUT… BUT if you do choose to go the Oculus Facebook route know that you are only boosting that monopoly and getting yourself and your users connected into it too. It is not open, it is not free. There is a heavy cost that should honestly be considered, because there ARE ALTERNATIVES:
STEAM VR / PC VR
Steam VR is where I’ve decided to live. It was really Facebook that pushed me here. For those of you who don’t know Steam it’s an ancient (2003) online digital gaming platform created by Valve (a company I actually trust). It has since grown into a game and software hub, with creative products and applications buried throughout it. SteamVR is like the wild west at the moment, it all feels open sourced and experimental. There are a lot of experiences and applications and very few of them feel polished and a lot of them are garbage.
It’s got an almost “modding scene” feel to it. It’s a place to search through and find value for yourself as an artist, like searching through grandad’s attique and finding a Japanese officers World War 2 samurai sword (true story).
Valve creates hardware such as the Index and Steamdeck without any intention of controlling or even contributing to the ecosystem really; rather they attempt to open those doors to others to contribute into, where as Facebook will buy up companies to create products in their companies “ethos”.
BUT it’s not all flowers to be sure. The HTC Vive, Primax and Valve Index headsets come with a hefty price tags and will require a solid “gaming” pc to operate from. I myself upon purchasing a Valve Index had 2 months where I couldn’t use the stupid thing as I had constant technical issues (which I eventually solved by buying a new Motherboard!). I also had issues updating firmware on a base station that was… unnerving.
Any technical issues you may encounter are also a challenge to solve as the install base isn’t huge so the community “trouble shooting” can be challenging to use. If you aren’t particularly tech savvy it can be a daunting idea to mount tracking base stations to your walls and run firmware updates on components. This is one of those moments I feel we are a good 5 years away from simple “plug and play” style powerful VR. Sure there are systems that have standalone computing in the headset, but those things are going to quickly become redundant as graphical capabilities of PC’s increase, so in the long run you may even save money having a PC you can incrementally upgrade along with your headset VS needing to purchase an entirely new headset every 2 years. Also the fact it’s been impossible to buy a new graphics card for years doesn’t bloody help!
CONCLUSION: It ain’t perfect but nothing is. It’s both expensive and requires technical knowledge and a willingness to TROUBLE SHOOT, but with that comes a lot of freedom and opportunities for knowledge. Kinda like when you had to understand DOS commands to use your PC back in the day, I mean… where would I be in 2021 without knowing how to launch Leisure Suit Larry in Dos? The Valve Index has incredible tracking with it’s base stations which is another big PRO in terms of VR painting and sculpting but… Like… $1,516.52 (CAD) after tax… Hence the research grant right? Also at the time of writing this (October 2021) there seem to be a lot of new headsets on the horizon, so there is also nothing wrong with waiting for a next generation of accessible and more reasonably priced VR kit. Oh yeah also, that sick as hell Quill software was returned to it’s original owners from Facebook a month ago so it will hopefully be coming to steam in the coming months.
SO WHAT DID WE LEARN
Hahah wait wait wait, ok, sidebar: here is something pretty funny.
Remember how up there I wrote:
Later today FB is having a conference about VR so I’ll tune in to see what new horrors they unleash on us all. What new subtly corrupting and socially eroding tricks they have up their monolithic sleeves.
So try and guess what that conference was? (You don’t have to or want to watch this link PS).
That was Facebook 100% committing to their idea of the metaverse, to the EXTENT that they changed their name from Facebook to META. What bloody timing. So yeah, if I was raising my initial concerns on Facebook folding your VR experience through oculus into the true horrors of Facebook, well there you go. They're going all in baby. All in on your brain meat. After watching Mark Zuckerberg surfboard in VR for an hour I think we can all agree that’s not the direction we want the future to go. Digital NFT merch for your Metaverse Avatars. Heaven help us all.
OK SO WHAT DID WE LEARN AGAIN
What I have at least learned is there is no perfect solution. The available options and hardware are still a good 5 or 10 years from where I would want it and there is a large barrier for entry of necessary technical knowledge and a steep investment for the indie individual.
More importantly you do have a choice where you want to “live” and in what environment you wish to work.
For myself that means to remain truly independent and work in an open platform free of heavy corporate mandates and monopolies. We can choose to at least avoid that and work for ourselves and not be tethered to a companies stock price or advertiser whims.
For myself that means using SteamVR and a Valve Index. Valve as a company has proved time and time again (I’ve been using steam since Highschool for the record and am now 34) that they are a platform for users without hidden intent and for whatever reason they have my trust (it may be misplaced but given the alternatives…). Another way of putting it is Valve’s existence and services do not create a mental and ethical barrier for me to create art.
TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR A DEEP DIVE INTO ART SOFTWARE FOR VR
You may be surprised to learn my choice of Art software is opensource and FREE!?
