The OASIS is not that far away… RP1 had some great ideas for the near-future of VR

The Next Generation of VR — Part 1

What we should be building in the next decade

Elijah Claude
8 min readNov 16, 2020

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This article will be the first of a three part series talking about what the next generation of virtual reality can look like. It focuses on the hardware features we might build in the next 3–5 years for more immersive mainstream VR experiences.

TLDR;

We need a standalone device with a PC-level chipset. Yes, mobile is more affordable, but it is Not futureproof and it simply will never be able to handle the level of fidelity needed to truly make high-quality VR. And I DONT mean simply high-end graphics, I mean layers.

The biggest problem with downscaling graphics for a mobile chipset is that you can clearly see the textures on buildings, the environment, and characters. You don’t need anything as realistic as Cyberpunk 2077 for good VR, but you DO need highly detailed/interactive environments and shaders like The Lab. Not every game can be like Superhot or Job Simulator, mastering the art of simplicity. But every game/experience needs to be detailed enough such that it doesn’t look like a bunch of obvious set pieces at a school play.

There is a lot that needs to be done to get to the next generation virtual reality. But it can be done.

A detailed and practical wishlist

The next generation of VR will have to be even more immersive than today. That means going wireless and much more interactive.

Headsets in the next few years should have:

  1. Standalone — I’d like to see a 6DOF standalone headset; one not affiliated with Facebook (or any other data-abusive company), that has nearly as much power as a quality PC. Developers should not have to downgrade their experience to get it to work.
    (Qualcomm already announced a PC-level chip for standalone headsets)
  2. Large Field-of-View — It should be able to give you peripheral vision in the virtual world. Couple this large screen with a higher resolution and refresh rate so that you can read words, move quickly, and see fine details with no problems.
    (Varjo has ‘human-eye’ resolution, Pimax has a ‘200 degrees’ FOV)
  3. Eye Tracking — It should have foveated rendering and eye-based interactions. Theoretically, this will give users a more familiar viewing experience and play its part in decreasing motion sickness, eyestrain,… and processing power.
    (Benefits of foveated rendering)
  4. Face Tracking — Games like Rec Room have been trying to fake this, but facial expressions play a large part in social experiences. Including this feature will go a long way in making experiences more immersive and personable. Furthermore, actually tracking things like mouth position, winks, and eyebrows can both aide in being able to see when a user may need help as well as unlock far more unique control options for power users.
    (DecaGear may still be questionable, but the implications are powerful)
  5. Long Battery Life — This should be a no-brainer… but it needs to be said, all of these features cannot come at the expense of battery life. Whether we figure out how to beam power over the air, or have large battery packs, we need headsets that last all day if we actually want to use these headsets for more than just short meetings or game sessions.
  6. Spatial Sound — You’d think it obvious by now with the rave reviews for the Valve Index audio, but sound plays a critical part in immersion. We need headphones that are more like surround sound 3D (or 8D) speakers. And Please can we have quality mics while we’re at it? It sucks to sound like you’re in an aircraft carrier…
  7. Passthrough — Though the whole point of VR is to immerse you in another world, we still need to be cognizant of this world. Therefore, an advanced chaperone system like Oculus has is a must-have. Furthermore, we can even include high-fidelity augmented reality through pass-through video, which just means we see the real world through the headsets’ camera, live. This allows you to augment the real world almost as easily as you can the virtual.
    (The Valve Index already has full-color passthrough)

This is a lot!

How in the world do we fit all this tech into a standalone headset that is small, sleek, and sexy?

We don’t.

There has been way too much credence given to the ‘it looks dorky’ remarks. You’re obviously not gonna want to go on a date with this thing on… at least in the ‘real’ world. But the whole point of virtual reality is to be immersed in a totally new world where you can do anything and be anyone! If you’re really going to give all that up just because it looks weird IRL… I’d argue you are not a fan of VR in the first place.

We. Do. Not. Need. To. Please. Everyone.

Period!

Facebook has done a great job making VR more accessible and even ‘sexy’…. but it’s shortsighted. If they keep cutting corners on things like variable IPD adjustments, discrete LCD/OLED panels, comfortable head straps, and other innovations just so they can focus on making cheap, mass producible headsets; they will destroy the very innovation needed to make VR actually mainstream, rather than just another fad.

VR is sexy because of what it allows you to experience and become, not because the headset is small and pretty.

That being said, making a large headset does NOT mean it has to be ungainly. So long as we keep it down to roughly 2–3lbs, the weight is not actually a limiting factor. It’s a matter of balance. Thus why the weighted Elite Strap is all but required with the new lighter Oculus Quest 2, because the default (cheaper) strap design makes the headset unbalanced and rest too much on the face.

Therefore, I think we can fit all of this tech into a larger headset that is simply balanced to artfully poise around your head rather than squeeze your cheeks, nose, or forehead into sweaty oblivion.

While we’re at it, instead of these boring designs that basically all look the same, we can create totally new (or old) form factors that really bring out the ‘goofiness’. I’m talking headsets that look like they come straight out of Tron, Star Trek, or even Ready Player One.

A bunch of unique designs for possible next-gen VR headsets, from visors to helmets and more.

Okay… maybe not all of these designs will be viable. But we need to explore them!! Imagine how cool it would be to customize your feature-rich headset to look like a head adornment from your favorite game, anime, movie or dream concept!

Even if we find out that the exact same design we have now is the best we can do outside full-dive technology, exploring will no doubt uncover new design paradigms. And of course, the ability to customize or accessorize your headset will go a long way in making them more ‘cool’.

The no-judgment ideation phase is an important part of designing something new. So let’s stop judging ideas before we can even test them!

Body Tracking and Haptics

Being able to feel is an important part of immersion. Full body haptics may be a pipedream without an expensive suit, but at least finger/hand sensation and force feedback should be the goal.

Current gen VR is terribly limited by default. There’s not much more we can do to make physical controllers more immersive. Everyone is copying the Oculus style of controllers, but the Valve Index is the only one to include a fairly advanced finger tracking experience beyond capacitive touch buttons.

Being able to ‘let go’ of the controller and grab things in VR feels SO incredibly satisfying!

The next generation of headsets needs to include similar experiences.

  1. Hand tracking — The ability to manipulate the virtual world with your actual fingers is just too good an interaction to pass up. And with haptics we can finally all but dissolve the barrier between us and our computers.
    (Valve Index Knuckles, Ultraleap, Oculus Quest, etc… no need to link because you’ve seen these before I bet!)
  2. Haptics — From simple vibrations to full on force feedback making you feel like you’ve picked up something with weight, haptics is going to be crucial in taking the next step. The best part is that we don’t even need to ‘high fidelity’ haptics for this next step. All we need is a noticeable hint of sensation in our fingertips and body to fool the mind into thinking we are literally in another world.
    (There are MANY options out there, and more popping up all the time)
  3. Movement — Simulating how we move is a very hard problem. I don’t see us truly solving this problem in the immediate future, but we can explore methods such as DecaGear’s hiptracker that allows you to move in the direction of your body rather than your head or hands. Waltz of the Wizard’s Telepath method is also a very promising bridge from now until we can all have something like an Infinadeck or a brain-computer-interface making movement feel more natural.
    I would personally want to see folks experiment with background sounds that can stabilize the inner-ear when moving in VR while the body stays still, and eliminate motion sickness altogether.
  4. Foot tracking — even without movement, the ability to see and control our feet is a powerful immersive experience. Whether through software or extra trackers, this will be an important component to making full-body avatars more standard.

Tracking the rest of the body may prove too difficult for a ‘mainstream’ next gen headset to accomplish. But with much of the above features as a baseline, most people should get an incredibly immersive experience by default.

In the next two articles, I will discuss the business model(s) we should be considering, and most importantly, the software/content paradigms we need to be thinking about to bring all of this to life.

What do you think about the features I listed thus far? Do you agree with my idea for next gen VR, or do you have other ideas?

Please feel free to clap if this made sense, comment if you have some more ideas, and follow me for more content! :D

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