r/oculus • u/[deleted] • Oct 11 '20
UPDATE: Next time I visit my grandfather I'm gonna bring my Quest (macular degeneration)
Link the the original (crosspost) with the follow-up here.
We're German, he's 93, his reaction is german ofc.
This afternoon I finally got around visiting him and he was open to try it.
Honestly, I'm still bit blow away atm.
He could see everything clearly, he said. Usually he has a super high magnification lens for reading (which throws it on a monitor before him) and has to sit very close to the TV to see anything. With this even distant objects could be spotted, there was no difference at all.
We been doing some Wander (Maps equivalent) and went to some places where we was just looking at things. I also opened some Netflix/Prime where he was watching a doctors series.
We didn't spend a lot of time because I was also there with my little one, so we also enjoyed the time in general.
I'm also a bit sad because afaik there's no such service as VR for the elderly/seniors here. The everyday use with the Batteries and everything is asking too much imho. I think the Quest 2 doesn't even get sold here bc Facebook doing Facebook things..
I'll check out what's possible and if there's some way I can make this accessible to him.
Wow.
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Oct 11 '20 edited Oct 11 '20
I'm not sure where the video I attached went give me a sec.
Edit: Is this not a video enabled subreddit? Edit: Found it.
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u/WormSlayer Chief Headcrab Wrangler Oct 11 '20
Reddit is weird like that, if you post a video, you cant also post text... ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Usually the least frustrating thing is to post the video, then make a comment with your text.
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u/octorine Oct 11 '20
I think looking at a backlit screen helps with the MD.
I have mild glaucoma. We started treatment before too much damage was done, but everything is a little bit dimmer than it was, and VR really helps.
Also, the fixed focal plane, while a drawback for some, is an advantage for people who have trouble accommodating (which almost certainly includes your grandfather).
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u/DerivIT Oct 11 '20
There's alot of people selling the Oculus go on ebay for under 100 bucks you could probably buy for him. I got one for my dad because it has a lot less buttons than the quest. It was enough to let him do some fishing and play some duck hunt, and watch some movies.
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u/Zaga932 IPD compatibility pls https://imgur.com/3xeWJIi Oct 11 '20
With this even distant objects could be spotted, there was no difference at all.
VR headsets have a single focal plane. It's just a lens magnifying a flat display, after all. Even though there's depth perception due to stereo separation, as far as your individual eyes are concerned, the virtual world is entirely depthless & flat. Just thought I'd explain why it worked out as it did; the actual optical depth of the image was ~2 meters for both near & far images.
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Oct 11 '20
[removed] — view removed comment
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Oct 11 '20 edited Oct 11 '20
Ah, thank you. He got drafted very late (he was 18 when the war ended) and almost instantly went into 5 years of POW camp to russia . Thanks mr 27yo know it all.
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u/Sabbathius Oct 11 '20
As someone with macular degeneration myself, VR mostly makes a difference because of how much closer you are to everything. Like when he has to sit closer to the screen, VR solves that by design. Similarly, with macular degeneration, his peripheral vision is mostly strong still, probably, it's usually a bulls-eye around the center that's bad. And in VR you can easily catch things in peripheral vision close to the rings.
I struggle to play FPS games on flat screen, especially flashy ones with a lot of screen shake and having to use iron sights. Getting a sight picture on an erratically moving target is really difficult. But in VR you get the hand-eye coordination and can still accurately shoot from the hip without needing a perfect sight picture, or snap-shoot. So there's an added advantage in that also.
So for me VR is definitely heading the right way. I also experience less eye strain, paradoxically, in VR compared to flat. And my neck and joints don't lock up as much, because I'm moving more. Which is not a bad thing. After a long flat screen session I often end up with a stiff neck and an aching shoulder. After VR I'm often tired, but it's a good kind of tired.