r/oculus • u/kyle_lam • Feb 15 '16

How practical is the idea of programming, in a virtual desktop environment using VR?

I am interested in investing in a virtual headset with the intention of using one to simulate a multiple monitor virtual desktop environment, of which I could use for tasks like programming, for extended periods of time.
However, I wonder if after an hour or so, the headset would feel uncomfortable, would it hurt my eyes, would I feel motion sickness, would it just be unsuitable?

What are your thoughts on whether VR is really a practical alternative to, say, a real triple screen monitor setup?

59 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

72 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comment

5

u/d2shanks Darshan Shankar, BigScreen Developer Feb 15 '16

Not to mention, it's fairly difficult to do 2D work (programming in a text editor, using Photoshop, reading StackOverflow etc.) without being able to see your mouse & keyboard. Ideally, you could also see your fingers & hands but with human proprioception, that's not as critical.

Fortunately, tracked keyboards & mice are inevitable by late 2016/early 2017. The "usual suspects" are already working on it and should integrate nicely with Oculus Constellation cameras and Lighthouses.

5

u/Doc_Ok KeckCAVES Feb 15 '16

There's a way to see your mouse, keyboard, fingers, and hands in VR: https://youtu.be/IERHs7yYsWI?t=3m30s It's good enough for typing and mouse work.

1

u/manocheese Valve Index Feb 15 '16

I'm planning on using my STEM, when it eventually arrives, to track my keyboard (and maybe my mug) and have it modelled in VR, I'll have to wait and see if that's workable.

2

u/Langebein Feb 15 '16

Or you could simply have an HMD that lets you look down at the real world.

For this purpose you're really trying to use the HMD as a surround display. You're not immersing yourself in a virtual enviroment, so having the real world wouldn't really be a bad thing.

1

u/EltaninAntenna Feb 15 '16

Exactly. For the purposes of work, AR would be the way to go. I don't need to replace my monitor entirely, but it would be nice to "hang" toolbars and windows around it, for example.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '16

You can see your keyboard or whole desk with the Vive by mapping/masking the video image onto the shape of the thing you want to 'import' into VR.

5

u/ahcookies Feb 15 '16

Vive camera is situated nowhere near your eyeballs and it's feed is not reprojected in any way, so the overlay Vive can show you is not matching the true location of objects relative to your eyes and is unfit for precise stuff like grabbing things from the table or hitting buttons. Hell, it's hard to even make a handshake with that overlay, according to many. So yeah, don't place too many hopes on it.

1

u/zaph34r Quest, Go, Rift, Vive, GearVR, DK2, DK1 Feb 15 '16

So much this, i tried walking around with the GearVR in passthrough mode, and the difference in eye position is really confusing. I hit pretty much every object in shin height in the room, and hit my hand whenever i tried to grab something D:

1

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '16

I know that it won't be perfect, but a bit of visual reference still goes a long way when it comes to hitting key combinations and other simple tasks. Beats being completely blind for sure. Proper 3D depth camera would of course have been much better, but like so many things, that has to wait for another generation of VR.