Just let them try the VR headset
This post was written on a Remarkable Go and transcribed/edited afterward. The original text can be found here.
Public transport is having one of those days, so I thought I might as well write down some thoughts while on the train.
In some ways, I’d still like to see myself as a VR evangelist. I have become a bit of an online recluse, so not as active as I'd want to be. Still, I use the headset at least weekly. While I am not professionally active anymore, I have resumed work on a WebXR project that I am hoping to demo in a talk.
Still, in real life, I rarely meet people with a similar passion. Especially now with the hype of Meta down-sizing their investment in that space—it is regarded as a flop, something all hype with no value.
You know, like it was 10 years ago.
A few weeks ago, I was talking with a colleague about my experience with Into the Radius 2 and what I enjoyed: the creep factor, the customization of inventory and gear, and how well it plays in co-op with a buddy. He mentioned wanting to try out Half-Life: Alyx. Given that I have a fairly mobile setup (laptop, Quest 3, D-Link Air Bridge), I promised to bring my gear to the office.
So I installed everything and let him play. While others were impressed with the graphics, I heard some familiar stories:
- Some had never tried Virtual Reality before.
- Others only played for a few minutes during a short demo.
- Or they were worried about getting sick when playing long term.
You know, like it was 10 years ago.
As expected, people were amazed. The opening level of Alyx fires off on all cylinders. There are tons of toys to play with and a couple of different environments. I was surprised by how quickly they took up the Gravity Gloves. Big kudos to Valve there.
The repeated feedback was how different it is from seeing VR on the screen to actually experiencing it. It gave them more insight into the immersion factor after giving it a try.
You know, like it was 10 years ago.
My hopes are that the demo does result in a few more Steam Frame pre-orders.
I have to admit I may have overlooked that there are still too many people who have never experienced VR. I work in a tech-heavy environment and assumed my colleagues had tried it out before and were disinterested. I was genuinely surprised by how few had really given it a try. But in this particular example, all it took was giving them a couple of minutes of game time to convince them that VR can be really cool.
You know, like it was 10 years ago.