Since I had received and used my HTC Vive, there has been an amazing amount of content and experiences made available, many of which I have acquired, but only a few I have tried.

What I can say is this: VR is a paradigm shift now, it is becoming more mainstream. NBC has already committed 85 hours of VR content during its broadcast of the Olympics in Rio.

I own more than 200 games/experiences in VR and once everyone's machine is up to par (and to be honest, I had to upgrade to a GTX 970 to play the Witcher 3, the minimum requirement for VR), this is going to become a new item on everyone's bucket list who likes to spend money to have fun.

One of my favorite simulations, NoLimits Coaster 2 already has support for OpenVR and it is nothing short of amazing to see it in VR as opposed to using a mouse and keyboard on a flat screen. Creating games capable of a VR experience using a game engine such as Unity or Unreal 4, it has never been easier to be so expressive.

When titles such as Fallout 4 VR and Doom were announced at E3 this year, people paid attention. The state of the art has caught up and VR is an awesome reality.

I hope if one does not already have it, they at least get the opportunity to try it. You might walk out of the store with less funds than you did walking in.

At its current state, I'm not yet getting into VR, but I'll consider the possibility in the future. My reasoning is following:
a) Standardization. The entire exclusivity bullshit surrounding VR currently is getting on my nerves, and it's not really early battle I wish to be a prt of.
b) Price. My computer plays Witcher 3 nearly maxed out, and it cost less than Vive - including the monitor. Oculus is a bit more affordable, but not by much. As it stands, I have other things in life I want to spend my money on.
c) Evolution. I'm not a fan of how either Vive or Oculus deal with movement in space and I wish better methods of doing so were developed, which ideally give you a lot bigger freedom and don't make you vomit. For instance, I have no bloody idea how does Bethesda wish to convert such a fast and high-adrenaline game as Doom to VR without people throwing up in mere minutes. At any rate, I'm sure these kinks will get sorted out eventually and intuitive devices and methods will be found, but currently, the tech isn't sufficiently explored. ... It'll also be cheaper.

Too expensive. When they start producing VR equipment for mainstream crowd aka 200€-300€ then we can talk about it. Currently HTC VIVE is at 900€ to 1.200€ (with controllers and other stuff) which means you can buy a whole new high specs pc for that amount or at least 2 good tvs.

I don't care about it, at least for now.
We'll talk again in like 5 years from now but I suspect I'll still don't care then.

I've never tried it. How's the responsiveness? I mean, it's motion activated, right? Does the view change instantly when moving? If not, then I suspect it would be too much like my experience of delayed responses when I tried digesting alcohol. Delayed responses are much too annoying for me. Very annoying. I hate it.

On the other hand, I also don't like the so-called first-person perspective (FPV, right?) in video games. I've never agreed that it is first-person because it's only a visual (no sense of location of bodily contact, no reliable aural, etc.) and very narrow visuals at that. I'd say the FPV is actually third person perspective, exactly like someone else with a video camera is running around while I'm viewing their camera workmanship, like the news on television. By having a character in view that represents my position instead, I'm able to experience something akin to peripheral vision by seeing from which direction my character receives a hit. Without such a character, then the so-called first-person-view is really just a cameraman view transmitted to a television screen for me.

Which is another question: Peripheral vision? If not, then I might as well skip it and simply experience a lack of peripheral vision much more comfortably without a monitor strapped to my face.

Hmm, which gets me thinking of a third question: How's it on the neck muscles?

I'm holding out till they offer better content. By better content I mean pron.
jk... sorta

Seriously though, it needs work. Playing a FPS with a VR helmet or whatever isn't a substitute for what the experience should offer. Plus I don't wanna be the lab rat for all the negatives that come with it that we don't know about yet. ie eyestrain/blindness face cancer ..etc...

What he said, plus I want some extra information on the effects of LED lightning to your eyes, as in keeping a LED screen very close to your eyes for hours and hours. Macular degeneration much?

(LED screens as well as LED lights are one big source for HEV light.)

+1

For now my investment in VR is to buy a cheap headset for my wife's LG G4. Haven't received it yet, and even when I do I figure it won't be used that much, especially since it's hard to remove the G4 from its case.

I do have access to a Vive, so could use recommendation for some free cool demos. HEV light is simply blue and violet light. Won't any well calibrated display have the same amount of HEV for the same image, regardless of the display technology?

What Fenixp and timppu said plus I'll add comforts about it sitting on your head. I'm very sensitive when it comes to headphones (I get headaches almost immediately if they sit too hard) or sunglasses. Granted, it might be a exposure thing so in time I'll get comfortable.

I can almost imagine playing something like The Witcher 3 HUDless in VR with a Steam Controller sitting in a comfortable non-office chair..

If your question is "Doesn't practically all light, including sunlight, have at least some amount of HEV light?", then the answer is yes.

If your question is "Don't they all have the same amount of HEV light?", then the answer is no. Consider e.g. that you aren't exposed to HEV only when you see blue or violet light on the screen. The blue is one component which makes white light really white. Without it they'd be closer to pink instead of snow white. Here's some discussion about the different (artificial) light sources:

http://lowvision.preventblindness.org/daily-living-2/artificial-lighting-and-the-blue-light-hazard/#types

Regardless of the type of display technology used with the VR glasses, I was more concerned that:

A) They are kept very close to your eyes.

B) They are used for prolonged times (as in e.g. gaming).

The distance matters too, as well as brightness etc.

It won't be on my bucket list. I'm against new technology, what we currently have is already fun and can already be immersive with a good pair of headphones (i.e. headphones with virtual surround sound). No reason to hold out. This was introduced a few months ago and there's already quite a good deal of content available.

Back to a cave with you!

SPOILER ALERT!!!




Don't forget that 'The Old Man in the Cave' was a computer.

I'm more worried abot myopia.
We already focus at 50cm for hours with monitors, but with visors at.. 5?