What major events do you think will take place in the next 50 years?

/r/SteamVR /r/HoloLens /r/ProjectMorpheus /r/oculus

Those subreddits pretty much cover the state of the art in VR at the moment.

  • SteamVR is a recently announced platform developed by Valve that's received a lot of positive press from its impressive demos with the HTC Vive headset. The Vive and SteamVR are notable for having the ability to really accurately track where your head and hands are while you're using the VR system. SteamVR's tracking system, called "Lighthouse" requires two small base stations to be placed in a room, but can then accurately track any number of devices in that room as long as they have a particular bundle of sensors (currently, the system is limited to a 15 foot by 15 foot area, but more base stations could theoretically be added to increase that space).
  • HoloLens is an Augmented Reality device developed by Microsoft, also recently announced. It's designed to mix virtual objects and worlds seamlessly with the real world. Many reporters were given demos of HoloLens (including a version of Minecraft and a virtual recreation of the surface of Mars) and by most accounts it works shockingly well. HoloLens uses depth-sensing technology similar to the Kinect and uses voice commands and hand gestures as input. It will run a version of Windows 10 and Microsoft is adding support for "holographic" devices as a core part of Windows 10. This is the device that I'm personally the most excited for, but it is not aiming for fully immersive VR (however, its tracking capabilities may well influence future generations of VR).
  • Project Morpheus is Sony's VR headset. It works with the Playstation Move controller for 3D input and is said to have improved dramatically in the past year. This headset is significant because it will work with the PS4 and thus won't require users to have a high-end gaming PC. It may not be quite as responsive as Valve's technology, but it's pretty close.
  • The Oculus Rift was, until very recently, the undisputed leader in VR. It's shipped a couple development kits and software developers have put together a number of demos using that hardware. The head tracking in the latest model is supposed to be quite good and its picture quality is also said to be extremely good. However, it is currently lacking a good input device and it's designed to be used while sitting, preventing players from walking around. The consensus in the VR subreddits is that Oculus had a disappointing showing at GDC (game developers' conference) this past week in comparison to the unveiling of SteamVR and the improvements to Morpheus. Oculus was also acquired by Facebook, which many people are displeased about due to a distrust of the social networking company. However, their technology is still quite good and its the best VR that is currently available for purchase (in the form of developer kits).
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