I got a Quest 3 from my Bubby for Hanukkah. This is a bit odd because Bubby died in 2019. But before she died, in 2017, I told her about how much I wanted a Virtual Reality headset. At the time the Quest was only a prototype, called Santa Cruz. The top of the line device from Meta (then Oculus) was the Oculus Go, which was mainly for viewing media and couldn’t really interact. I told her I didn’t really want it because it wasn’t going to do a whole lot. She said, “I’ll get it for you. And don’t worry, I’ll get you a newer version when the good stuff comes out.”
Back in 2017, personal Virtual Reality was pretty basic. Some Google engineers figured out how to use cardboard to let you watch VR on your phone. You could get a small cardboard and setup and some lenses, have your iPhone display a different screen for each eye, and voilà, you have VR. I actually liked the Mattel View-Master better, which was a slightly upgraded plastic version of this. But to really get a true VR experience you needed only place to go was a VR arcade, where the VR headsets were tethered to high-end PCs.
The Experience of VR
When I visited an arcade for the first time, I was transported into an entirely new place. It was like being in the movie, “The Matrix.” Just like in the movie, I entered an alternate reality, where the virtual became indistinguishable from the real. It was an electrifying revelation, a glimpse into a future where the lines between the digital and physical worlds blur seamlessly.
But after I experienced it for the first time, the most fun was introducing others to it. They would look at someone headset on and say, “Well that looks silly. Why would someone do that,” Then they would put a headset on and immediately be transported. I enjoyed this so much that I hosted my birthday party at a VR arcade. Twice. We travelled together on an adventure, taking our first steps on a digital adventure.
The Transformative Experience of ‘Walk the Plank’
The defining moment for many first-time VR users is Richie’s Plank Experience. The game’s premise is deceivingly simple: walk on a plank off a skyscraper. You know that you’re still in the same room, yet, once you put on that headset, the experience of dizzying heights and a sprawling cityscape below evokes an intense emotional response, challenging the distinction between the virtual and the real.
This game has a strong pedigree in the VR research community. It started with the “virtual pit experiment” at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a pioneering study that demonstrated that VR could induce genuine stress in real life. Basically, people freak out from stress when VR puts you think you’re going to die. This is very different than watching a movie. When you watch a movie of a person on a tightrope, you don’t feel nearly the same amount of stress.
The beauty of Richie’s Plank Experience is its simplicity. Participants, even when they know what’s happening to them, often find themselves hesitating, a testament to VR’s ability to trick the mind with convincing visuals and spatial audio. It transcends being merely a game; it’s an exploration of VR’s capabilities, challenging perceptions and pushing the boundaries of what’s considered possible.
Richie’s Plank Experience epitomizes the essence of VR – its power to elicit strong emotional reactions and transform our perceptions. It’s not just a gateway to the vast potential of virtual reality but also a demonstration of the technology’s profound impact on our minds and senses.
The Personal Revolution of VR: Bringing the Experience Home
Now it’s 2023 and Blake and I go to a VR Arcade. The games are essentially the same as they were 5 years ago. There are some minor improvements but nothing to write home about. What did change is the quality of the technology. The Quest 3 provides the same level of interaction as most of the high-end systems.
Blake asked me, “Why would you spend $500 on a virtual reality headset. I bought a Quest 2 and used it for a month before I put it away.” But what he failed to realize is that buying a Quest 3 lets me introduce friends and colleagues to the wonders of VR right in my living room. The joy of watching someone step into a virtual world for the first time, witnessing their awe and excitement, is unparalleled. It’s a reminder of my own first encounters with VR in arcades, but now, I can guide others trough these incredible experiences. I’ve bought the ability to have my own portable VR Arcade.
Even the simple games on the Quest 3 are mind-blowing if you haven’t experienced Augmented Reality before. That’s the ability to mix the real and virtual worlds together. For example, First Encounters and Cubism show off the system’s awesome capabilities:
- First Encounters introduces you to a world where virtual creatures and objects coexist with your real environment. Imagine sitting in your living room and capturing tiny aliens that are running around your coffee table and exploring your bookshelf. This game makes the line between the real and the virtual almost indiscernible, as these creatures interact seamlessly with your physical space.
- Cubism, on the other hand, takes a more abstract approach. It transforms your room into a puzzle-solving studio, where you manipulate virtual geometric shapes to solve complex puzzles. The AR capabilities of the Quest 3 allow these shapes to appear as if they are right in front of you, floating in your room. You can walk around them, view them from different angles, and interact with them as if they were tangible objects in your space. You can even throw them across the room.
There’s one problem with my VR arcade—it’s about to get a whole lot more mainstream once Apple releases the Vision Pro. Soon, everyone will go to an Apple store and experience it for themself, and my Quest 3, even at $500, will look like the Vision Pro’s poor cousin from the other side of the tracks.
Working with ChatGPT, this article took about 2.5 hours to write. It was more complicated than I thought it would be. I rewrote it about 4 times, exploring different angles about Virtual Reality arcades. Some delving more into the history and facts. Eventually I landed on this. Because I wanted to share this, I needed to clean up a lot of ChatGPT’s language and style. There’s a few bits still in there because we’ve reached the point of diminishing returns. If you’re interested, you can see the ChatGPT transcript here.
Update February 6th:
It looks like the Quest will remain the winner in the VR arcade game, beating the Vision Pro handily. From Stratechery:
From Apple’s support document:
When your guest puts on Apple Vision Pro, they might first be asked to press and hold the Digital Crown until the displays align and a green check mark appears. Then your guest will be asked to go through hand and eye setup so that Apple Vision Pro responds accurately to their input. When hand and eye setup are complete, your guest can begin using your Apple Vision Pro.
When your guest is finished using Apple Vision Pro, they can simply take off the device to end the Guest User session. The next time you put on Apple Vision Pro, it returns automatically to your personal hand and eye settings.
This is very harsh in practice. For example, one friend lifted up the Vision Pro to rub their eyes; when they put the Vision Pro back on the Guest User session was wiped. I had to re-invoke a Guest User session (after re-inserting my lenses), and then they had to run through the hand and eye calibration all over again. And then I had to do it again and again for the rest of my family.
What this means is that I felt like an absolute jerk. I spent $3500 on a device that only I can use, and it felt bad. I was selfish, even though I didn’t mean to be. It honestly put me in a bad mood, and made me regret my purchase.
Stratechery, The Apple Vision Pro, Feb 6, 2024
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