5 ms·

That i7 compute pack should be the first thing you cut to make an affordable product. If the headset is 2-5k in the current market I think you’ll be very lucky

That i7 compute pack should be the first thing you cut to make an affordable product. If the headset is 2-5k in the current market I think you’ll be very lucky to sell 100, but would love to be proven wrong. Get the costs down, get more funding, sell the units at a loss to build a dev community. I think you guys are making a mistake I once made, focusing on the hardware design for what is actually a software product. You’re building an Android phone, without Android.

kanetw 5y ago
We have a software product--we had it for ages. The hardware doesn't exist for it. That's why we're doing this. We're not doing this lightly. Hardware design is expensive, and risky, and low margin. But we want a cultural victory, not necessarily a financial one. If that means doing it ourselves, then so we will.
- ghotli 5y ago
  There's negativity in this thread but not any from my perspective. Thanks for stepping up and getting gear like this over the line :)
- threshold 5y ago
  Not a thought through attitude. If it sounds like I’m on your case here it’s because I am. You aren’t even giving this product a chance at success. Expendable income for most is $400/mo. Your headset won’t sell in volume over that, especially with the current competition. But I’ll pick one off ebay when you’re done with the cultural victory?
  - kanetw 5y ago
    Here's the thing. Let's say you want to work in VR: Case 1, you do it like Immersed. Virtual monitors that you can position in space. Great, but that's all you can do. I don't believe this will be a way to drive mass adoption of VR computing. Case 2, you build a window manager. Each window can be positioned individually and you can give specific windows custom handling, or even integrate 3D scenes. Problem is, now you're limited to Linux. Linux headset support is very limited. People don't have Linux installed, even. How do you solve this? You build a Linux compatible headset. You minimize the friction. You allow people to put on the headset and get to work. Nobody cares that their Android phone is Linux based, after all. That being said, right now this absolutely is an enthusiast, early adopter product. We'd like to get the costs down, but going into a costs battle when you're doing a new product type is insanity.
  - ghotli 5y ago
    I'll be that guy. I thought, you must be new around here and sure enough I'm right. Respectful discourse is important and we strive for something better than the tone you're carrying here. I say "we" only because I like this little respectful discourse corner of the internet and because the site guidelines are fairly clear on the subject. It's the culmination of hard work, cool, and I too hope it finds a lower price point and ends up succeeding. Fwiw I guess this xkcd applies to both of us :) https://xkcd.com/386/ https://xkcd.com/386/
    - threshold 5y ago
      Be more specific. What exactly about my ‘tone’ don’t you like? Quote me even.
      - vimacs2 5y ago
        I just think your comment just signals ignorance of the industry. They're targeting this headset for people who are looking for a portable vr workstation with an angular resolution high enough to simulate 1080p monitors. How exactly are they going to achieve the visual specs to achieve that at the price point you're expecting? They are never going to sell something like this at high volume, not only because the market for it isn't there yet but because this goes beyond the specs of consumer level headsets - which means they wouldn't be able to source the required components to even address such a hypothetical demand.
        threshold 5y ago
        You ^ have no clue. I’m going to take it to the level above offensive tough love and just give up at this point. If you want a $5k headset to emulate a $100 1080p monitor, with a 3 hour battery life, and switches for every sensor so the secret service can’t see how messy your bedroom is, then this product is for you. Good luck
        vimacs2 5y ago
        No need to be an ass. Also, you're quoting the limited edition price which seems to amount to aesthetics and priority shipping. Elsewhere on this page, you literally said that you would have been happy to have paid 2000 for the quest 2 - which this device would utterly dogpile both in terms of optics and raw power. Cute though that you feel the need to paint the completely normal aversion to having a corporation having the ability to depth scan your surroundings at all times as tin foil hat territory. I'd rather you skip the hysterics and just "give up" if you have nothing constructive to say. P.S. I own a Quest 2.
  - selfhoster11 5y ago
    I'm sad about the price too, but you can't just say things like that with a dismissive attitude. They are trying to get an entire way of working off the ground. Think how much time, money and design work it took to go from no Raspberry Pi, to Pi 1, to Pi 3 (which IMO was the first one that was generally usable). They are trying to do the same for productivity VR based on Linux.
kevrodz610 5y ago
If I'm going to even attempt to do any dev work on this device, they should not cut the i7 imo
- threshold 5y ago
  The headset must (requirement) be stand alone. You can’t have an 8 hour runtime on a stand alone headset with an i7. They have to go ARM I just finished a 6 hour session on the OC2 with the elite strap w/extended battery
  - kanetw 5y ago
    No currently available headset has a 8 hour runtime. Our target is 3 hours.
  - kevrodz610 5y ago
    I don't work for 8 or even 6 hours continuously without breaks. For me 4 hours would be ideal. I guess 6 would remove any "range anxiety"
- selfhoster11 5y ago
  It depends on how you work. I have a pretty good company laptop, but it's pretty much just a front-end for an SSH client, a web browser, and a local Windows VM. All my actual work happens on remote machines.
goblin89 5y ago
Let’s not balk at prices when a newcomer stands up to Big Social. Their true customers are the advertisers, and no honest business can compete with ad-driven “free” products on price. I imagine Facebook already sells Quest at a loss, and making its future equivalent free will surely be a logical move for them to capture eyeballs—but that does not mean competitors must be free, otherwise would imply no competitor ever, apart from those backed by nation-states or shady business models. For the record, I’m sure I’m far from the only one who 1) never had a VR headset yet, 2) would not buy a Facebook product, and 3) could buy one for US$2k+ for experiments if that means no lock-in. It’s the price of a decent laptop. Weren’t the original Oculus prices in that ballpark, before FB came in with its billions?

kanetw 5y ago

We have a software product--we had it for ages. The hardware doesn't exist for it. That's why we're doing this. We're not doing this lightly. Hardware design is expensive, and risky, and low margin. But we want a cultural victory, not necessarily a financial one. If that means doing it ourselves, then so we will.

ghotli 5y ago
There's negativity in this thread but not any from my perspective. Thanks for stepping up and getting gear like this over the line :)
threshold 5y ago
Not a thought through attitude. If it sounds like I’m on your case here it’s because I am. You aren’t even giving this product a chance at success. Expendable income for most is $400/mo. Your headset won’t sell in volume over that, especially with the current competition. But I’ll pick one off ebay when you’re done with the cultural victory?
- kanetw 5y ago
  Here's the thing. Let's say you want to work in VR: Case 1, you do it like Immersed. Virtual monitors that you can position in space. Great, but that's all you can do. I don't believe this will be a way to drive mass adoption of VR computing. Case 2, you build a window manager. Each window can be positioned individually and you can give specific windows custom handling, or even integrate 3D scenes. Problem is, now you're limited to Linux. Linux headset support is very limited. People don't have Linux installed, even. How do you solve this? You build a Linux compatible headset. You minimize the friction. You allow people to put on the headset and get to work. Nobody cares that their Android phone is Linux based, after all. That being said, right now this absolutely is an enthusiast, early adopter product. We'd like to get the costs down, but going into a costs battle when you're doing a new product type is insanity.
- ghotli 5y ago
  I'll be that guy. I thought, you must be new around here and sure enough I'm right. Respectful discourse is important and we strive for something better than the tone you're carrying here. I say "we" only because I like this little respectful discourse corner of the internet and because the site guidelines are fairly clear on the subject. It's the culmination of hard work, cool, and I too hope it finds a lower price point and ends up succeeding. Fwiw I guess this xkcd applies to both of us :) https://xkcd.com/386/ https://xkcd.com/386/
  - threshold 5y ago
    Be more specific. What exactly about my ‘tone’ don’t you like? Quote me even.
    - vimacs2 5y ago
      I just think your comment just signals ignorance of the industry. They're targeting this headset for people who are looking for a portable vr workstation with an angular resolution high enough to simulate 1080p monitors. How exactly are they going to achieve the visual specs to achieve that at the price point you're expecting? They are never going to sell something like this at high volume, not only because the market for it isn't there yet but because this goes beyond the specs of consumer level headsets - which means they wouldn't be able to source the required components to even address such a hypothetical demand.
      - threshold 5y ago
        You ^ have no clue. I’m going to take it to the level above offensive tough love and just give up at this point. If you want a $5k headset to emulate a $100 1080p monitor, with a 3 hour battery life, and switches for every sensor so the secret service can’t see how messy your bedroom is, then this product is for you. Good luck
        vimacs2 5y ago
        No need to be an ass. Also, you're quoting the limited edition price which seems to amount to aesthetics and priority shipping. Elsewhere on this page, you literally said that you would have been happy to have paid 2000 for the quest 2 - which this device would utterly dogpile both in terms of optics and raw power. Cute though that you feel the need to paint the completely normal aversion to having a corporation having the ability to depth scan your surroundings at all times as tin foil hat territory. I'd rather you skip the hysterics and just "give up" if you have nothing constructive to say. P.S. I own a Quest 2.
- selfhoster11 5y ago
  I'm sad about the price too, but you can't just say things like that with a dismissive attitude. They are trying to get an entire way of working off the ground. Think how much time, money and design work it took to go from no Raspberry Pi, to Pi 1, to Pi 3 (which IMO was the first one that was generally usable). They are trying to do the same for productivity VR based on Linux.

kevrodz610 5y ago

If I'm going to even attempt to do any dev work on this device, they should not cut the i7 imo

threshold 5y ago
The headset must (requirement) be stand alone. You can’t have an 8 hour runtime on a stand alone headset with an i7. They have to go ARM I just finished a 6 hour session on the OC2 with the elite strap w/extended battery
- kanetw 5y ago
  No currently available headset has a 8 hour runtime. Our target is 3 hours.
- kevrodz610 5y ago
  I don't work for 8 or even 6 hours continuously without breaks. For me 4 hours would be ideal. I guess 6 would remove any "range anxiety"
selfhoster11 5y ago
It depends on how you work. I have a pretty good company laptop, but it's pretty much just a front-end for an SSH client, a web browser, and a local Windows VM. All my actual work happens on remote machines.

goblin89 5y ago

Let’s not balk at prices when a newcomer stands up to Big Social. Their true customers are the advertisers, and no honest business can compete with ad-driven “free” products on price. I imagine Facebook already sells Quest at a loss, and making its future equivalent free will surely be a logical move for them to capture eyeballs—but that does not mean competitors must be free, otherwise would imply no competitor ever, apart from those backed by nation-states or shady business models. For the record, I’m sure I’m far from the only one who 1) never had a VR headset yet, 2) would not buy a Facebook product, and 3) could buy one for US$2k+ for experiments if that means no lock-in. It’s the price of a decent laptop. Weren’t the original Oculus prices in that ballpark, before FB came in with its billions?