Posted on 04/29/2017 5:14:44 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
At about noon on Thursday, I lowered a headset over my eyes and, for the first time in my life, stepped into Microsoft Windows.
I was invited to attend an Acer event in New York where the company primarily discussed its VR and gaming ambitions. But I had one mission: to finally see what Microsoft's "mixed reality" experience is all about.
What the heck is mixed reality?
First, let's talk a bit about the differences between mixed reality, virtual reality and augmented reality.
Virtual reality is what Oculus and Facebook are doing, allowing users to step out of this world and into another one. Augmented reality overlays the real world with additional information — which is what Microsoft is doing with HoloLens. Mixed reality is more like virtual reality in that you can't see your actual surroundings, but a bit like HoloLens in that you can interact with Microsoft apps and move around a digital space.
I wasn't allowed to take any pictures of the experience, though I could snap photos of the headset. Here's what it was like.
An apartment in the sky
When I lowered the headset, I was suddenly standing in what appeared to be a ritzy, open apartment in the sky. In real life, I was just standing in a demo area wearing a plastic headset tethered to a laptop.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
This mixed reality is pretty cool with many possible applications coming.
Virtual Reality will take people out of the real world and will be mainly used in porn initially.
Once the price comes down, it will be amazing to tour a house or museum from your home or office.
Architects can let you “tour” a building that they designed, allowing the owner to make changes before it is put out to bid for construction.
These are all really cool.
I saw someone step through a window once. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.
Or even tour the world...with friends as avatars.
The headline reminded me of the VR scene in the Michael Douglas-Demi Moore movie of Crichton’s Disclosure. The scene wasn’t in the book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFkyV7d5t8o
While the VR in the movie is spot on and prescient, the Twinkle device (a bortable CD-ROM with Expedia style discs) would be made obsolete in just a few years with fast web access.
Why am I thinking about hookers?
Because you are a self gratifying old fart.
Fantastic idea.....tour companies dedicated to allowing the handicapped to tour places, ask questions and interact with the surroundings.
Like multiplayer games, you can travel with your friends even if they live in other parts of the country/world.
Instead of having a phone conversation or a video call with a friend or relative, invite them over to sit down on the couch and talk.
This will create a massive number of business opportunities.
Neat.
I thought I stepped into Microsoft Windows once, but it turned out to be just dog s#!t. In my defense, it was hard to tell the difference.
(your eyes and head hurt!!)
The upside is that scouts and overhead UAVs can show a platoon where exactly the enemy is, platoon leaders can designate priority targets for their people, etc.
The downside is it will give Pentagon and White House REMFs yet another way to micro-manage.
Windows is bad enough from the outside. But there is no way in hell I will every buy an Apple product. I refuse to give money to Steve Jobs, even posthumously.
People bitch and gripe about Bill Gates, but Jobs was 10X the slimeball any Microsoft executive ever was.
I may have to look at Linux again.
Texting-while-driving has become a major problem.
Soon, VRing-while-driving will become a major problem.
“Windows” being a euphemism for “porn movie studio”, which is what 99.9% of all VR is going to be.
Augmented reality, done subtly and inobtrusively will be huge. Uncontrolled full VR is another more virulent form of drug addiction just waiting to happen.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.