A few weeks ago, I took the plunge and bought myself an early birthday/Christmas present (at least that's how I sold it to my wife lololol) and ordered a Meta Quest 2, previously known as the Oculus Quest 2. I've had a decent amount of time to play around with it and wanted to share some of my thoughts and impressions here with you wonderful people. There are some really amazing things that I already LOVE about it and a few design features I would like to see modified. So, let's get into it!
Ever since I saw Brainstorm as a kid in the 80's, I've been absolutely fascinated by virtual reality and the wonders it has to offer as well as the plethora of opportunities technology has to see this medium's potential to be fully realized. Back then playing around on Commodore 64's and eventually moving to the original Nintendo, virtual reality seemed as impossible to most of as as time travel. So as I began to see technology expand and make leaps and bounds the first forays into virtual reality seemed promising, but a far far cry from anything that would be groundbreaking or life-changing.
Fast forward to the present and the experiences depicted in that sci-fi classic from 1983 are almost fully capable with our current virtual reality technology. After having a few friends buy and use the Quest 2 and some of the predecessors, I slowly became tempted to jump into the experience and see what it has to offer.
When I heard a news blurb that the recent price was to see a $100 increase, I took that as a sign to pull the trigger on it and I am so glad I did. The first thing I noticed was how powerful the immersive experience can be and I would need to be careful with some applications and videos not to get motion sickness....lololol. There was not as steep of a learning curve as I expected and I was up and running shortly after charging the head set up completely. One thing I will look forward to is more advanced technology addressing using your hands as opposed to the controllers, but for now I am happy to partake and use them as intended.
Most of my first few sessions were just exploring all the interface had to offer and learning how to navigate through the menus and various apps that were available. I also jumped into some 360 degree videos on YouTube and almost fell out of my chair a few times lololol.
Being an avid fisherman, I was extremely excited to find a free fishing game, titled Bait, and I downloaded and completely lost track of time as I thoroughly enjoyed catching a wide range of some silly-looking cartoonish fish. It was an extremely entertaining experience and I've already found several other fishing games that have a more realistic feel and I'm sure I'll be purchasing them and trying them out in the very near future.
I also downloaded a casino game and a few interactive social apps, but I'll leave the social apps for a later time as I am fairly anti-social outside of work lololol. Speaking of work, many of you know I am a cop and have been a police and firearms instructor for many years. I immediately recognized the potential for this system to be used for much, much more immersive training experience than what is currently used with regards to Use of Force and "Shoot-Don't-Shoot" training. I apparently was not the only one, because as I explored the topic with a bit of research I discovered that apps and programs are in various stages of development for exactly that purpose and I am thrilled about it. My department spent $40k a few years ago for a Use of Force simulator that is not a fraction as immersive as this Oculus and I could have outfitted the entire department for much, much less than what was spent on the simulator. However, it remains to be seen how cost-effective any software or applications developed for law enforcement training will be once they start hitting the market.
I can also easily see these devices being utilized for a myriad of other training opportunities in innumerable professions and to enhance distance learning and collaborative meeting efforts. For now, I'm going to stick to just having fun with it and hope to get a really decent golf game and club adaptor for the controllers as well! The only other issue I did run into was the comfort level of the headset while wearing glasses. I did, however, find numerous companies that make prescription inserts to overcome this uncomfortable dilemma.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and remember that I love you all and I wish you all were in my virtual world! lololol
All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter,
Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
-Tolkien
