this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2023
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[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I don't understand why it's not a thing now. Valve Index resolution is already good enough for reading virtual monitors.

Camera passthrough a small rectangular window where your desk is at. (so you can see your hands and keyboard/mouse if you need it,

And you're done....

[–] [email protected] 45 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Because it’s uncomfortable to have a toaster strapped to your face for 8 hours

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Yeah I have to imagine that most people who think working in VR is a no brainer have never actually tried it.

VR is awesome, and using a VR desktop is cool as a novelty, but even the best modern headsets get uncomfortable after more than an hour or two of use and vr pass through has its own problems in terms of accuracy and comfort

If for whatever reason your working situation was such that you physically couldn't have a traditional setup, then yeah it might be the next best alternative, but I'll take monitors and a standing desk any day of the week over a VR workspace.

Also, past a certain point, adding more screen real estate isn't actually helpful. You can only actually look at so much info at a time, and having too many monitors means you're going to be craning your neck to see the ones that aren't in front of you. At a point, you're much better off using workspaces with good keybindings to handle more windows

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Visor is coming out soon. It's AR 4k made for working. Might be cool.

https://www.visor.com/

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

we'll see, I'm skeptical out of the gate until reviewers get their hands on some models to play with as to whether or not it can fulfill it's many quite optimistic promises.

Even if it does everything it says on the tin (which frankly, I'm pretty doubtful about), my other concerns are still valid here. I just don't see what virtual screens add that physical screens don't give you. The only real advantage to something like that is that you can work anywhere I suppose - but for comfortable computer work, you're still going to want an ergonomic KBM setup, a comfortable ergonomic chair, and a decent desk - so even if this solves the monitor problem, it's not likely to lure many professionals away from their desks anyways.

If others really want to work in VR, more power to 'em, but I've yet to see anything (even super optimistic upcoming stuff like the Visor) that makes me seriously consider ditching my Physical monitors

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

If nothing is squeezing my face and the screen is good enough I could see myself messing around with workflow set ups. Infinite monitors would definitely be awesome.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I have 3 monitors currently, two for coding, and one for things like spotify, discord, etc. Stuff i don’t have to access a lot basically. Also, it looks cool.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

I don't think 3 monitors qualifies necessarily as "too many" under what I was saying before - I also have 3 monitors, one ultrawide and two portrait monitors on either side. I can see everything I need with only miniscule head movements, and I make a point of keeping my main focus work on the center display, to avoid neck strain.

My point there was directed mainly at the people who want VR workspaces so they can be surrounded in a sphere of monitors

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

i wouldn’t mind a little discomfort if it meant entering monitor heaven

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think that's fine for a day, but 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 50+ weeks a year, for 40+ years? It's going to mess up your neck, I think.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

i am already messing up my neck 8 hours a day 5 days a week for 50 weeks a year

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Sounds like your system is not optimized or you need a different work environment altogether.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

But think about the neck gains!

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It's not there. Especially not on an index.

Even on my Pimax 8k I wouldn't want to be working off of virtual monitors.

Also 3 2k monitors is often cheaper then a lot of VR headsets.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago

Check out the Bigscreen Beyond. Looks very promising with micro OLED screens.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Current VR headsets don't really produce text you'd want to read for 8 hours a day. We need "retina" level displays (which I believe even Apple hasn't managed to pull off with their VR headset yet) that completely hide the pixels for that to work.

If you own a VR headset, there are several Linux and Windows window managers that will make this work. I believe HoloLens showcased theoretical floating windows years ago but I haven't seen anything from HoloLens in a while, I think it went military/industrial operator exclusive.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

people seem to forget that a 4k monitor is fine if you're looking at it from 2 feet away, but in a vr headset it's right in front of your eyeball. you will see the pixels

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Current VR headsets don’t really produce text you’d want to read?

Yes they do. I currently have one that is perfectly fine readable.

Yeah, I can have multiple monitors in VR setting.

But what hasn't happened is

1 - No one has made an app with a camera passthrough window to your desk.

2 - Windows for some reason still has a problem with multi-monitors unless you actually physically have monitors mounted.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

There are a whole bunch of AR glasses and even some portable VR headset window managers that have pass through. SimulaVR has a webcam window but I don't have the hardware to properly try it out, sadly.

The VR screens I've used were all perfectly fine for an hour or so of gameplay, but focusing on text wouldn't be a good experience.

Most of these applications don't even use "monitors", they just render Windows in a 3D space. Virtual monitors can work on Windows, but they need a dummy driver for various reasons (many of them having to do with compatibility).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Didn't the Quest Pro do that? I think AR virtual monitors on Mac was a thing they showcased.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

it'll be a cold day in hell before I strap facebook to my body.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Well, with climate change ...