Valve's gaming goggles tested, says "credible" AR games 3 to 5 years a

Hmm, so who wins the gigets & gadget race... Wii U, Next X with K2 or Valves Goggles ?

Now to make it fair, all must remove their goggles before voting. :twisted:

TBH, sounds pretty kewl.

Anyway, Thoughts ?

The Story.

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http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-09-10-valves-gaming-goggles-tested-says-credible-ar-games-3-to-5-years-away

They sure aren't pretty.

Valve's definitely building wearable computer hardware, because a New York Times writer went inside the company's Seattle HQ, put on a pair of prototype gaming goggles and tested them for himself.

"Every way I look, the scene shifts, the battle unfolds," wrote reporter Stuart Isett. "I have a crazy contraption strapped to my head: a boxy set of goggles that looks like a 22nd-century version of a View-Master. It immerses me in a virtual world. I whirl one way and see zombies preparing to snack on my flesh. I turn another and wonder what fresh hell awaits."

Better these than Half-Life 3. Oh, did I say that out loud?

An accompanying picture showed Isett wearing the big, chunky, boxy and black goggles. Mounted on top of his head and connected to the goggles was a large video camera. Various wires jutted out, and it looked like Stuart Isett may have had to hold the device while using it.

"The goggles I'm wearing - reminiscent of the ones Google recently unveiled to much hoopla - could unlock new game-playing opportunities," the report added. "This technology could let players lose themselves inside a virtual reality and, eventually, blend games with their views of the physical world."

Isett didn't go into any great further detail about the goggles, but he did talk to Michael Abrash, the man in charge of Valve's wearing computing project. Abrash apparently predicted that glasses capable of "credible" augmented-reality games could be three to five years away, but virtual reality glasses will arrive sooner.

Abrash also said that Valve wasn't sure it would produce the glasses itself. The "ultimate goal" is to share designs with other hardware companies, who'll go on to manufacture them.

"Gabe has a saying, which is, 'We will do what we need to do,'" Abrash said. "We don't particularly want to be a company that makes hardware in large quantities. It's not what we do."

Isett's report talked a bit about the intriguing boss-less company structure at Valve, where some 300 people work. There was a nice quote by Valve co-founder Gabe Newell given on the topic of departed staff.

"I get freaked out any time one person leaves," Newell said. "It seems like a bug in the system."

Newell also said Valve was more likely to "disintegrate", and its eclectic body of staff scatter to the four winds, than it was to sell itself to a billion-dollar buyer.

The report also unearthed word that the sofa-friendly Big Picture mode of Steam will enter beta testing today.

Isett's article comes hot on the heels of a job advert for Valve got tongues wagging. It advertised for the post of Industrial Designer, and declared that Valve was "jumping in" to the computer hardware space.

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Your new Gimmick.

Please Proceed to Knock and Bash Valve at your expense.

I beleive VR is the future of gaming not Augmented reality. I find it hard to see million of us running around our house with glasses on playing a game i mean how r they going to design levels around my living room. i think the oculus rift with a controller in my hand sitting up in bed relaxing will be the best way to go...

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How do you control the game? You can't see the keyboard, mouse, gamepad... Whatever device you have in your hand you can't see the buttons so I don't see how will yoube able to game on it. Am I supposed to buy a huge set of accessories to play BF3? Like rocket launchers, assault rifles, knife, etc.? LOL

How do you control the game? You can't see the keyboard, mouse, gamepad... Whatever device you have in your hand you can't see the buttons so I don't see how will yoube able to game on it. Am I supposed to buy a huge set of accessories to play BF3? Like rocket launchers, assault rifles, knife, etc.? LOL

nunovlopes

[QUOTE="nunovlopes"]

How do you control the game? You can't see the keyboard, mouse, gamepad... Whatever device you have in your hand you can't see the buttons so I don't see how will yoube able to game on it. Am I supposed to buy a huge set of accessories to play BF3? Like rocket launchers, assault rifles, knife, etc.? LOL

nchan

That doesn't seem very accurate... That seems that you need to "think" everything that you. When you're playing a fast MP game you think very fast and many times you just react instinctively and sometimes you have multiple thoughts in a really narrow time-window, like should I reload or switch to handgun? As it is, this seems very limited in functionality.

Your thread title makes no sense. Augmented Reality (AR) is projecting 3D images over top of what you see in the real world. Virtual Reality (VR) is creating a virtual 3D landscape separate from the real world.SKaREO

[QUOTE="SKaREO"]Your thread title makes no sense. Augmented Reality (AR) is projecting 3D images over top of what you see in the real world. Virtual Reality (VR) is creating a virtual 3D landscape separate from the real world.SecretPolice

How do you control the game? You can't see the keyboard, mouse, gamepad... Whatever device you have in your hand you can't see the buttons so I don't see how will yoube able to game on it. Am I supposed to buy a huge set of accessories to play BF3? Like rocket launchers, assault rifles, knife, etc.? LOL

nunovlopes

Are you constantly staring at your controller or keyboard while you're gaming? I don't know about you, but the button layout on a controller isn't hard to memorize. It's actually quite intuitive. I don't think I've ever actually looked at the controller for reference to know what buttons I'm pressing. Same with a keyboard. I put my hand in position over WASD (which can also be done blind, thanks to the little ridge on the F key), and then my eyes don't leave the screen.

Valve doesn't want to make games anymore, it's clear now. They want to make interactive marketing tool like augmented reality glassesSKaREO

So I guess you didn't actually read the article like you said you did. If you had, you would know that they're designing the glasses, but don't want to get into manufacturing them and selling them. They want to give the design to someone else, because their focus is on software.

Valve doesn't want to make games anymore, it's clear now. They want to make interactive marketing tool like augmented reality glasses, where the real money lies in advertising to people while they wear their glasses. It will have other functions that make them useful, searching maps, making voice activated phone calls, identifying people that you're looking at, etc. But the real reason for developing this product is to better serve the interactive marketing agencies and generate billion of dollars in advertising revenues.SKaREO

[QUOTE="SKaREO"]Valve doesn't want to make games anymore, it's clear now. They want to make interactive marketing tool like augmented reality glassesthe_bi99man

So I guess you didn't actually read the article like you said you did. If you had, you would know that they're designing the glasses, but don't want to get into manufacturing them and selling them. They want to give the design to someone else, because their focus is on software.

[QUOTE="the_bi99man"]

[QUOTE="SKaREO"]Valve doesn't want to make games anymore, it's clear now. They want to make interactive marketing tool like augmented reality glassesSKaREO

So I guess you didn't actually read the article like you said you did. If you had, you would know that they're designing the glasses, but don't want to get into manufacturing them and selling them. They want to give the design to someone else, because their focus is on software.

Still. They clearly said they want to give the design to someone else, because hardware isn't their focus. That sounds like they want to keep making software, to me.

[QUOTE="nunovlopes"]

How do you control the game? You can't see the keyboard, mouse, gamepad... Whatever device you have in your hand you can't see the buttons so I don't see how will yoube able to game on it. Am I supposed to buy a huge set of accessories to play BF3? Like rocket launchers, assault rifles, knife, etc.? LOL

the_bi99man

Are you constantly staring at your controller or keyboard while you're gaming? I don't know about you, but the button layout on a controller isn't hard to memorize. It's actually quite intuitive. I don't think I've ever actually looked at the controller for reference to know what buttons I'm pressing. Same with a keyboard. I put my hand in position over WASD (which can also be done blind, thanks to the little ridge on the F key), and then my eyes don't leave the screen.

You're not constanly looking at the keyboard or gamepad because we have a relatively big peripherical view which means even if you're not looking directly at the keyboard you're generally aware of each key location. Playing with a helmet on would be like playing with your eyes closed. I think you'd become desoriented pretty fast and would lose track of the keyboard.

[QUOTE="the_bi99man"]

[QUOTE="nunovlopes"]

How do you control the game? You can't see the keyboard, mouse, gamepad... Whatever device you have in your hand you can't see the buttons so I don't see how will yoube able to game on it. Am I supposed to buy a huge set of accessories to play BF3? Like rocket launchers, assault rifles, knife, etc.? LOL

nunovlopes

Are you constantly staring at your controller or keyboard while you're gaming? I don't know about you, but the button layout on a controller isn't hard to memorize. It's actually quite intuitive. I don't think I've ever actually looked at the controller for reference to know what buttons I'm pressing. Same with a keyboard. I put my hand in position over WASD (which can also be done blind, thanks to the little ridge on the F key), and then my eyes don't leave the screen.

You're not constanly looking at the keyboard or gamepad because we have a relatively big peripherical view which means even if you're not looking directly at the keyboard you're generally aware of each key location. Playing with a helmet on would be like playing with your eyes closed. I think you'd become desoriented pretty fast and would lose track of the keyboard.

Definitely not. When I'm using a controller, the controller is completely out of my peripheral range. Plus, I would have no problem at all pressing buttons I was told to press with my eyes closed. As for the keyboard, I can type about 40 words per minute with 96% accuracy with my eyes closed. Pretty sure I'm not relying on peripherals for that either. It's muscle memory.

[QUOTE="SKaREO"][QUOTE="the_bi99man"]

So I guess you didn't actually read the article like you said you did. If you had, you would know that they're designing the glasses, but don't want to get into manufacturing them and selling them. They want to give the design to someone else, because their focus is on software.

the_bi99man

Still. They clearly said they want to give the design to someone else, because hardware isn't their focus. That sounds like they want to keep making software, to me.

[QUOTE="the_bi99man"]

[QUOTE="SKaREO"] C'mon man, you're not this dense. If they wanted to make games, they would be talking about VR Virtual Reality goggles, not AR Augmented Reality. Here's the difference: Oculus Rift = VR, gaming related. Google Glass = AR, marketing related. If you wanted to make games, wouldn't you want to make a VIRTUAL world and not place models over top of the real world? Wouldn't you want top make HL3 a game played on VR goggles, not one that you have to parkour your way up the side of a real life building to fight the boss? C'mon man. AR = marketing and advertising purely. Now second point, who is currently developing AR glasses? GOOGLE. Valve vs. Google. Nuff said.SKaREO

Still. They clearly said they want to give the design to someone else, because hardware isn't their focus. That sounds like they want to keep making software, to me.

I guess time will tell. Cool gadgets are cool though.