Here are my thoughts about META’s Nr. 1 VR glasses
John on the Oculust Quest 2, copyright by the author
Getting into VR has a clear barrier of entry, the price of the VR console. The Oculus Quest 2 is the best standalone VR console on the market because it is cheaper than most standalone consoles but delivers a fantastic performance. I have had the Quest 2 for a month or so, here are the things you should be aware of if you are thinking about buying one for yourself.
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First up what is a standalone console? There are a huge number of VR glasses available that do not process all of the VR experience themselves but instead connect to a computer by cable, this can still be a great VR experience but being tethered to a computer limits your mobility, range of motion, and therefore also the immersion into the VR experience. A standalone VR console doesn’t need an external processor so you can roam freely through a larger playing area making it a much more immersive experience.
Technology advances very rapidly. The Quest 2 is considerably lighter (68g or 2,4 ounces lighter) and more comfortable to wear than the Quest 1. This is a good thing but it also means that the next version (Quest 3 or a competitor) will again improve on the wearing experience which will make the Quest 2 seem heavy and bulky. It might take a few more years before we start seeing VR glasses that are as comfortable to wear as normal reading glasses, but until then the Quest 2 will probably not make the jump into the mainstream.
Me in the end of 2019 with the Oculus Quest 1, copyright by the author
Facebook bought Oculus a few years ago and by the looks of it, they are planning to set up a closed VR ecosystem like apple’s ecosystem. If they are able to force that through the consumers will not be getting good value until there is an open-source inclusive alternative promoted by Oculus’s competitors (like how Samsung uses android which is open source compared to apple). With blockchain technology and Web 3.0, we are moving away from closed centralized ecosystems and more towards decentralized autonomous organizations so Meta may not be able to set up the metaverse as a closed ecosystem, but they will still try and that will not be a good thing for consumers.
So with that said my conclusion is that the Oculus Quest 2 is worth getting if you want to get into VR right now and experience it before the Metaverse goes completely mainstream. It is the best standalone console (value for money) on the market but this is a very fast-moving market so it may not be long before a superior console comes out.
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