While there’s plenty of noise about VR in the tech industry, it’s hard to get a handle on how it’s evolving and what it’ll spell for gamers in the years to come.
To learn more, I spoke to Frank Soqui, Intel’s GM for virtual reality gaming, about the future of VR and interactive entertainment at this year’s Intel Extreme Masters esports tournament in Katowice, Poland.
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The company has been investing in developing numerous technologies for advancing VR experiences, including physics engines and AI, as well as Project Alloy – a reference design for an all-in-one headset that cuts the cord and packs all the necessary computing firepower into a wearable device that could be less cumbersome than those from the current generation.
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Soqui, a 35-year veteran at the company, believes that the revolution will begin with the spectator experience before it changes the way we actually play.
TNW: Where does VR fit into the world of esports?
Soqui: Primarily, and perhaps the easiest way of getting there, would be from an audience perspective. So the question is, how do you get audiences to consume online the experience they want to see in esports? Take a look at Sliver.TV’s tech for 360-degree video coverage at live esports events? There are a lot of such technologies in the works – drawing the audience closer to the live experience, as well as into the game.
The other side of it is VR esports. VR is still fairly new; I don’t think the traditional esports players will move immediately to competitive VR games, but rather we’ll likely see a whole new audience for esports that’s interested in a whole new area of gaming. It’s going to be a whole lot more social and collaborative.
TNW: I have my reservations about that; for one thing, I’m not entirely sold on 360-degree video technologies that merely give you more control over seeing the space in which esports competitions are being held (like at a stadium, where you can see the audience and the players). I am, however, interested in tech that brings spectators into the actual game environment.
My second concern has to do with the roughly 45-minute limit on how long you can physically wear a VR headset, both as a player and a spectator. Do you see that changing in the near future?
Soqui: When there’s a compelling experience, I think that the time spent wearing a headset becomes less relevant. Industrial design is going to become much more important as VR tech advances, in order to make the equipment more comfortable to wear over extended periods of time.
I heard about a headset that LG showed off at GDC which looks interesting from an ergonomics perspective (the front of the headset flips up, so you don’t have to take it off to see things around you); Sony’s PlayStationVR headset is also designed for comfort. I think people are improving rapidly on what’s already out there.
The first set of headsets we’ve seen were rushed to get the experience out there, to test if they’re immersive enough (we’re starting to prove that it is), and how long can we sustain this – and that speaks to both, the content available and the wearability of the hardware. I think, every quarter or so, I’m seeing some new advancement in the ergonomics, so you’re not as fatigued. And on the content front, people are developing a wide range of software, from snack-sized experiences that take up only 10-20 minutes to games that you can play for as long as you want. It’s up to users at the end of the day. And what’s great about this space is that people are extremely vocal; if something’s not working out, we hear about it immediately and you can be sure it’s going to be fixed.
TNW: Have you seen any VR games that bring in some level of competition that might develop into full-blown esports titles?
Soqui: Survios’ Raw Data is a collaborative game. I’ve seen early versions of it that feature player vs. player, as well as in cooperative play and multiple team play. So those are possibly the beginnings of competitive games in VR.
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Source: TheNextWeb