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John Carmack's VR head-mounted display Interview (GiantBomb)
- Thread starter Salsa
- Start date
It seems like display manufacturers are aware of the issue with them including game modes for most panels. Wish the the trade off for less input lag wasn't the picture looking like shit though.
Every die hard PC Gamer was nodding and smiling while he talked about display latency.
I've been an HMD 'fan' since I saved money to buy an expensive piece of crap for my Sega Genesis. I've been patiently waiting for consumer tech to catch up at a reasonable price. Now that we're almost there we also need someone who is going to pay attention to the details. He hit every bullet point on the shortcomings of the current batch of offerings. I hope he keeps up with it because we're getting very close now.
I've been an HMD 'fan' since I saved money to buy an expensive piece of crap for my Sega Genesis. I've been patiently waiting for consumer tech to catch up at a reasonable price. Now that we're almost there we also need someone who is going to pay attention to the details. He hit every bullet point on the shortcomings of the current batch of offerings. I hope he keeps up with it because we're getting very close now.
macfoshizzle
Member
my brain hurts
this guy is talking about time and space.. holy shit, it seems like he knows everything about the realm of virtual reality
this guy is talking about time and space.. holy shit, it seems like he knows everything about the realm of virtual reality
SkoomaSuckinSwit
Member
I liked the GiantBomb interview better, but the Kotaku one imo seemed a bit more condensed and mind-blowing.
Shortly after he started talking photons & matrices, my brain stalled out and no longer tried to understand what he was saying.
Yet I listened on, interested.
PS - Doom3 for consoles now 60 frames per second, WOOT!!
Shortly after he started talking photons & matrices, my brain stalled out and no longer tried to understand what he was saying.
Yet I listened on, interested.
PS - Doom3 for consoles now 60 frames per second, WOOT!!
Typographenia
Member
Extremely fascinating interview. Glad to see Brad was heading this one up, even if he only gave a brief nudge in conversation here and there.
Between this and Jaffe's stuff last night, GB has been making a rather bland E3 worth my time.
Between this and Jaffe's stuff last night, GB has been making a rather bland E3 worth my time.
Dice
Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
That's awesome, and I love that he tinkers with all kinds of cool stuff like this.
Funny when he mentioned getting his hands on a vr display and discovering that the tech seemingly hadn't advanced for the past 20 years ... I can just imagine.
Carmack drinking game time... every time he says "on there".
Funny when he mentioned getting his hands on a vr display and discovering that the tech seemingly hadn't advanced for the past 20 years ... I can just imagine.
Carmack drinking game time... every time he says "on there".
Some really interesting stuff in there. Carmack is god-tier.
One thing I'm surprised he didn't do though was use FireWire. That would drop the 'Windows latency' as he called it a bit (fuck USB for realtime anything).
Regardless, it's amazing some of the things he refuses to take for granted - even things he has no real way to change but wants to get some ideas out there. For example, the idea of using eye-tracking in order to get data for focal depth simulation to take care of the other half of natural 3D detection. Crazy shit. I could listen to this guy lecture for days.
One thing I'm surprised he didn't do though was use FireWire. That would drop the 'Windows latency' as he called it a bit (fuck USB for realtime anything).
Regardless, it's amazing some of the things he refuses to take for granted - even things he has no real way to change but wants to get some ideas out there. For example, the idea of using eye-tracking in order to get data for focal depth simulation to take care of the other half of natural 3D detection. Crazy shit. I could listen to this guy lecture for days.
Ultrarobotninja
Member
Dat brain.
I wish they would have let the man keep going, looked like he had a lot more to say.
I wish they would have let the man keep going, looked like he had a lot more to say.
I'd be in for the second verison thats a bit more put together. Even better sony should approach Carmack and this other guy for their next head set. Sony has acess to optics that they don't .
Also the kickstarter should allow them to order a huge batch of the optics , might drive cost down a bit. I'd love to do it but i'm not good at making shit and i doubt i'd make a good mount. I'd prob have mine taped up also
Also the kickstarter should allow them to order a huge batch of the optics , might drive cost down a bit. I'd love to do it but i'm not good at making shit and i doubt i'd make a good mount. I'd prob have mine taped up also
LunaticHigh
Member
The reason for this is very simple. Most game companies send out people who actually don't make games to do their interviews. The pretty faces most companies send to do interviews have basically no idea how a game is made, or how the technology works. They are nothing more than producers or directors who usually (not always) have very little to do with actual game craft.
Carmack on the other hand, while I personally believe him to be extremely handsome, is deeply rooted in how games work, how to make them better, and how to use the technology to it's fullest.
That being said, it takes a certain kind of journalist to get the most out of Carmack, I'm happy they used Brad, because Brad knew exactly what to do, shut up and listen.
Karak
Member
He has and an insane amount. Just not in actual retail. The amount of devs who state pretty regularly that they are working with or on something he has talked about or suggested is huge.
Arguably even more so in the fact that he doesn't just call up TV companies and lay into them. He does it with MS, he does it with pretty much anyone he has an idea for and an improvement to suggest.
I would so love for him and Corrinne Yu from 343 to get together and discuss tech. Both have a VERY easy way about them.
Honestly I think if you gave them both a couple questions and made a youtube video of their answers it would be an insanely popular series. I just can't imagine 2 people so easy to listen to about stuff so complex. They both can explain things and though you don't understand it all they have a way of leading the discussion and making it palatable.
In terms of games, sure. His contributions in terms of rendering techniques, simulation, etc. have not. Just because developers aren't using his engines anymore doesn't mean engine designers aren't reverse engineering his ideas.
It's a 'rising tide lifts all boats' situation. His contributions to 3D end up improving the industry as a whole.
PinkCrayon
Member
I could listen to that man talk for days.
Well, there's a ton of overlap between 3D graphics, optics, VR, etc.
That said, I'm not sure people realize how smart he is. He's not just some great programmer. He's a math genius with tons of physics knowledge as well.
Hell, he founded an aerospace company and his heavily involved in their engineering - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillo_Aerospace. It's quite possible he may well end up being on of the main forces behind getting us space tourism
yep
I wish he did a regular podcast or something. Or even a limited run lecture series.
WHOAguitarninja
Member
He's their lead engineer.
Ah thanks. I kind of figured but didn't want to state it without a citation.
cubicle47b
Member
He needs to stop saying "on there" so goddamn much.
Very interesting (and cool) stuff.
I think the biggest thing I take away from this is that the prevailing myths about why the VR fad failed don't describe the real problem (i.e., that it's impossible to do because people will just get motion sick or that people thought the headsets looked stupid).
We just didn't have the technology to do this right 18-20 years ago.
I think the biggest thing I take away from this is that the prevailing myths about why the VR fad failed don't describe the real problem (i.e., that it's impossible to do because people will just get motion sick or that people thought the headsets looked stupid).
We just didn't have the technology to do this right 18-20 years ago.
Shai-Tan
Banned
I think he may be compensating for a speech tic. He used to make an odd sound during every stop.
gutterboy44
Member
This is the first video from this E3 that left me genuinely giddy with excitement. Thanks for making the thread.
This just goes to show how desperately we need people pationate about moving things forward and not simply satisfying board members. I love how he succinctly points out the absurdity of the present day display latency levels. Get this man his own conference.
This just goes to show how desperately we need people pationate about moving things forward and not simply satisfying board members. I love how he succinctly points out the absurdity of the present day display latency levels. Get this man his own conference.
Legato.Reborn-
Member
Nizz
Member
Is this official! I know it may look sad to some people but the thought of me playing Doom 3 on my PS3 at 60fps has me damn excited.
I played the game on the OG X-Box and I had a great time with it. But playing it at 60fps as it does on PC is sweet.
IcyBlueStrawberry
Member
For better or for worse the guy's essentially a robot, but his mentality definitely benefits video games and technology in general.
Saw this earlier, great interview. Always good to listen to John just talk about stuff he's working on. It would be really interesting when this technology is ready for primetime if one of the console manufacturers puts some real weight behind it. I've never used anything like this but just from impressions it sounds like a pretty profoundly immersive experience that could be used as a big selling point/differentiator.
SuicideUZI
Member
Carmack wins E3.
I wish MS would have invested in this rather than kinect
I wish MS would have invested in this rather than kinect
This is what the next video game systems should be. We've been using TVs to display video games for so long and that display technology is better suited to film. For games, a VR helmet would be the ultimate display interface for putting you into interactive experiences that are not passive like film.
Really amazing stuff and I hope Carmack continues to push this technology forward.
Really amazing stuff and I hope Carmack continues to push this technology forward.
I should be doing hw
Member
Oh man, I was eating that shit up.
Fuck your E3 schedule, they should have just left the camera rolling so he could talk more and come back for it later.
Fuck your E3 schedule, they should have just left the camera rolling so he could talk more and come back for it later.
SuicideUZI
Member
My thoughts exactly, I hate when interviewers rush Carmack. The man is a living legend in the gaming industry. Let him take however long he wants and get other people to take care of the scheduled stuff, and then post the full unedited thing for us later
Doesn't pretend to know more than he does? So you're saying the guy really does know EVERYTHING? Because he sure makes it seem that way whenever he speaks.
Then why does he use phrases like, "I believe" when he isn't sure?
bigboss370
Member
i'm interested in head mounted displays, but i don't think we're gonna see them in a big way any time soon. people still complain about having to wear 3d glasses.
Lord Griegous
Member
It is a rare thing, feeling wiser, after watching an E3 video...
PuppetMaster
Member
I was going to buy the Sony HMZ-1. But I tried one at a store and it didn't feel quite right yet. So I was going to wait for the next revision of that tech. But if Carmark's guy really can get that project going and is able to sell kits for ~$500 I'll probably get that instead.