Is It Time For MTBS To Expand With VR Articles?

[Neil]

Hello everyone,

I know that MTBS was originally founded as a stereoscopic 3D site, but that's not the only way things are Meant to be Seen. The Oculus and VR forums have grown a great deal, and it's rewarding to see that the community continues to grow and grow and grow. We obviously have a good thing going.

We have the means to create a VR section with articles on MTBS. We have an easy method for members to contribute articles to share with the community. The only thing is that while I've suggested this in the forums before, the response was that members were more comfortable with the forum format rather than the article format. It's a shame because the forums have grown to the point where it's getting difficult to find information, and great ideas can get lost in the shuffle. I've been getting PMs about this, so I'm not alone in this thinking.

Are there members here interested in contributing articles around VR developments on MTBS? Is the timing right to develop something like this?

Regards,
Neil

[cybereality]

I think its an interesting idea. The VR section has certainly grown a great deal, especially in comparison to the activity on the other sub-forums. More articles would be cool, if people are willing (and have time) to dedicate to this. Not sure how much free time I have, but I would be interested in contributing when I could. However I wouldn't want to see MTBS get totally caught up in the VR hype and lose its roots. I still believe there is strong need for 3D related information, since this niche is very confusing and many people need help. But yeah, its a cool idea.

[Namielus]

yes

[rfurlan]

I believe a Wiki would be the easiest way to get started. Having curated lists of resources (parts, projects, articles) would go a long way to make DIY VR more accessible

[WiredEarp]

Personally, i'm more into 3D as an enabling technology for VR, so I'd definitely support MTBS3D putting some more effort behind VR. I suspect VR is going to take off over the next few years, and it would be a good opportunity to become one of the premier VR sites. I think VR is going to be MUCH bigger than 3d.

[android78]

It's probably a good idea to have an easily searchable VR articles section. I'm not sure the best way to work the submissions though.

[zacherynuk]

It's a great idea! But perhaps a little bit too soon - there is a lot of debate and hearsay...

A proper threaded forum would help find information, together with vote buttons - and perhaps a wiki for collating it.

Threaded forums make it much easier to collapse the OT branches, of which we have a lot!

[Rothchild]

With the rising interests in VR, it seems like a good time to do something along those lines. The more information you can present to the public the better, and multiple formats makes the information more accessible. I rather enjoy reading through the long threads with multiple points of view, but if I were to send a link about VR to a friend or family, I'd rather send them a link to an article. As long as you get at least a handful of well written, informative articles then I don't see a downside.

[mahler]

I believe a Wiki would be the easiest way to get started. Having curated lists of resources (parts, projects, articles) would go a long way to make DIY VR more accessible

Sounds like a good platform for both articles and keeping information organized.

[troffmo5]

A wiki sounds great
There are al lot of interesting projects spread across the threads and i believe a well organized wiki can help people discover and join projects. But IMHO discussions should remain on the forum, and if progresses are made, put them into wiki. Something like rfurlan made with his thread on the first post.

[rmcclelland]

As someone who was naturally drawn to stereo 3D and this site, I think VR will naturally take over at some point, perhaps when the Oculus Rift consumer version, and its competitors, come out. Non-VR stereo3D displays will become a niche of a niche. When I think about what I REALLY wanted with my 3D system (3D Vision with a beamer) it was VR.

As such, I think this site should eventually become more VR focused over time. I can't imagine using my 3D Vision setup (or any other game playing system for that matter) once VR games are common (early 2014 perhaps?)

I think a combination of a wiki and articles would be good. Try it and see what people use. The wiki is for factual and relatively static information (ie lenses for HMDs) while the articles/news section has reviews, previews, links to other media sources, etc.

My 2 cents.

[wuliheron]

Definitely time to start. The technology is complex and the Oculus looks set to bring it into the mainstream. Best to get started on developing articles, webpages, and links to sort it all out before it becomes more popular.

[MrGreen]

I don't see in 3D, so there...

[rhinosix]

I was also thinking a Wiki would be a great idea.

As a newcomer it would be nice to have a resource to find out where we're at with VR/ AR-related technologies.
Since hearing about the Oculus Rift I've been looking at new technology in cameras, cell-phones, tracking, etc. and thinking about how it could be transferred to VR - but I just don't know what's been done already; what's new; what's novel.

A Wiki could have:
* A front page showcasing the latest consumer products and community projects.
* Sections for all related technology, including HMDs, tracking systems, data gloves, locomotion devices, etc. with all past and present tech archived.
* An archive of past VR games.
* Research and Development: A listing of the top problems that need solving; branching ideas for solving them; a collection of articles and other helpful information attached to each area of research.
* A listing of upcoming "made for VR" games, and a listing of old games that have been, are being, and should be modified for VR.

I'm into photography and often come across articles on viewfinders, sensors, lenses, batteries, and so on. It would be nice to be able to submit an article to see if it's of interest to the VR community. Perhaps a stream of articles directly related to VR? And another for possible transferable technology?

A Wiki could also include video game design theory (do's and don'ts); ideas for translating traditional HUDs into a VR environment; possible genres of games that will work well in VR; UI/ UX designs and desktop environments; technical limitations; studies on the effects of VR environments on the human mind/ body.

Occasionally I'll randomly think of concepts for how different kinds of VR-related tech could work, but I'm not sure if I'm completely off-base, reinventing something that's been done before, or actually have a good idea. I guess once we have a working HMD (the Oculus Rift) the possibilites for additional hardware are endless. It would definitely be cool to have a quick up-to-date reference and stream of the latest developments.

[WiredEarp]

I also think the wiki is a good idea. The alternative is to have 'sticky' threads that are regularly updated, but a wiki format would be easier to maintain...

[MSat]

A VR-focused section on the main site could be a good idea. It would be nice to see articles about the "hows" and "whys" of VR, so that a total newbie can drop by and get up to speed. I see nothing wrong with MTSB being THE source for all things 3D - and it's probably closer than any other site

[Neil]

I think a Wiki would work, and we can build from that too. I also agree that given that most products haven't actually been released yet, there is too much conjecture to have something of substance, so a Wiki would make for a good building block and things develop.

I have software in mind, and it would likely mesh with MTBS' existing registration system, so that's positive. What would be cool is if we had 3D images to show, I bet we can have stereoscopic 3D images inline with the Wiki too, if that is valuable for members. We will have to experiment.

Let me work on getting the software installed this week, and then we can see what we have to work with!

Regards,
Neil

[jayoh]

awesome. i think a wiki would be the best way to collaborate on such a fast moving topic.

[greenknight]

Yes and yes.

Actually, I would love to ask students on campus questions related to marketing the rift.

Free PR data.

PM me if anyone wants me to do it.

[Neil]

Ok!

I've made progress and managed to get Mediawiki installed - it's the same software that Wikipedia is based on. Registration will also be based on MTBS' forums, so that will prevent us from having to double-register, etc. There are some kinks I need to work out, and I want to get a firm grasp of how the software works before making it public, but I'm pleased to know that everything should work.

Regards,
Neil

[Neil]

Hi Guys,

I've been working on the Wiki software. I discovered a bug, and I'm in touch with the software developers to get around it. Haven't forgotten!

Regards,
Neil

[zacherynuk]

Hi Guys,

I've been working on the Wiki software. I discovered a bug, and I'm in touch with the software developers to get around it. Haven't forgotten!

Regards,
Neil

Oooh I just noticed you are running IIS - perhaps that's the bug!

[Additives]

Yes and yes.

Actually, I would love to ask students on campus questions related to marketing the rift.

Free PR data.

PM me if anyone wants me to do it.

This could be so useful to so many things. Might be an idea to get a list together from the people on the forums who are looking to develop end user products (the forums are teaming with people to provide perspective from an enthusiast/dev point of view) and try and assemble some set of questions.

General things about how people would like to use it, what settings people want to go to, favourite historical eras etc.

[Dycus]

And get a figure on what percentage of people have heard of the Rift, period.

[Neil]

Ok. I made headway this past weekend with the software developer. I'm going to have to change the registration mechanism on MTBS. It's not that hard to do and should be beneficial and easier for people to use in the end (whether they want to use the Wiki or not), but it will take some time to do properly.

Still working on it!

Regards,
Neil

[bobv5]

If you are changing that, it would be good if you could allow special characters in names, or at least spaces.

[Zaptruder]

Community Wiki + Curated Articles would be the ticket.

The main benefit of a wiki is that there's a lot of existing information to catalogue and refine. But the main benefits of articles is that it brings to light new information and perspectives.

VR been an emerging field with a lot of historical development, would benefit from both the community cataloguing, and the insight and perspective that can be brought about by new thoughts and ideas on VR.

And of course the forum themselves should continue to be the home for impromptu discussion among interested members.

So the Newest articles appear first, wiki directory below it, and older articles will be catalogued into the wiki system (in both the particular subject matter, and into just a general MTBS3D article wiki page).


Additionally, wiki sections could be open to user comments like articles and forum threads are - to help generate additional insight and understanding into the areas that the wiki articles are detailing.

As for contributing, I'm going to start a VR centered blog, and I'd be glad to shoot over some of the articles I write for it to this new VR article/wiki site/area on this site, if you're cool with non-exclusive content.

I expound so much on some of the more mundane aspects of VR all the time (screen resolution, field of view and human visual acuity among others) that I feel it'd be more efficient to just write a thorough article disambiguating the misconceptions then post snarky 1-10 liners everytime someone gets confused and or pushy about the stuff

[Neil]

Just a heads-up that we are still developing this. It's the registration mechanism that is key, and it's taking more time than expected.

Regards,
Neil

[mahler]

Just a heads-up that we are still developing this. It's the registration mechanism that is key, and it's taking more time than expected.

Hi Neil, are there any updates on this?

[Neil]

Working on it. I got side tracked because there was a death in the family and I started some new responsibilities at the local university. Will get cracking on it, I promise!

Regards,
Neil

[WiredEarp]

My interests in 3D are really a subset of my interest in VR, so I'm all in favour of more MTBS3D VR articles.

[Neil]

Hello everyone!

I made it a mission to get the semblance of a Wiki working on MTBS. I've been talking with Palmer, and there is definitely a need for this. Some of the brightest VR and immersive technology minds are all right here - and this community is growing, of course.

We are going to be doing some experiments with the site over the next few days to try different things out. So if things go bump in the night...it was probably meant to happen that way.

Regards,
Neil

[Pingles]

Hold on tight, folks. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

[Fredz]

I made it a mission to get the semblance of a Wiki working on MTBS. I've been talking with Palmer, and there is definitely a need for this. Some of the brightest VR and immersive technology minds are all right here - and this community is growing, of course.

I started one some months ago on wikinet.org, you can find it here : http://vr.wikinet.org/

Feel free to take anything from it and don't hesitate to ask if you've got questions. It's very rough on the edges, but I wanted to have some meat before tackling a better architecture and design.

[GeraldT]

cool - looking forward to having a lot of material easy to browse through!!

and coool ... you fixed the smilies ... almost all .... ....

EDIT: now you got them all (that anaglyph glasses smilie uses nobody anyway ^^)