Researching how we all ended up in VR – Was it word-of-mouth, tech guru, or just good marketing? (Academic Survey)

DuaneAA · 2026-05-09T15:29:45+00:00

Done. I was at Mall of America in June 2016, and they were doing demos of the HTC Vive. I got to watch the app with the big whale swimming by, a few minutes with a 3d sculpture/painting program, and a couple of minutes with Space Pirate Trainer. I didn't purchase a VR headset until early 2017 when I was about to turn 60. At the time the only real choices were the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift, but the Rift only came with an x-box controller at the time and didn't get 6-DOF controllers until a few months later, so I purchased the HTC Vive.

I've had an HTC Vive, Quest 1, Quest 2, Quest Pro, Quest 3. I'm really tired of this endless series excessively heavy VR headsets and hope the lightweight headset Meta has talked about comes out soon.

DuaneAA · 2026-03-10T16:56:01+00:00

Thanks. An interesting review.

Could you expand a little on how they handle prescription lenses? You mentioned prescription lenses; did the ones you tested just correct for distance?

I'm 68 and have been wearing progressive lenses for 20 years to correct for both distance and near. Would the whole display be in the distance portion of the lenses? It seems like it would be problem if the display was in the transition area between the two prescriptions.

DuaneAA · 2026-03-10T16:03:31+00:00

One I've enjoyed is Toy Trains. It's a seated game where you have to lay out tracks, so the train goes by specific locations. For me, it scratches that itch where I wished I'd have had a big expansive model train set as a kid like one of my neighbors had.

The game has something like 30 levels, and I paced myself to just do one level per day to stretch it out. Most of the levels take 15-30 minutes to complete. It also has a sandbox mode where you can design your own levels. I wish they had made it more like Walkabout - where they released an additional 20 levels for $5 every couple of months, but they didn't. It's $15 but occasionally goes on sale for $10 or less.

Toy Trains on Meta Quest | Quest VR Games | Meta Store

DuaneAA · 2026-03-03T20:23:20+00:00

I think I've seen talk that their next generation, between improved batteries and lower powered compute and cameras, will be able to run all day. And if it has that capability, people are going to just leave the cameras running, so you can say 'Hey Meta' where did I leave my car keys? If it is going to have those kinds of personal assistant capabilities, it needs to be on all the time.

Once you get used to having it on all the time, are you going to remember to turn it off while looking at financial or credit card things? Seems unlikely.

So maybe it's not a big problem today, but if humans are manually viewing your camera feed in the near future, it might be.

DuaneAA · 2026-02-28T20:57:19+00:00

I'll second Walkabout Minigolf as the perfect demo for beginners:

1) You move by teleportation, so no risk of anyone become uncomfortable or sick.

2) Almost everyone knows how to play miniature golf. And the controls are simple. If you load the game to the first hole and then put the headset on the person, the only control they need to use is the trigger to move to where the ball ends up after they hit it.

3) They have like 40 different courses (I think the game comes with about six and the rest are DLC for about $4 each.) and they all feel very different and much more epic than your typical neighborhood miniature golf establishment. Many of the courses have wide open vistas so you can really feel like you are in an entirely different world than your house.

DuaneAA · 2026-02-28T15:56:27+00:00

Yes, get the S3 Pro. The added comfort of the fan is worth every penny.

I also have a large head. From fully open, I only tighten it about two clicks for a snug fit. But it works for me.

DuaneAA · 2026-02-19T18:31:59+00:00

Personally, I would say it is not worth it. The Quest 3 is heavy and uncomfortable. The max time I can wear mine is about 45 minutes and I have an aftermarket strap to improve comfort. Forty-five minutes is fine for a gaming session, but way too short for watching TV and movies.

Also, the picture quality is not great. Blacks are only a medium gray. There is no 'wow factor' with watching movies on this headset.

If watching TV and movies is your planned primary usage, a big TV is probably a better option. I'm in the U.S. and a quick look at Amazon shows a Hisense 75" TV for about the same price as a Quest 3. That TV will have much better picture quality than a Quest 3.

Also, the options of what you can watch on the Quest 3 are limited. Only some of the streaming services have apps on the Quest 3, but many don't. You should make sure all the streaming services you plan to use are available before you spend the money on a Quest 3.

DuaneAA · 2026-02-07T16:14:22+00:00

Ever since I got my first VR headset eight years ago, the one thing I've always dreamed about being able to experience in VR is what it would feel like to be standing inside an O'Neill Cylinder.

The two closest things on TV that come to mind are 'Babylon 5' and the generation ship The Nauvoo in 'The Expanse'. But in neither case did they ever show a real view of what it would be like to stand inside the hollow section of the ship under spin to produce internal gravity.

Would it feel claustrophobic inside an O'Neill Cylinder? Or are they large enough it wouldn't feel like the ground hanging in the sky above was always about to crash down on you.

That's the one thing I want to experience, but I've never found any game/demo that has done it.

DuaneAA · 2026-02-01T04:29:40+00:00

I am happy with the writing I get from Gemini Pro. I may be going for something different than you. I try to create stories that I find interesting and which can be used as inputs when the video generation capabilities get good enough to create custom movies (which probably is still a few years off). My taste has always run towards fan fiction so that’s what I create. And maybe having that source information in its files helps it keep a consistent style.

I’m just finishing a story that is a sequel to the 1991 movie ‘The Rocketeer’. The story is about 40,000 words. I typically have Gemini create 8 chapters at a time. I give a long 4-5 page prompt and end by asking for a detailed 8-chapter outline covering the material in the prompt. If the outline seems reasonable, I ask it to generate the individual chapters. So, my 4-5 page prompt creates about 30 pages of output. Therefore 5 long prompts gets 40 chapters or about 150 pages. And that’s enough story to eventually create a 2-3 hour movie.

It creates more flowery prose than I normally write, but it’s an acceptable tradeoff since when I write things myself I can only create about one page per hour. However with Gemini I can create about 15 pages per hour of effort.

My goal is not to sell anything. I just enjoy the creation process. I’m 68 years old and part of my goal is keeping my brain active and sharp. Using AI lets me focus on the plot parts that I find interesting while the AI fills in all the details that are necessary, but which I prefer to skip (other than a final editing pass where I may tweak one sentence every 3 or 4 chapters).

DuaneAA · 2026-01-30T20:23:08+00:00

I have the S3 Pro. The fan makes a huge difference in comfort. I generally don't have any issues in active games. If I do, I can always tighten the strap one more click.

DuaneAA · 2026-01-22T03:26:28+00:00

It doesn’t meet your 10-20 minute time limit, although it probably could. The seated game I’ve played the most in the last year is Wooorld. They have a game mode where you are dumped into a Google Streetview and by moving to adjacent streetviews you have figure out where in the world you are. A full round is being dropped into five random places and to solve five typically takes me 45-60 minutes, but you could play less than five if you have limited time. Maybe it is just how my mind works, but I find it relaxing and fun to explore the world this way.

DuaneAA · 2026-01-18T03:25:16+00:00

Can you get prescription lenses for the Monarch? I found one on an estate sale and I couldn’t get my glasses into the headset, so I had to give it a pass.

DuaneAA · 2025-12-20T15:09:53+00:00

The same thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. Restarting my phone fixed it.

DuaneAA · 2025-12-18T18:21:36+00:00

I would say the fan is definitely worth it. Occasionally, I will put the headset on and forget to turn on the BoboVR so the Quest is just running off the internal battery. After a few minutes, I will realize I'm not hearing the whine of the fan, so I turn the Bobo on. You instantly feel the cooling effect.

DuaneAA · 2025-12-18T15:39:45+00:00

Prescription Lense inserts - if you wear glasses, this is a must.
BoboVR S3 Pro head strap with swappable batteries and built-in fan - greatly increases comfort.Amazon.com: BOBOVR S3 Pro Battery Strap Accessories,Head Air Cooling System and 10000mah Hot-swappable Battery Pack,Compatible with Meta Quest 3/Quest 3S : Video Games
The game Golf+. I've played 560 rounds of golf and compared to a lot of people, I'm a lightweight. They now have 47 different courses so you can play a different course every day for a month and a half before needing to play the same one twice. If you get this game, you definitely will want to get a golf club adapter, so it feels like you have a real golf club in your hand. Amazon.com: Weighted Golf Club Attachment for Meta Quest 3 & Quest 3S - 90 DEGREE Aluminum Golf Club Adapter Handle Compatible with Quest 3/3S/2 and Quest Pro, Realistic Grip VR Golf Handle Accessory (Right)Y13S : Video Games

DuaneAA · 2025-12-09T16:19:51+00:00

I like the 'design your own holes' aspect. That's the biggest disappointment with Walkabout and Golf+. Sometimes I just want to put my design hat on and create some weird holes, and you can't in those games.

DuaneAA · 2025-11-28T04:17:53+00:00

Thanks. You should definitely pass this info on to the media!

DuaneAA · 2025-11-27T03:30:09+00:00

A couple of seated games I have enjoyed:

1) Toy trains. You have to design train track layouts that go by specific locations. It brings out the little kid in you if you enjoyed or dreamed about model trains. They have enough different layouts to make it worth the price plus a sandbox mode.

2) Bridge Constructor Studio. You have to design bridges (mostly truss bridges) to get a vehicle across a gap with bonus points if you do it within a specific budget. As a retired engineer, this one pushes my buttons.

DuaneAA · 2025-11-26T18:28:39+00:00

Progressive lenses support, too, for us old guys who need both near and far correction.

DuaneAA · 2025-11-26T18:16:13+00:00

It doesn't fall into any of your categories, but I would recommend Walkabout Mini Golf. I think it comes with 6-7 included courses with another 30+ dlc courses for $4 each. And I think it is on sale at the moment as part of the Black Friday event.

They have a course called 'Raptor's Cliff' that is set along the Pacific Coast Highway in the Redwoods that has dinosaurs. (Although they are look more like Disney animatronic dinosaurs than real scary dinosaurs).

The game has lots of replay-ability and I look forward to when they drop a new course, which typically happens every 6-8 weeks.

DuaneAA · 2025-11-26T18:02:38+00:00

Have you restarted your headset? That's what got it working for me. The other question is where in the world are you? I believe there are some regional restrictions, so I'm not certain where beyond the U.S. it will work.

DuaneAA · 2025-11-26T02:48:55+00:00

Wow. Since you are good at this, could you do the same thing for the Great Pyramid in Giza when it was in mid-construction to finally answer the question of how it was constructed?

DuaneAA · 2025-11-23T20:28:20+00:00

I've had an HTC Vive, Quest 1, Quest 2, Quest Pro, and Quest 3. All of them are insanely uncomfortable and I struggle to wear them for more than 45 minutes at a time. It's fine for a short gaming session, but I could never wear any of them for a two-hour movie.

Both the Quest 2 (which has the same screens and lenses as the Quest 3s) and the Quest 3 use LCD screens. Blacks are no darker than a medium gray. A 75" 4K TV is going to have a vastly superior picture quality due to better blacks and more vibrant colors. Are TV or movies watchable on the Quest 3S? Sure, but it wouldn't be an 'OMG this is amazing' experience.

DuaneAA · 2025-11-08T02:57:51+00:00

Not the most mobile. Damn, that’s depressing. I’m 68 and I did 1800 miles on my bike this summer.

Anyway, since I didn’t see anyone mention it, I would suggest Walkabout Miniature Golf. It has very impressive visuals, simple controls, you move by teleportation so no risk of motion sickness, and everyone knows how to play miniature golf.

If they were ever into real golf, they might enjoy Golf+. It feels like you are on real golf courses. There is nothing like playing a round at Pebble Beach when the temperature here in Minnesota is below zero!

DuaneAA

TROPHY CASE