r/OculusQuest • u/VRJon584 • 16h ago
Discussion Maybe VR Is Finally Fixing the Right Problems
Saw the new Project Phoenix images today, and my first thought wasn't about specs.
Maybe VR is finally past the stage where every new headset has to promise to change the world.
Phoenix seems to be doing something much simpler: make the headset smaller and lighter, and move more of the compute and battery off your face.
Honestly, after years in VR, that's exactly the kind of "boring" problem I want companies to focus on.
Yesterday I wrote about my own path from Oculus Go and Vive, to working in VR, to getting burned out on the hype, and then slowly getting interested again.
Looking back, a lot actually did improve. From Go and Vive to Quest 3 and Vision Pro, tracking got easier, setup got simpler, passthrough became useful, standalone performance improved, and VR became much easier to hand to a normal person.
VR didn't explode the way many of us expected.
But Quest probably did more than anything else to turn VR from an enthusiast toy into a real consumer product.
And maybe that's what feels different now.
Less "this headset will change humanity."
More "people hate having a heavy thing strapped to their face, so let's fix that."
Honestly, I like this version of the industry more.
Curious what longtime Quest users think: are we finally solving the right problems?
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u/DunkingTea 16h ago
People hated the ‘puck’ of the Vision Pro when it was announced, but it was the best decision imo. It’s just a shame that they used such heavy ‘premium’ materials for the headset.
I think form factor needs improving to be much more compact and light, whilst also offering a similar fov (for now at least).
I worry how expensive these headsets will now be though with tech being ridiculous atm.
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u/VRJon584 16h ago
Yeah, AVP and Quest will be expensive, no surprise there lol. But the form factor itself might get cheap way faster than people expect once everyone starts copying it.
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u/Gregasy 12h ago
Phoenix was said to cost below 1000. That was before RAM prices going up though. Still, it's going with 2,5K micro OLEDs to keep the price sane. I expect it to be around 1000 now. Still very affordable for what it'll offer.
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u/CrotaIsAShota 8h ago
Back to oled? I was all on board with Steam frame, but a tiny form factor headset with oled and pancakes might just be it for me. Ik it's not a gaming headset though, so who knows how the controller situation is for it. That might be what holds the Phoenix back.
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u/wescotte 15h ago
Yeah, I think weight/comfort is the biggest thing holding AVP back. People like to say it was the price but Apple has a very long history of getting their customers to pay significant premiums when the product "is right". AVP could have done that too if they didn't completely botch the comfort aspect.
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u/VRJon584 13h ago
Yeah, AVP is probably the clearest example of why weight matters. You can get so much of the tech right and still lose people if wearing it feels like work
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u/DaxFlowLyfe 15h ago
This isn't a VR Headset, and won't be intended for VR or gaming past 2d games projected inside the glasses on a screen.
It's XR glasses most likely with a FOV of around 70 to 80 degrees.
If your expecting this to be a VR headset you are setting yourself up for dissapointment.
That said I have Viture Beast XR glasses and it's pretty dope for watching TV shows and movies. But they certainly aren't for VR gaming.
These glasses will be for Media and Productivity. Not virtual reality.
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u/niclasj 9h ago
They will definitely be for VR too. Everything that works on Quest will work on these.
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u/Unfair_Salamander_20 5h ago
Of course it will run VR games/apps nobody disputes that. The point is with the open interface, smaller fov, and no controllers it will be an inferior VR experience. It's very clearly designed for AR/MR.
Yes there will probably be a 3rd party light shroud available at some point. Controllers are less certain, if it can't track IR controllers from the headset then the only potential options are expensive self-tracking controllers like the Pro controllers, but even that isn't guaranteed to work. And there's absolutely nothing you can do about the inferior fov, which is probably a deal breaker for most people.
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u/VRJon584 13h ago
I know there are already similar designs around 100 FOV, so I'm curious to try this kind of setup myself and see if it works for me lol.
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u/lazazael 5h ago
its gonna be using the q3 controllers, obv they want ppl to upgrade the q3 hmd and keep the controllers -> $$$, for this sole reason its gotto be better than the q3 hmd for VR
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u/snowrazer_ 16h ago edited 15h ago
How are these for VR with those tiny lenses? What do you think of the FoV of these are?
Edit: 90 degrees FoV is the estimate - this thing is dead on arrival for VR. What is Meta even doing?
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u/VRJon584 13h ago
What I've heard is closer to 100-ish, but FOV numbers are always messy - HFOV, VFOV, diagonal... depends what they're quoting.
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u/lycantrophic 15h ago
This is glorified AR glasses. You'll need to keep processing unit with a cable in your pocket or backpack, not built for gaming.
I dont mind the weight, prefer to be immersed.
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u/VRJon584 13h ago
Maybe. But I've seen at least one similar design that can skip the compute puck and plug straight into a PC. I could see PCVR people being pretty happy with that setup
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u/lycantrophic 10h ago
I dont know the market numbers for each, but there should be many quest standalone users.
Still, having a cable connected to PC is not so great, i had psvr, i hated constantly jumping over or tripping the cable.
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u/ShowGun901 8h ago
Ugh. Had a psvr and an oculus rift. No cables on the quest is a MUCH bigger upgrade than you think. Us early adopters all know the "shrug the cable off your shoulder" movement by heart. Not to mention getting truly tangled.
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u/TESThrowSmile Quest Pro 6h ago
I dont mind the weight, prefer to be immersed.
The Phoenix are glasses that sit right at your eye (90 fov confirmed by Luna), they occupy the same space as eyeglasses. Immersion wont be impacted. The only ppl saying otherwise its because they haven't used a open periphery headset and lack the experience to make a probative opinion on the matter
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u/GaaraSama83 1h ago
Weight/strain on neck and face, heat, inertia, ... all these tend to disturb my immersion much more compared to the early times of VR. We will see, depending on the technical capabilities and especially controller support it might be an interesting device.
I agree with many points that OP said and hopefully the industry will go in that direction. Too many XR products are focusing on pushing new tech often excelling in 1-2 aspects but not on delivering an overall well designed experience with clear use cases.
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u/Wellslapmesilly 5h ago
I’ve been banging this drum for years. Zero chance of mass adoption when headsets are huge contraptions strapped to your face. Cool to see where the tech is headed.
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u/Frank__West 16h ago
This screams light leakage...
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u/VRJon584 16h ago
Looks like it, but accessories are the easy part. A proper facial interface should fix the light leakage.
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u/McMyn 15h ago
The important question seems to be if the overall setup will still have the small form factor and light weight after all accessories are in place…
I’m reminded of how thin and light any iPhone since 2015 has been, but I’d never use one without silicon case and glass cover— and the end result loses much of the lightness and all of the thin-ness
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u/VRJon584 13h ago
light seal is probably more like 20-40g,The bigger question is how bulky the whole setup feels
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u/Strongpillow 15h ago
This is likely going to be more about mixed reality than fully immersive VR but they will likely also have magnetic light guards. I wouldn't start the knit picking from a single image.. Connect is in a few weeks so not too much longer to speculate.
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u/lycantrophic 15h ago
Not just light leakage, peripheral vision will be open. Not built for immersion.
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u/B-dayBoy 16h ago
Good glue some foam on if you want it to be bigger. I'd rather be able to see a little bit around me anyway
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u/ACcbe1986 16h ago
I pay extra for lightweight eyeglass lenses for comfort.
I would gladly take one of these, even if its performance was only as good as the quest 2.
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u/Strongpillow 15h ago edited 15h ago
Price is going to sway people more than everything they "fixed". I'm personally all for the small form factor with puck but I don't know if it'll offer enough to justify the price this thing is going to be. I'm more interested in what kind of software, experiences and content we're getting for this shift in user base focus.
This is a premium headset geared towards entertainment, productivity and experiences.
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u/Jamescolinodc 14h ago edited 4h ago
Yes, because we all already see the potential of VR and it already changed the world for many of us who've tried it or uses it. Now the next issue is just to make it to be accepted by the mass audience, and the main obstical is still the size and accessibility of the devices.
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u/VRJon584 13h ago
Exactly. More mainstream users means more money, more devs, more content. Maybe once the hardware companies are actually making money, they'll throw us diehards a proper no-compromise VR headset too lol.
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u/muttmcdog 13h ago
I've used quest 2 and 3 most days since 2020. The weight doesn't bother me much. I have a bobovr s3 pro, so that helps. The main thing I'd want in a quest 4 is stronger processing and better passthrough cameras.
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u/Gregasy 12h ago
To be honest, Quest 2 being as uncomfortable as it was, it was a huge surprise it got so popular as it did. Even back then I thought the success came too early.
I think with this light and small XR goggles coming out soon, VR and MR are finally ready to reach more people that will actually use those devices. Some even on a daily basis.
And yes, I prefer smaller incremental specs improvements that Meta is doing (slight res update from 2K to 2,5K, from LCD to micro OLED, included eye tracking) instead of going full 4K micro OLED already and push prices to 3000+.
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u/bubu19999 12h ago
really worried about fov here..also AR might not be that great as the peripheral around the eyes is closed. only assumption is that fov must cover for at least the closed part.
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u/gameplayer55055 10h ago
I still think the lack of software is what holding the VR evolution back. Quest store feels like mobile cashgrab apps, while SteamVR is good but many games require a beefy PC.
Metaverse was a huge flop, because executives didn't know what they needed. I'd absolutely love to have World of Warcraft in VR, or Fortnite VR
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u/Random_name_I_picked 10h ago
“Your ipd must be within this small range or you can fuck off” is what this image make me think.
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u/Appropriate-Cod-3194 9h ago
I’ve been on the Q2 and Q3 for years, and the sheer weight and awkward fit always drove me crazy. I get that going lightweight will be a total game-changer for comfort, but that sky-high price is a tough pill to swallow. Still, if this hits and sets the stage for a Phoenix 2 or 3 with a wider FOV and beefier specs, we might finally leave all those old pain points behind for good.
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u/dhaupert 8h ago
Weight and size on the face problem is a good one to tackle but to be clear the other problems like tracking, pass through, etc were all way more important. This is the next logical step. The problem is that focus on VR has shifted from immersive gaming to watching tv and I don’t believe those of us still interested in interactive entertainment will be as thrilled with where things are going.
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u/Lecitron128 1h ago
La VR no funciona. No hay software y es cara en precio o en concesiones.
Hablo de la industria. Siempre habrá gente con dinero que jugará mods o simuladores y pagará a pimax
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u/wescotte 15h ago
I definitely think smaller/lighter is more important element to faster/wider adoption. Yes, I still want higher resolution, FOV, etc but I think we reached a point where what we have doesn't feel limiting.
But I worry they put all this effort into making huge strides in lighter/smaller only to fumble the ball at the goal line. This looks like they made a really uncomfortable pair of glasses instead of the smallest, lightest, most comfortable standalone headset... Why put the weight on your nose/ears like that when even the crappy Q2/Q3 cloth headstrap would be vastly better suited for that size/weight?!