[Opensim-users] Oculus Rift:- Cyber Sickness

Tue Jul 22 16:05:27 UTC 2014

I have not heard about using travel-sickness tablests ?  It may help. From my own perspective I can now use the Rift for hours where the first time using their demo I soon felt iffy.   You can build up tolerance with gradually increasing exposure over time only I gather for some people it just gets worse (based upon traditional HMD research).  If it is for you personally I would try this first.

The problem is that my participants are new to the rift; some only vaguely familiar with computer games. From my lit review and H+S mostly on traditional HMD research it seems as if for some people it just gets worse with time. I am reducing the period of time as the pilot has highlighted where this is possible.  I have also been quite strict about my participant criteria and tightened this up and become quite cautious about withdrawing people.

I am awaiting the new Rift and will see how that goes. I used the CtrlAlt viewer by the way and found David Rowe really helpful. I have also put together a keyboard HUD for use in SL only text comes from the keyboard itself as I can neither touch type and peeking down just does not seem to work for me well either.  Have it for OS as well but there is a problem with it which I have not tracked down ( I have no great need of it for my uses). http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Alleni/221/80/23

On 22 Jul 2014, at 15:59, Kay McLennan <mclennan.kay at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 10:43 AM, Wade <wade.schuette at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> This discussion has been the most enlightening  I've seen in a long time!   
> Thank you everyone!
> 
> I couldn't agree more and further, cannot seem to disengage from this fascinating discussion!
> 
> On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 6:08 AM, DrDoug Pennell <drdoug.pennell at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> These folks have done some interesting work on creating characters that can be used in Unity.
> https://vhtoolkit.ict.usc.edu/
> 
> The "virtual humans" in the Virtual Humans Toolkit are fabulous!  In turn, I wonder if it would it be possible to use the Virtual Humans Toolkit in OpenSim (?). 
> 
> On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 8:02 AM, Fleep Tuque <fleep513 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> ... it's clear to me that the vast majority of faculty can't or don't want to use [OpenSim] in its current format.  Even if they have a use case that might take advantage of the platform's capabilities, the learning curve and support overhead is still just way, way too darned high...
> 
> I have observed the same [college-level] faculty disinterest when it comes to using (SL- or OS-like) virtual worlds in online instruction.  Still, I fear I [possibly stubbornly or even unrealistically] am not ready to “throw out the baby with the bath water.”  That is, I see alternative explanations for why faculty have not embraced virtual world use (see below).
> Virtual world use makes the biggest contribution to online instruction and online instruction remains a subset of traditional face-to-face college instruction.  In other words, most [not-for-profit] colleges and universities remain "chalk and talk" enterprises.
> The majority of [college level] faculty are either adjunct or tenure track and lack both the time and career-related motivations to actively participate in the “early days” of virtual world use.  Conversely, the category of college-level instructor -- full time faculty, with a primary focus on teaching and a secondary focus on research (coincidentally like me!) -- are in the minority.  In other words, the "deck is stacked" against faculty use.
> I envision a “tipping-point” moment for virtual world use for all categories of instructors IF some of the “ease of use” issues are solved.  In other words, once virtual world use gains some traction, I think it will become more mainstream.  
> I am still of the mindset that all categories of faculty would become more interested if they had access to more "turn key" simulation examples.  Most of the virtual world builds I tour do not include supporting materials, lesson plans, etc.
> I am convinced more work needs to be done on finding "the right formula" for maximizing student learning outcomes.  In other words, we are in the early days when it comes to studying which types of virtual world educational simulations are the most effective.
> ...The programming and scene creation tools [in Unity] are much more powerful (one word - PREFABS*), we can deploy it in web browsers, on tablets, or as standalone programs, and the technical support costs are much, MUCH lower for my team...
> 
> I am intrigued (by lower costs)!  Accordingly, at a minimum, I need to keep an eye on the showcase examples of educational simulations created in Unity!
> 
> On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 6:48 PM, Justin Clark-Casey <jjustincc at googlemail.com> wrote:
> 
> ...I think there is vast scope for the OpenSimulator ecosystem to continue to evolve with features such as template objects, multi-level linksets, more intuitive viewers and to adapt to technological evolution as embodied by new hardware such as the Oculus Rift...
> 
> I agree with the need for more evolution in the above [OpenSimulator ecosystem] items.  Still, as I mentioned above, I would similarly like to see more “turn key” educational simulations showcased and even made available to the community.  [Note:  I am working on assembling my own “turn key” simulation to give away.]
> 
> On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 10:38 PM, Wade Schuette <wade.schuette at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> ...if your own team or department does NOT currently prefer to meet in virtual reality over face-to-face,   let's focus on what we can change to improve things for THAT sub-population,  because any improvements there will pay off with massively compounded interest...
> 
> I second Wade's challenge!  Also, my [college level] students continue to show the most interest in virtual world use (and accordingly are decidedly “up for the challenge”).  However, when it comes to the [higher education] administrators and faculty I work with, like Tom suggested, I would get a better response from suggesting all the administrators and faculty have B.O.! (smile)
> 
> On Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 3:14 AM, Tom Willans <tom.willans at bessacarr.com> wrote:
> 
> ...Is it time to pull together these strands about what will make a better OpenSim?
> 
> YES!  Again, I hope my [soon to be released] contribution will be a “turn key” educational simulation give away.  Yet, what I think is really needed is a [lightweight] user centered viewer.  
> 
> Finally (in response to Tom's mention of motion sickness), has anyone tried over-the-counter and/or prescription motion sickness medicine when using their Oculus Rift?  [Or is my question naive (as I wait for my Oculus Rift headset to arrive in the mail this month)?]
> 
> Best,
> Kay
> 
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