I continue to find my Quest 2 VR headset to have been the best entertainment purchase of the last few years - it really is a unique experience, and thanks to affordable pricing and frequent discounts from Oculus, I've built up a nice little library of games to go with the various VR offerings within the system.
However, I have discovered an unexpected challenge in the VR experience. Due to its immersive nature, it's almost impossible to use the headset casually, or to do anything else while wearing it.
Whereas it's easy to sit at my iMac for a minute to just check my bank account or look at e-mail, or to munch away on barbecue Lays while playing a game in Windows, once I'm geared up for an Oculus session I tend to stay in it for a while.
The cliche of the emaciated VR inhabitant who has abandoned reality for the virtual realm actually has some truth to it, simply because it's a pain in the butt to stop using the headset for a minute to, say, get a drink of water or grab a snack. It's simplicity itself to eat something crunchy while playing a regular game on a computer, but with the VR system, simply finding the damn bowl is its own little event - not to mention having to drop a controller to get a free hand.
Oculus has made some allowances for this by adding a system whereby you can temporarily use the boundary sensor cameras to get a blurry monochromatic view of your surroundings, but again, it involves divorcing your point of view from the VR environment and then going back in.
None of these issues are the end of the world in terms of using the system, but you know, it really makes you appreciate how user-friendly the Matrix was when it came to issues like this.
- Sid
