Alright VR fam. We need to talk.
Quest app sales are down 27% year over year. The FReality podcast just shut down. The visionaries of VR have all jumped ship, from
@PalmerLuckey to
@ID_AA_Carmack. What we're left with is
@finkd and Meta, subsidizing the entire industry, throwing millions of dollars to AAA studios to make games that lose millions of dollars just to keep VR relevant. This is unsustainable over the long term and I'm worried that Meta will simply turn their back to VR as soon as AI/ AR Glasses/<insert next big thing> begins to take off. Every other large company has bailed on consumer VR, from Apple to Google to Microsoft to Samsung, Nintendo and Valve. I'm hanging with my daughter tonight who has had access to VR her entire life, but is currently playing a Steam game. Much like everyone I know who has tried VR, she just lost interest, and no longer even asks about it.
I love this medium more than I can explain in words. (Though I've tried here:
x.com/Anticleric/status/1290… ). I've poured over a decade of my life into it, dreaming of the holodeck experience we all deserve.
No other medium as offered so much, but I'm afraid for its future. Tell me why you think VR will succeed, and why it's not just about the friends we made along the way. As awesome as those friends are (truly, I love you all ❤️).
I want my holodeck!!
#VR Design Manifesto
AKA holodeck program guidelines
[a work in progress]
- no fail states
- minimize user frustration
- maximize user empowerment
- maximize user awe
- allow user to set their own goals
- don't put words in user's mouth
- don't push the user around