Virtual Reality Headsets - worth the money? (1 Viewer)

[Jon]

A buddhist would say that you cannot say if an individual event is either good or bad, it is just so.

A story to illustrate the point: https://mindfulness.com/mindful-living/are-these-bad-times-or-good-times-the-story-of-the-zen-farmer

I've heard good things about the Kiwi strap. Cheaper and better! I have the BoboVR, which is similar. Cost me about £50 and comes with a battery pack too.

 

[moke123]

When I got the first credit I bought the mixed reality piano app just for Ha ha's and to try it out. It's actually a lot of fun.

 

[Jon]

I was thinking about getting that because I used to play keyboards. Got a few synthesizers in the attic: Korg M1, Juno 6, Ensoniq ESQ1.

 

[AccessBlaster]

A buddhist would say that you cannot say if an individual event is either good or bad, it is just so.

A story to illustrate the point: https://mindfulness.com/mindful-living/are-these-bad-times-or-good-times-the-story-of-the-zen-farmer

While working for the school district supervisors and above were required to attend mindfulness meetings. I remember being so triggered by this. They hired a guru looking dude with shaggy hair, linen, and bare feet. It wasn't until I was long retired that I understood the message.

Everything's about perspective.

 

[Jon]

Everything's about perspective.

There are many ways to frame the same thing. I remember a friend of mine who had recently split from his girlfriend and he was depressed. I told him that story. He later told me that it really helped. Eventually, he found a really great partner, got married, had 3 kids and seems very happy now.

 

[Gasman]

@Jon
Any updates on your progress with this kit?

 

[Jon]

I've stopped in the last month. My poor cat was dying and everything went out the window. I will start up again soon, spending up to 1 hour per day again. The 1hr 40m per day I was doing for about 3 months, 7 days per week is a big commitment and I only did that to make some rapid initial progress. I was 13st 12.5lbs when I started it all and I am now 12st 12lbs. I did get down to 12st 9.5lbs but because of aforementioned reasons the shit hit the fan.

What is great about it is that I can do a workout whilst standing still! I have little room in my home office, so my feet are rooted to the spot. My favourite thing is the table tennis game. If a player hits it at an acute angle, I cannot reach it because my hand will hit the desk.

I reckon I've spent about 150 hours in VR so far. That works out at around £4 per hour assuming no resale value and I never use it again. So if I binned it now, I would have still gotten good value. My resting heart rate got down to 59, which is pretty good given my advanced age (coincidentally 59 today!). My cardio fitness level is now between 47 and 51 which puts me in the excellent range for my age. Thank you VR!

 

[moke123]

Happy Birthday @Jon

 

[moke123]

I'm still playing vr golf everyday. I started using the golf club attachment and actually got my golf swing back. I hadn't played in @ 15 years due to a shoulder problem. The VR practice fixed it! When I took my clubs out of the shed I found that some critter built a nest in the bag which left the grips kind of shitty. I went and bought a new set of clubs and a practice net for the backyard. Been to the range a few times too. Planning on playing my first round with my daughter next week.

 

[Jon]

You mean it fixed your shoulder? Loosened it up?

The translation from VR to real world has gotta be a thing. Some people dispute this with the table tennis game, but what you are doing is building up a) rapid decision making given a certain situation, b) skill muscle memory, c) fitness. For example, there is certain footwork that you are supposed to use for good maneuverability, but I never did it. I did my own bodged version. Why? Not much chance to drill it. When I go to a local club, the other participant doesn't want to help me work on my drills, they just want to play! If I had the space in my office I could easily drill that footwork at my leisure. Another example is I used to always return backspin with backspin, but in VR I managed to drill topspin returns against backspin for a more aggressive addition to my shot repertoire.

 

[moke123]

You mean it fixed your shoulder? Loosened it up?

It was a totally stubborn male thing, never went to the doctor. It was just painful raising my arm above my shoulder which lasted a couple years in varying degrees. End result was losing my swing and range of motion. Using the golf club attachment definitely helped me get my swing back, for better or worse.

My daughter is an avid golfer, plays at least once a week with her boyfriend for the last 2 years. She's been pushing me to play for quite some time. I'm not sure if it's to spend time with me or for me to pay the green fees.

 

[Jon]

I totally get the doctor thing. There always seem to be other things that are more important than a niggle. Get to it when it gets really bad.

WIth this VR stuff, perhaps it's a bit like marmite. As seen in previous discussions in this thread, OP bought and returned, whilst both you and I still use ours.

 

[moke123]

whilst both you and I still use ours.

I go back to the GearVR which I think came out in about 2014.

 

[Jon]

I'm not sure how good they are but I noticed a big improvement from the Oculus Go to the Oculus Quest 3. It is now usable.