【005】YC - 如何入局VR行业（节选）

Ylisar

原文：https://www.ycombinator.com/library/52-how-to-get-into-vr

VR技术早已存在

“VR is not a new technology. It just became accessible.” - Jeremy Bailenson (Stanford VHIL)

VR technology has existed for many years, in many forms, from stereoscopes1to flight simulators.In the last few decades, head mounted displays (HMDs) have emerged as the standard for delivering VR experiences.

Only recently have developments in VR become more visible to the public eye. CPU/GPUs have reached a point where they can provide high-fidelity, immersive experiences for reasonable prices. Smartphones have enabled mobile VR as cheaper and more accessible options that don’t require you to be tethered to high-end computer.

VR和AR是一对兄弟

VR entails simulated worlds, and AR entails overlaid information in the real world.We can see the difference more clearly if we take the application of surgery as an example. VR can be used to simulate training for surgeons, while AR can be used to superimpose instructions and diagnostics on a live view in real-time surgeries.

Some people believe that virtual reality is a stepping stone to augmented reality. While there exist larger technological leaps necessary to achieving high-fidelity AR, the strides made in VR development can help push us there.

VR是一个工程技术问题

There is no such thing as VR... only tracking, rendering, and display. Tracking is the process of recording the user’s location and orientation in 3D space. Rendering is the process of constructing the appropriate image for a user. Display refers to the fidelity with which the hardware can produce the rendered image.

We need to solve each of these problems well enough that a user doesn’t feel sick or uncomfortable.This is a hard problem. For reference, traditional PC games render at a resolution of 1920x1080 at a refresh rate 60Hz. The Oculus Rift runs at 2160x1200 at 90Hz (over two displays-- one for each eye).

In other words, current VR solutions need to effectively render at 1080p, for two eyes, at a much higher refresh rate than PC games.At the same time, the processor needs to track a user’s location and provide that information to the headset with as little latency as possible.

VR应用场景远不止游戏

VR will also enable immersive concerts, reinvented museums, and live, court-side sporting events. With VR, videoconferencing will improve, with better eye contact and the inclusion of nuanced, non-verbal cues. The cost of training will plummet without the need for human trainers in industries like construction or manufacturing.

VR处在行业发展早期

There is no standard. No best practices. Everyone is trying something different.

我们已经摸到AR的门，但技术远还没有成熟

In many ways, it is more approachable to start prototyping in AR than it is in VR. With mobile phones, infrmation provided by GPS and cameras can augment our experiences with the world around us (think Pokemon GO).

However, AR faces many challenges that don’t exist in VR. By nature of the experience, AR technologies benefit from being untethered, so you can take advantage of the space around you. What does this mean for computing resources if we can’t carry a high-end gaming computer on our backs?

Other challenges in AR lie in hardware and HCI-- how do we create see-through displays with a large field of view? How do we create a form factor thatpeople would actually wear in public?

现在投身内容创作是个不错的时机

Download a game engine, like Unity or Unreal Engine, and start hacking. If you’ve developed games before, you’ll notice that the process is very familiar, except your headset is rigged to the correspond with the in-game camera.More generally, these game engines are engineered to be very intuitive and easy to learn.