As of this week, most of us in Europe are advised to stay home to slow the coronavirus
spread.
We live in The Netherlands, so we are also in lockdown for three weeks.
If you have to stay home for that long, chances are, you will get bored or feel a bit lonely.
So I wanted to make a video on what you can do with Virtual Reality to stay connected.
Hello, everyone!
We are Cas and Chary VR; I’m Cas.
And I welcome you to our DIVE INTO VR series.
If you like to see more videos like this one, please subscribe if you haven’t yet.
And check out this playlist right here.
And now, join me beyond reality.
At the time of making this video, many of us have experienced the cancelation of events,
meetings, and other social trips, which is, of course, not fun.
In these times, where we are advised to avoid as much human contact as possible, VR or AR
could be an essential replacement for face-to-face meetings.
Since we are a VR-only channel right now, I’ve got some tips and ideas for you to
do in VR while in isolation.
If you want to skip ahead, you can also use the timestamps in the description.
And of course, I will link everything I mention in this video below as well.
Every VR app I mention in this video will be available on most VR headsets, but I will
focus on the Oculus Quest because that is the most accessible headset right now, with
its price at 400 US dollars.
Most apps that work on Quest are usually available on other VR headsets too.
Now, let’s get started!
So you probably have to work from home now too.
Maybe you have a colleague with a VR headset?
If not, it might be time to ask them to get one.
Because there are a couple of business apps that are pretty decent.
Take Mozilla Hubs, for example, which is a free WebVR application.
Here, you can share a virtual space with others online.
They don’t even need to own a VR headset.
Basic functionality is available to you, like sharing your screen, webcam, image, and video.
You can place a bulletin board, for example, and use a pen to draw on it and show others
what you mean.
Now you might think.
Why would I use this instead of a phone or video call?
Well, I think there are a couple of advantages with VR over traditional calls as you get
the sense of being elsewhere.
If you are meeting up with someone, it will feel like you are standing next to them as
you can see their body movement.
Plus, you will have spatial audio, so when someone speaks, you’ll hear where it is
coming from and automatically you will look in that direction.
It is natural that way, and that will help with focus, especially when you are in a group
conference call.
Creating your space and inviting someone in Mozilla Hubs works surprisingly easy too.
All you need to do here is open a WebVR compatible browser.
On Oculus and SteamVR, you can use the app Supermedium, which is also free to download.
Then you can enter the URL hubs.mozilla.com, click create a room, and you’ll get a unique
link that you can share with friends or colleagues.
When they open that link, they can enter immediately.
As said before, you can enter with a VR headset, but also without one.
However, in my opinion, it’ll work the best if you do talk to others with a VR headset
too.
There are more business meeting apps, like Rumii and Spatial.
These apps aren’t free though , but it might be worth a look if you are serious about meeting
in VR with your business.
Before we move on, while you are watching this video, don’t forget to leave a like
if you found it interesting so far.
This video can’t miss the great social VR apps out there, and the best ones are even
free.
VRChat, for example, is one of the most popular ones right now.
If you are into meeting the most random avatars and people from all over the world, then this
is the app for you.
Since VRChat is community-driven, there are tons of worlds to discover and mini-games
to play.
The best of all is that every time you log in, it is a different experience because people
can upload their own avatars.
One day, you can meet a famous singer and the other day, you can meet a Pokemon.
Usually, interesting conversations will follow.
But you don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, sometimes just watching and listening
can be a lot of fun too as many people are great at roleplaying their character.
VRChat has a lot of events going as well.
I’ve heard that people even go clubbing there and dance so much that they feel muscle
ache afterward.
So yeah, a good work out.
So if you haven’t checked out VRChat for a while, now is the time to dive in again.
There are more free social VR apps out there that are great, like AltSpace, Rec Room, Neos,
and Sansar.
I recommend trying it out, as it can help you feel a bit social again in these strange
times.
So, I’m probably lucky to live together with my partner, Chary, but some of you might
not live together with your significant other yet, or you don’t want to make anyone sick,
so you self-isolate.
Which is the noble thing to do right now, in my opinion.
So my next tip is for those that want something to do with friends or family: watching movies
together in VR.
One of the best apps for that is Bigscreen VR.
Here, you can create a public or private room to stream your own content from your desktop
PC.
So anything that you can show on your PC is possible.
So movies, but also YouTube videos or a PDF presentation.
But not too long ago they released a cool new feature called Bigscreen Cinema.
Which is just like a cinema except it’s virtual.
For around 4 to 5 euros, you can buy a movie ticket to one of the movies that they are
showing.
At the time of making this video, they are showing Arrival, Shutter Island, and the 3D
versions of Paranormal Activity and World War Z.
The fun thing here is that all you need is your VR headset to view 3D movies, and it’s
pretty good.
When you buy a ticket, you can choose to access the movie every 30 minutes until the showtime
runs out.
For the current movies, it is until this Friday the 20th, for example.
After getting your ticket, you can choose to watch the film in a public room where you
can meet people from around the world, or choose a private screening with just you and
your friend.
I don’t know about you all, but even the cinemas are closed here, so if there’s a
movie in here that we want to watch, we will try to check it out.
Just to note, Bigscreen Cinema is the paid feature, but there are tons of free stuff
to watch too.
You can even watch our live streams on Friday’s in Bigscreen 😉.
There are a couple of other apps like this, too, like Virtual Desktop, and Oculus TV.
But these have some different features.
Now, I am curious about hearing what you’ve been doing these past days.
Have you also gone through self-isolation or have you just started like us?
What do you do to keep yourself busy?
Share your tips below!
It will be interesting to hear everyone’s story, so that we know that we are not alone.
And as you can see, we changed our office a little so that Chary has an excellent work
station there too and at the back have more space to play VR games.
I love it because I think this is more effective for our gameplay videos and live streams.
So we hope to see you there.
A special thanks goes to our Right-Hand Patrons.
Thanks to artArmin’s support!
Check out his Board Games VR on Steam.
And thanks to BaxornVR!
Check out his YouTube channel.
As always, VR on!
[Bloopers]