Virtual Reality and AI? - next challenge for a retiree

When I got my Playstation VR my first experiance was "Skyrim VR". A breathtaking experiance. And I thought by myself: That's what I wanted for so long! VR is still at the very beginning and I'm not really happy with the limited abilities I have atm. But I will do my best ...

 

The plan is to bring my own 3D-content to VR. This time I don't look for the cheapest solution in contrast to my "adventures" with 3D printing. Instead I'm looking for a good solution. This means I'm ready to buy good hard- and software.

Usually I work with Rhino5 (850 Euro). As far as I know it doesn't offer VR-export yet. Additional I think about using Sketchup again. It's easy to use and SketchupPro offers incredible abilities ($695). Although no VR export as well. But that may be change in future. Not sure if I will do it soon. Probably later. Since Sony is soooo crackbrained with its VR-policy I cannot use my PSVR. I'll need an Oculus Rift (400 Euro). I ran the check at the Oculus website if my computer reach the requirements. Result: Nope! :-( Some day, when I'm sure that I will get good results, I will have to buy a new PC. Estimated 1400+ Euro.

During last days I searched the web for easy to handle software. Result: Except InsiteVR there is still nothing wich will meet my idea. Today I found Simlab Composer. This is probably the only one that can help atm.
http://www.simlab-soft.com/3d-products/simlab-composer-workbenches.aspx

I think I will end up at $399 if Simlab works for me.

 

If it works I will try to bring some Entropia Universe spots to VR. Could be interesting although it's not the game but just a scan. But probably it's worth it. I played "flat" Skyrim for several years and when I entered Skyrim VR it was a really breathtaking experiance. Without playing. Just walking around and enjoying this immersive moments. And dragons are really huge in VR - LOL!

 

ROFL! Thank you. Atm I'm busy with "Woman on a chair", parts for the stands of my speakers and "Deponia" ;-)

I watched the videos. I don't want to build something or make a game. The interesting part was #7. Put an avatar into a scene. But all this requires way more effort than I want to put into such projects.
I build or grab something. That's it. And now I want to bring it into VR and have a simple walk through.
I think Simlab Composer is better for me. At least I can import a lot of different formats. As for instance Rhino:

I will check it next weeks. For now:

I don't know yet where this road will take me to. I will keep Unity in mind. Main hurdle atm is, that I don't own an Oculus Rift:

Not to speak about a PC with considerable performance and finally a licence of Simlab:

We talk about ~2k Euro. That's beyond my abilities atm. But by watching this video I prefer Simlab:

I will check this one first. Looks much easier than Unity. Exactly what I want.

 

The die is cast. Woman on a chair has been postponed. [Pssst, Jamiras RL name is MichAel!] I will wait for the first warm afternoons at the loggia to do all this glueing, sanding, filling and painting. Deponia is running. The wooden feet for the stands of the speakers will arrive next week. I got the pipes already. But my printer is a bit deranged. I will ask shapeways to print the missing parts for me.

That means I can do a bit more for prepairing myself to enter VR. Since I got Unity already I will test its ability to import models from other programs. That's the basic requirement from my side to use it. I just liked that avatar in video #7. I always prefer 3rd person view. Could become a bit tricky in VR. Oculus Rift will work on my 3 years old computer for the first tests. I can use small models. Biggest problem will be to explain to my wife that I need a second VR-headset and to find a place in my little cabin to place it ***roll eyes***

At least I would be able to enjoy NASA's ISS-VR. (Does anyone saw "Gravity" in 3D?) Something like this, with completely different space vehicles/stations/planets should be possible with Unity. IF it's able to import other models. To buy "3DS Max" again (~$6000) is not an option. But "Sketchup Pro" ($695) is.

I'm afraid the main problem is that I'm poor and lazy ...

 

Haha! When I started with Skyrim VR I once put my controller on a table in front of me. Peng, it fell down to the floor.

 

A complete different virtaul world: Amazon's Alexa with an Echo. Crazy: orderd today at 14:30 h, delivery tomorrow. An invitation for Jeff Bezos to hang out in our living room. I will ask Alexa if it is possible to say "Jeffi" instead of "Alexa" for activation. I am curious if this device will really be helpful for me.
In the former GDR we sent greetings to the silent partitipants from "Stasi" of our phone calls. Probably I can do this occasionally to some FBI folks.

Great: I got 90 days free trial for Amazon Music Unlimited. Tons of music and audio books. We will test it.

 

Well, become a retiree with nearly unlimited time and a basic financial endowment. Very quick you will be bored, hanging out at home doing nothing but eat, sleep, play games, read "Der Spiegel". Soon you will start searching for challenges with new features wich enlarge your horizon or make your life easier or fullfill old dreams, probably old dreams from your childhood. Whatever, it'll happen, believe me ;-)

Regarding VR: Some apps are really breathtaking. Some are pure shit. I recommend to visit a local electronic market and test one of the VR devices. I can ensure you, you will be impressed. Unfortunately many people get motion sickness from it. Such loosers, like my wife and my son, can safe the costs of VR headsets and can have two or three barnstorming evenings in a good restaurant instead ;-)

 

LOL! These guys at Shapeways arn't really serious:


I need four parts of it. 350 Euro? Plus shipping? That means I could buy a new printer for 225 Euro:

plus material and printing costs. And I will still be below the Shapeways costs. And got a new good printer and some remaining material. That's insane!

 

Kinda ... my old printer died months ago. My new printer worked good for 730 hrs but got problems to extrude material lately. I cleaned the nozzle two times but it didn't help. I'm not sure if it's a problem of the hardware or bad material. But that's not the theme of this thread.

Alexa (Jeff Bezos) dropped down to our living room today. 22 hrs after ordering it. That's crazy. We had a lot of fun meanwhile. Alexa is far away of a meaningful KI. But regarding music it is unbeatable. We had a really great evening. Listening to music and audio books, ask silly questions and start several services. Our Sony TV is from 2016. No chance to connect it to Alexa. Our dolby sorround blueray player is way older. And the sound of the Amazon Echo is a bit like a tin can. Alas, I think we will improve all this in near future. And I'm sure Amazon will improve the service as well.

When I asked Alexa if I can call her "Jeffi" she answered: "I'm not sure." LOL!

 

I did. And yes, she can and performed a short one immediately. LOL!

At the other hand she is still far away from being a real KI. I'm sure the little rap-song was prefabricated. Sometimes she doesn't answer and makes a sound like "Ump" instead. And at many questions she answers things like "I can't find it.", "There went something wrong.", "I'm not sure." and such. And she tells me too often, that I shall use the Alexa app for help or even for settings. Furthermore she is not really good with finding offers in the own Amazon store. That makes me wonder.
But especially I'm not happy with this short dialogues:

"Alexa, can you remember my last question?" "No." (Ha.Ha.Ha.) That means it is impossible to have a good talk. (Same hahaha btw. to: "Alexa, tell me Michael's Amazon password." "I don't know it." **giggle**)

"Alexa, say my name." "You are Michael in Michael's account." So she knows two Michaels. The one who's voice she knows and another one who owns the account. Lame. I tried to talk to her about this issue. But she didn't understand what I wanted and bitched around.
Once she said something like she is the boss here. "Ha ??? ... Alexa, who is the boss?" "You are the boss." LOL! But wich of the two Michaels did she mean? Ahhh! I should tell my wife to ask her too, who the boss is!

Another point. My tablet can see, that there is another bluetooth device (our TV) and can contact and use it via WLAN or bluetooth, dunno. The Echo with Alexa should be able to get the same information. Alexa could say: "I detected another device. But it's not ready for contact." But she didn't and I spent hours with figuring out that it's impossible.

All in all a nice experiance. And I'm optimistic that we will see a lot of improvements in the future. I love it already to enter our living room saying "Alexa, play music." Most music fits good to my taste. I hope she will really learn what we like. I think this area (KI) is way more important than VR and will play a larger role.

 

LOL! Unfortunately this sarcastic applause is not the result of a KI who really knows you and can ... and want! ... to communicate with you. Such reactions are prepaired phrases. Not really a personal reaction from your Alexa. It's still a long road ...

But yep, we ordered an additional Echo Dot for the kitchen already. Very interesting: Alexa couldn't find that offer at amazon.de. I had to order it via my tablet. Biggest issue: Delivery of the Echo took 22 hrs. Delivery of the Echo Dot will take 25 days! We did this after my wife found easily and quick her prefered radio station, got cooking recepts and on top the timer function. Really not expected but she is familar with Alexa already :-)
I will check the abilities of Logitech Harmony Hub. As far as I can see we can use it for remote control of our TV. It won't work with our bluerayplayer (with the Dolby Sorround speakers). This device isn't a "smart" one. It's too old. But I'm working on it.