If you’re an entrepreneur or a freelancer, working from home won’t be new. What’s changed is the perspective, the obligation. Before 2020, we were more able to move our workspace to a coffee shop or a local coworking space for a change of scenery, or to feel more connected to our community. Doing so today brings with it a whole host of new risks, but our desire to be connected and to have that change of scenery remains.

Working from home has its challenges and benefits, and tomes have been written on the subject. This post will address something that isn’t covered in the main stream news cycles, or by many people at all. Yet. This post is about moving what we think of as our work space into a virtual space. The term “virtual” as related to work has been used to describe a physical workspace that’s disconnected from the company’s owned or leased space. We’ll fix that today.

When you see images or video of “virtual reality,” it’s important to remember that what you’re seeing is a two dimensional view of a 3D space. When you’re in VR, what you see surrounds you, it engulfs you. You are moved from one physical location in to a space that feels real. This is simple to explain, but until you put on a headset, the words simply don’t do the description justice.

Working in VR.

The concept of the “virtual reality headset” has evolved quite a bit recently. It’s been liberated, really, and has reached a price point that consumers find pleasing ($299). It’s less than half of what millions pay for their phones, yet the headset provides so much more. It’s an opportunity to immerse yourself into another experience all together, no imagination required.

Virtual reality is no longer synonymous with games and gaming. Of course that all exists, but for myself and many others, it’s a secondary or even tertiary use case. I use my headset primarily for work, then entertainment (movies, YouTube, etc.). Gaming happens every now and then.

A PC (Mac, or PC) is no longer required to enjoy virtual reality. Today’s headsets have all of the processing power built directly in. They’re wireless, and apps install directly into the headset. For our post today though, you’ll want to have a computer available. Its screen is what will be visible inside of the VR headset.

Here are the basics required for working in VR

1. A Virtual Reality headset. I recommend the Oculus Quest 2 exclusively.
2. A PC (Mac, Windows, or Linux)
3. ImmersedVR – the software that connects them together.

ImmersedVR has two components. First is the app that gets installed on the headset. That app then connects to an agent that is installed on the computer. The result, like magic, is that your computer’s display appears as a window inside the VR headset. If you have two physical displays, then you’ll have two displays in VR. If you don’t, ImmersedVR gives you the ability to create up to 5 “virtual” displays.

Getting started is incredibly simple: buy the headset, then install ImmersedVR on the headset and on your computer. It’s really that simple.

Frequently asked questions.

Why do I recommend the Oculus Quest 2?

It’s small, it’s light, its high resolution screen is perfect for displaying computer screens in VR, the battery lasts for what I think is a perfect VR work session (2.5 hours), it’s wireless, and it’s inexpensive. For the first time the cost of the headset isn’t the road block, perception and experience are.

Previous to Quest 2, a VR setup would have a giant wire connecting the headset (with no brains of its own) to a massive gaming PC. That whole setup would cost thousands of dollars. The Quest 2 is $299, all in, and ImmersedVR is $0 (free).

Why do I recommend ImmersedVR over other screen solutions?

While there are other options for displaying your computer’s screen in a headset, ImmersedVR is the only one built from the ground up to work on all platforms, and to make the experience a social one. You can connect to public rooms and have the ambiance of a coffee shop, co working with perfect strangers. Don’t worry, they can’t see your screens. The experience is mind blowing. When someone speaks, you tend to look in their direction to their avatar.

ImmersedVR is also focused exclusively on working in VR, from individuals to enterprise. With a paid plan, you can create private rooms that can hold up to 8 people. This means a small remote team can get together, share screens, pair program, work on a presentation or whatever.

The other most common software does show your displays, but it’s primary use is to enable desktop quality gaming on the wireless headset.

How do you type in VR?

The first question most people have at this point is “How do you type in VR?” It’s a great question because the thought of using controllers to type long form prose or code on a virtual keyboard is the thing of nightmares. The answer is simple though. You use the exact same mouse and keyboard that you would normally. If you’re already a touch-typist, then this will seem natural. If not, well, there’s hope. There are dozens of touch typing tutorials available on the web – just use them while connected to your headset! The rest is cake.

Think of it this way… the headset simply takes the idea of a physical display and moves it into the headset. Everything else is exactly the same.

How much physical space is required?

The Oculus Quest 2 has a guardian concept to help keep you safe (thus the name). You can draw, using your controllers, a space as large as 25′ x 25′ if you have room for it. For computer/laptop work though, I use a setting called “stationary” where the headset draws a circle that’s about 2 meters in diameter. Working in VR takes no more space than sitting at your computer (or standing as I do). If you reach out and come close to your guardian, then the guardian becomes visible as a warning.

How do I drink my (coffee, tea, beer, etc.) with a headset on?

Straws. Straws save the day.

What if I need to see the world outside of my headset?

The Oculus Quest has a feature called “Pass through.” This feature allows the cameras on the front of the headset to pass reality in to the headset. You can access this feature with two gentle taps on the left or right side of the headset. You can then see everything (in black and white) on your desk or in the room. It’s a beautiful thing. When someone comes in, two taps and you’re having a conversation. Two more taps, and you’re back to “the office.”

How do I make or receive calls in VR?

If you’re on a Mac and use an iPhone, then make sure that they’re connected using Facetime Audio. When your iPhone rings, your Mac will alert you and use FaceTime audio to answer the call. I’m not sure how to connect an incoming call to your mobile device to Windows. For outgoing calls however, you can use Google Voice and set the caller ID to your mobile phone’s number.

In summary.

There are three required components to working in virtual reality: a headset, a computer whose display will be used, and ImmersedVR. The benefits that working in vr brings (focus, social interaction, and team work) are well worth the price of admission. Feel free to share this post with your team, and I’ll be happy to field any questions.

The time has come. I’ll see you in VR!

How many of you remember what the gaming ecosystem looked like in 2007? There were consoles, PC gaming, Macs were practically a no-show except for “light” games, and mobile gaming was ports of 8 bit gaming engines and evolved versions of snake.

No one cared about playing games on the phone, that’s not what they were for, they were for email (Windows CE, Blackberry), messaging, and phone calls. Nokia’s N-Gage platform notwithstanding

Fast forward to today, iOS and Android (phones) own the market that was created when the iPhone was released… that market is called “Casual Games.” There’s been no shortage of debate about how powerful the phones are, and how well they can play games, but without a doubt, nearly everyone plays games on their phones.

These games aren’t typically using the latest whiz-bang graphics, or VR, or or even team play. They’re nothing like what a “gamer” would play. They’re far to uninteresting. The gamer wants wicked refresh rates, absurd FPS, and the latest and greatest GPUs and CPUs with as much memory as possible. Add a VR headset and the requirements increase further.

The casual gamer wants to be able to enjoy themselves, play puzzle games, grow farms, checkers, peer to peer backgammon, and so on. Things that run perfectly on their mobile devices.

What’s happening today is a very similar revolution. Oculus released the Oculus go, powered by what amounts to a mobile phone’s core. They’ve stripped the non-essential software and hardware and put it in the market.

What’s different this time? The Oculus Go leverages a well tuned app store ecosystem, developed with their partners at Samsung while building Gear VR. Why does the app store matter? Says Greg Joswiak, Apple vice president of iOS, iPad and iPhone marketing, in a Rolling Stone story called “Apple: How iPhone Gaming Revolutionized Video Games”

“We thought maybe we’d get 50 apps to start, but on the first day we had 500, and we thought that was an omen. But I’d be lying if I said we thought it would be as revolutionary as it would become. It’s changed the world. It’s changed the way software is written and distributed. It’s changed the gaming industry.”

Simply? Consumers want an easy button. The Oculus Go is incredibly simple, and easy. The Oculus Go is not for the “gamers” among us. It’s a very simple and elegant entry into the consumer VR space. It provides exactly the same experience that the current casual games do on iOS and Android, but in VR. You can play with friends, watch movies and TV, and of course you can do most of it in real time with friends.

Here’s a quote from a friend of mine, and new Go convert/evangelist Elie Finegold: “Got another one today for my wife so we can hang together while I’m traveling.” This comes from our first experience in Oculus Rooms. He and I spent the better part of an hour just chatting and catching up. He was so taken by it, well, you see what happened.

We’re on the edge of something great here. I hope you’ll follow along for more as it unfolds.

Previous Go stories:
New to the Oculus Go? Here are 10 apps to get you started.
Wireless consumer VR: slip it on and Go. Anywhere.

You may know the game Breakout, which originally appeared on the Atari gaming system in 1976. From there we had Super Breakout and a whole host of clones and variations in the 90’s an 2000’s. Arkanoid on the Mac platform was another of my favorites. Then came along Vector Ball 3D which turned the axis 90 degrees, so instead of a paddle moving left to right along the bottom of the play area, it now moved up/down, left and right. In Vector Ball 3D allowed forward and backwards as well.. This gave us a great glimpse of what would become possible once we could play in a truly immersive 3d experience.

This brings us to ZeroTransform’s Proton Pulse, one of my 10 must haves for new Oculus Go users. I posted to Reddit shortly after picking my Oculus Go asking if anyone had a recommendation for a breakout style game. Proton Pulse was one of the games mentioned, so I went directly to the Oculus Store and purchased it.

The game itself was written for the Gear VR years ago, and hadn’t been updated since. The tracking of the paddle uses head movements, as the default Gear VR didn’t have a hand held controller. Even with that limitation, the game play was still great.

What strikes me most about Proton Pulse is the environment itself. It’s very bright, very neon, and full of color and movement. I can’t help but think about the early visions of what VR would look like in the future (circa 1995) via Lawnmower Man, Hackers, Johnny Mnemonic and other scifi movies. Maybe the word I’m looking for is Cyberpunk. The soundtrack lends itself to this as well, with original music from Jake Kaufman [Virt], Dan Behrens [Danimal Cannon], and the developer himself, Justin Moravetz [Rave-TZ]. It’s pulsating and electric.

The updated Proton Pulse leverages the Oculus Go controller, and the game itself has been upgraded to Proton Pulse Plus, the same game that’s available across all of the other VR platforms.

This is a casual arcade style game that requires your attention. It causes you to put your thoughts on hold while you focus on getting to that next level. This is a good thing, and precisely the promise of virtual reality.

Proton Pulse Plus from Zero Transform is available for $4.99 (a steal in my opinion) from the Oculus Store. Yes, I did in fact buy it twice. It’s that good.

The Oculus Go is available starting at $199 for the 32GB model from your local Best Buy, or from Amazon. Yes, the link to Amazon is an affiliate link, so I will earn either $1.99 or $2.49 if you buy the Oculus Go with that link. If you do, thank you!

I live in 350 sq ft. with my wife, daughter, and two dogs. It’s nice to be able to zone out and be in my own space without having to be tethered to the PC and the Samsung HMD Odyssey. I’ve even used it outside in a camping chair.

My current usage patterns suggest that it’s a replacement for using Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Flipboard, and so on on my iPhone X. I set up a couple of web based Google Mail accounts too. It’s remarkably usable for these things. I have bookmarks set for all of them, so they’re just a click away.

As far as VR experiences, there are several things I keep going back to. Wonder Glade has several mini games. For some reason, I really enjoy the basketball and mini-golf.

Proton Pulse is a great breakout/bricks type game apparently made for Gear VR as it uses head motions, not the controller. I expect that’ll be updated, but it’s well worth the $2.99.

A couple of other interesting things: Mondly (interactive language practice) and MelodyVR (360° live concerts with multiple camera positions).

I also love that Altspace is here. That brings the promise of social VR to an untethered, inexpensive headset. I haven’t tested all of the games, but being able to play with others, cross platform, is intriguing.

I haven’t test the party feature yet. I have a few friends with Go, but if you’re ever online at the same time I am, I’d be happy to give it a shot.

Of course the consumption experiences are great too. Hulu, Netflix, Amaze, Gala… they all do exactly what you expect.

There are some things that would make the experience better, but they’re certainly not show stoppers. Copy and pasting text, a “right click” somehow in the browser, pairing of other Bluetooth devices (keyboard, mouse, headphones), and a way to view a computer’s screen interactively. Think Bigscreen, but two way.

Imagine setting up a virtual server at Digital Ocean with Ubuntu, and being able to control that machine from your Go, anywhere with WIFI. I’d love to use this for work, but like with VR in general, this is still a wide open area for devs to tackle.

More soon.

You can pick one up at Best Buy, or follow this link to Amazon. It is an affiliate link, so if you make a purchase there, Heather and I will receive a small percentage of the sale.

Thirty years later, computing has moved from a silo on a desktop to a globally disbursed, always connected network. Sure we still have machines in front of us, but they’re used largely to do things with the internet.

Consumers have never had more choice in platforms – all most people need is a way to access the things they’ve stored somewhere in “the cloud.” More and more, the consumer desktop/laptop is being cast aside in favor of smaller and lighter devices, like tablets and large screen smart phones.

It’s with this realization decided that I’ve decided to transcend the idea of an operating system, and move even further toward platform independence. Over the next several years, computing will go through another massive change, moving away from LCD displays placed 16 – 24 inches from your nose to displays resting quite literally on it.

As importantly, the resulting ecosystem will be, by necessity, platform independent. To use the social VR spaces and to participate in the future of work, you’ll need a machine capable of rendering the environment and a headset. There is no place for vendor lock-in in this space.

Great work is being done for the next generation of human computer interaction. Oculus, Vive, Samsung, Pimax, and many others are working on their best versions of VR displays. Room-scale VR is more than a sci-fi feature, it’s available today. The VR market is heating up, with competition in every space – input devices, displays, head and motion tracking, and even in world building. Apple is also on board, and that in itself should serve as notice to the market that a major shift is coming.

But VR is the future, right? Kind of.

On Wednesday of this week, I’ll be assembling my first Windows powered desktop PC in dangerously close to 10 years. It’s a workhorse, with plenty of power for the future. Today it’ll allow me to edit 360° video with ease, and of course edit traditional video as well – all in the name of Epic Mini Life.

It’ll also allow me to use any VR software title on the market with no frame skipping or delays what so ever. I won’t have a “monitor” attached to it, it’ll be “headless.” I’ll be using Virtual Desktop and Leap Motion VR instead of a mouse/trackpad.

It’s going to be an interesting experiment, and it may not work out exactly as I expect, but doing anything worth a damn is filled with the unexpected isn’t it? This is my sweet spot… doing things that have never been done, working on technologies that aren’t yet mainstream, and creating things that most don’t even know they need. Yet.

In case you’re wondering, I’ll be using the 4k Pimax headset instead of Oculus or Vive solutions. I’ll lay out more of that decision as the experiment begins.

You read it here… I’m building a PC, powered by Windows 10. I’ll keep my iPad Pro for portability, and I’ll hand my 2012 MacBook Pro down to my daughter, keeping it in the family.

Here’s to the future.

This is so weird. It’s abnormal. Maybe even impossible? No, but this lifestyle is in perpetual conflict with my desire to live high above, but directly connected by roots to the 24/7 vibe of the urban core. Walk, bike, use transit for the long haul trips. Everything is now, delivered to my doorstep, or streaming directly to my retina – by way of a fully immersive VR headset. That is equally attainable, in fact. But I digress.

What follows is a hypothetical recipe for achieving an off-the-grid life. To be clear, we have not done this, I’m interested in all of the feedback, however. Because, one day, we will.

1. Land
2. hOMe
3. Solar Power
4. Water
5. Food
6. Cooking

Land

I’m amazed by the surplus of remarkably inexpensive land across the country. These properties range from $10k to $50k, are between 2.5 and 4 acres, and contain the word “mobile” in the text, meaning they’ll likely allow a tiny home.

This spot is golden. It’s 3.8 acres of densely forested land near a lake, and a 15 minute drive from “town,” and it’s a remarkable $17,900. Yes, 3.8 acres for $18k.

The hOMe

The new hotness is the THoW (Tiny House on Wheels) – homes built on trailers with two or more axels – intended to be towed by a vehicle. They’re closer to RVs than a traditional mobile home (or double-wide). There are many differences, the details of which are far beyond the scope of this post.

And “tiny” itself doesn’t imply wheels – “tiny” can be the smallest permanent fabrication with just enough room to kneel and sleep. There are some simply remarkable builds in this style.

There are two primary ways to acquire a tiny home. First is to buy one outright. This can be a preplanned home, or used, and there are many options with each. If you’re going to order one, for the sake of this post, it’ll need to be designed for “off-the-grid” use.

The hOMe model by Tiny House Build is a fantastic floor plan. You can buy on the fly, or buy plans and build it yourself. The model in the video took the owners 4 months to build from scratch. Details: $33,089.72 221sq ft, plus two lofts 128sq ft. The full specs and plans are available here. This is an example of a modification to the hOMe, shown on FYI.

Solar Power

Off the grid means no city/county provided services. Power is the number one concern for many people looking at this lifestyle. There are many ways to reduce power consumption, and keep in mind that stoves in most tiny houses are propane. Add a wood burning stove and you can reduce power needs even more. Sure, $12,105.00 is a little on the high end – others have done it for less.

We won’t have a microwave or any appliances that will use as much energy, so I anticipate that our power requirements will be lower than the above systems can generate.

Water

Cistern tanks are the way to store water. The source of the water could be simple rainwater, a well fed system, or even delivered. Jesse & Alyssa, a couple in the northwest went through several iterations of storing water. Spend some time reading their posts. If someone else has done it, leverage their experience. Their blog is Pure Living for Life. Jesse said that you can expect to spend about $1 per usable gallon. I’d estimate about $1,500 for us.

If you’re capturing rain water or using creek water, you’ll need to filter it before using it for cooking or consumption. I’ve seen the Berkey Countertop Water Filter ($288.50) system in many tiny home builds. There are lots of things to consider with regards to water… but this is one of the tops if you’re not using city water.

Food

We’d have plenty of space, with rich soil to plant trees, veggies, and whatever else will grow. We’d want a greenhouse for year around needs, but the land would be used when available. I’d like a few free roaming chickens for all of the obvious reasons. We have one pescatarian, and no vegans in the family.

While I can’t think of anything else we’d require, bartering with neighbors is an option, and being close to a grocery store will make up the difference.

Cooking

Propane is pervasive in the tiny world. From full size to RV to single burners, the choices are nearly endless. If you have grid access, the sky is actually the limit – microwaves and toaster ovens included. Off grid choices are interesting too. Wood burning stoves provide some cooking capabilities, but think really far outside the box – to solar ovens and fire pit cooking.

The 65 inch range is great, and, in fact is what we have in the living room. Ours is 8 years old, plasma, and weighs about as much as a full barge on the Mississippi, but I digress. The size of the TV is a great match for the room.

Today’s consumers demand larger, higher resolution screens, to replicate the 100+ year old movie going experience. Thinner, lighter, and with internet connectivity and apps. You want all of the latest apps: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and it would be idea to have a complete operating system for the ultimate in expandability. Content is king.

But a change is coming. I’m not talking 3DTV, or the gimmicky curved screen tech of the past few years. Those are just micro iterations on the same old technology. I’m talking about something as big as the jump from VHS to 4k just in time streaming through Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube.

What if the best screen for the single person’s living room of the very, very near future was just 10% of the size of today’s best selling TVs?

Wait. Ten percent? 6.5 inches?

Let me introduce the living room of the future. Today’s TVs have a viewing angle of 30° to 40° based on how far away the screen is from the viewer. The living room of the future will feature 120° angles or more. That’s right, you’ll be able to use your peripheral vision to see content! It’ll feel so close, you’ll want to reach out and touch it.

But that’s not where the fun ends. It’s where it begins. Today’s audio systems are spatial – a popular setup is to have 7 speakers, and one subwoofer. This is known as 7.1 surround sound. In the future, you’ll just want to keep the subwoofer – it’s the speaker that delivers the real punch, the lows, the sounds that shake things. A “Bass Shaker” will easily suffice in lieu of a subwoofer.

So what’s this crazy future? A massive improvement in viewing angle, and just one speaker? Instead of one giant screen, I predict that it will be two ultra high resolution 6 inch screens, just inches from your retina. Content will be delivered in streams thanks to the proliferation of 100 to 300 megabit internet connections, viewable in a full 360 degrees, or rendered on the device itself. Audio will be delivered directly to your ears with the lows coming from the one remaining speaker.

People all over the globe are already living in a similar future. The future where the perfect TV for the living room is no TV at all, actually. It’s a PC, driving a Virtual Reality headset, with great headphones.

You see, in the future, entertainment will no longer be about size and simulated immersion. It will be about actual immersion, and that takes no space at all.