Pei Qian nodded: “Yes, you’re right. We do need to redesign the entire VR experience area.”
“Let’s do this: keep all the host computers on overhead racks, with power buttons extended down by wires. Then make the entire VR experience area into individual compartments, with monitors suspended on the front partition, and foldable desktops below them. The desktops will have brackets holding keyboards and mice.”
“Design the desktops at a height suitable for standing use.”
“VR headsets and controllers will hang on the side partitions for easy access.”
This way, the desktop would have two configurations: flat or against the wall.
By default, players would use it in the flat position to operate the mouse and keyboard, find games on the computer, and enter VR mode. Afterward, they could fold the desktop against the wall to clear space for experiencing the game.
Since the keyboard and mouse would be fixed by small brackets on the desktop, as long as the mouse was put back into the bracket before folding, there wouldn’t be any awkward situation of peripherals dangling in the air.
All in all, if players liked to play computer games while standing, they could go ahead.
Pei Qian thought such players would be in the minority.
Xiao Peng nodded: “Alright, I’ll arrange things according to this method.”
“But… Mr. Pei, have you considered one issue? Slackin’ Internet Café is already somewhat overcrowded. If we remove half the computers in Slackin’ Internet Café 1.0 and replace them with VR, won’t that further exacerbate this crowding situation?”
“Then I’ll just have to open more branches.”
Pei Qian’s mouth twitched slightly. This kid, is he threatening me?
What’s the big deal about opening more branches?
It’s not like you wouldn’t open more branches if I didn’t change this VR game area. How novel!
The branches were already opening like dumplings dropping into a pot. Since they were going to open anyway, converting to VR experience areas would decrease income for all stores by a large margin, so I wouldn’t lose either way.
Pei Qian waved his hand: “Open if you want to. I’ve already told you there are no restrictions on opening branches—open however you like.”
Xiao Peng nodded happily: “Understood, Mr. Pei! I’ll start preparing right away.”
“Creating a VR experience area isn’t a small project; it can’t be completed in just a day or two, since we need to build compartments, purchase equipment, and so on.”
“I plan to renovate in batches. It’s perfect timing since we previously mentioned having Liang Qianfan help redesign the internet café, but we never found a good opportunity. We can take advantage of this chance to complete it all together!”
“Although these modifications will cost quite a bit, I believe that when it’s done, Slackin’ Internet Café will be completely refreshed, and our turnover will reach new heights!”
Pei Qian mentally scoffed, denying Xiao Peng’s last sentence several times over.
A complete refresh was fine to consider, but it would be better if turnover decreased.
…
Not long after Pei Qian left Chi Xing Studio.
Ye Zhizhou and Wang Xiaobin came to the conference room to meet with Lin Wan and Cai Jiadong, Chi Xing Studio’s current lead designer, to discuss some design details of “Animal Island.”
Lin Wan took several documents from nearby, sorted through them, and picked out one, then asked her assistant to make copies.
Shortly afterward, this document was distributed to everyone.
Each of these documents contained a different design plan for the new VR headset, and the one Lin Wan selected was the final plan.
Lin Wan said, “Mr. Pei has just made the decision that Tenda and Shenhua will each add ten million yuan in investment, meaning the research funding for this VR headset has reached forty million.”
“So, the design plan for the VR headset can pretty much be finalized. We’ll use this most expensive version.”
Ye Zhizhou, Wang Xiaobin, and Cai Jiadong all picked up the document and carefully reviewed it again.
Previously, Old Song’s team had many ideas and organized several versions of the plan based on different R&D budgets and final price points.
The version everyone was most satisfied with had been temporarily shelved due to insufficient R&D funds. Now that the funding was in place, there was naturally no need to hesitate anymore.
Lin Wan explained: “This VR headset will adopt an all-in-one design with wireless/wired streaming and a binocular 6DoF head positioning system. The lenses will have 4K resolution, a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz, and a 125-degree field of view. The 5000mAh battery will allow for continuous gaming for 2.5 hours…”
Although there weren’t many VR devices currently available, and they were mainly found overseas, there was already a clear polarization in the development direction of VR headsets.
One type was the pure VR headset that must be connected to a computer and paired with positioning base stations, while the other was an all-in-one VR headset with built-in chips that could be used independently.
Both approaches had their advantages and disadvantages.
Relatively speaking, pure VR headsets naturally offered better experiences, higher prices, and were more lightweight. For example, a certain VR headset in Pei Qian’s memory that boasted 8K resolution achieved a 200-degree field of view and up to 8K resolution, completely overwhelming the screen parameters of various all-in-one VR headsets.
But all-in-one VR headsets had their purpose because they could be used in more scenarios.
VR headsets must be used with high-end computers and connected by wire, meaning they couldn’t independently watch VR movies or be too far from the host computer. Moreover, their relatively high price meant most players had little desire to purchase them.
All-in-one VR headsets were relatively heavier because they contained chips and a large battery, but they didn’t require wires, making them more flexible. Plus, they could have built-in programs, allowing players to play some lower-configuration VR games—similar to mobile games—without needing a computer.
For playing large computer games, all-in-one VR headsets could solve this through wireless or wired streaming.
This was actually Shenhua Group’s strength.
It was precisely because of their confidence in the wired and wireless streaming technology for this headset that Old Song preferred the all-in-one solution.
These specific parameters were actually determined by Old Song after repeated consideration.
The all-in-one headset’s binocular 6DoF head positioning system, simply put, didn’t require positioning base stations. Instead, it had two cameras at the front of the glasses that captured the real environment and positioned based on the captured images.
Although the accuracy would be slightly inferior to base stations, the difference wasn’t noticeable to average players.
Moreover, these two cameras had special uses. When players left the safe zone or in certain special situations, the glasses would no longer display the game screen but would show the real-world images captured by the cameras.
However, these images would be somewhat blurry, like what someone with 300-400 degrees of nearsightedness would see.
Another crucial parameter was the screen quality.
The resolution of VR headsets directly determined the user experience. First-generation VR headsets all used 2K resolution, but 2K was clearly insufficient; it had to be upgraded to 4K.
In fact, even 4K couldn’t completely eliminate the screen door effect in VR, but increasing the resolution beyond that would be too costly and difficult to achieve with current technology.
For the best gaming experience, a 120Hz refresh rate was also necessary. If it was only 60Hz, there would be a sense of stuttering, preventing the smoothest gaming experience.
If the main function was watching movies, 60Hz would be sufficient, but for gaming, 120Hz was definitely needed.
The field of view was the viewable angle of the VR headset. If it was too small, players would feel like they were looking through a crack in a door, which was constricting.
But the viewable angle couldn’t be unlimited because a larger viewable angle meant larger lenses. Larger lenses not only cost more to manufacture, but the original resolution would also be stretched.
For example, a 100-degree field of view could maintain 4K resolution, but if stretched to a 200-degree field of view, the resolution might drop to 2K.
The human eye’s binocular overlapping visual field is 124 degrees, the range seen when attention is focused is 25 degrees, and the maximum horizontal viewing angle of both eyes can reach 188 degrees.
In other words, when VR headsets achieve a 200-degree field of view, they will provide players with an extreme sense of immersion, with no black borders in their vision.
But this was too luxurious and not feasible at the current stage.
Old Song set the field of view at 125 degrees, matching the normal binocular overlapping visual field. Although peripheral vision would still catch some black borders, it wouldn’t feel constricted or like looking through a door crack.
Such screen quality, combined with the all-in-one headset’s chip, would greatly increase power consumption. Even with a 5000mAh battery, it would only last for 2.5 hours of play.
This battery life was actually quite appropriate because VR games were different from computer games. The immersion was too strong, making players dizzy and tired if played for too long. Taking a break after two hours of play was actually reasonable.
Of course, if connected by wire, it could be played while charging, eliminating time restrictions, though movement would be less convenient.
This battery wasn’t small, so a rear-mounted design was adopted to balance the weight of the entire headset, with the battery part pressing against the back of the player’s head.
With all these features, the price of this VR headset was set at 4,599 yuan.
It still exceeded everyone’s psychological bottom line.
Initially, everyone wanted to control the price at around 3,000 yuan to make it more affordable for consumers and beneficial for the equipment’s popularization.
But there was no way around it; as parameters were added, the price couldn’t be reduced.
Everyone carefully read through the document and became well-informed.
The specific parameters of this VR headset would affect some elements within the game.
Game design could be described as the art of “dancing in shackles” because throughout all eras since the birth of games, its specific content has been limited by hardware parameters.
How to achieve the best possible outcome under limited hardware conditions was a test all designers must face.
Instead of immediately getting to the main topic, everyone chatted casually for a bit.
Lin Wan asked, “How are things at Shangyang Games?”
Wang Xiaobin smiled, “Everything’s good. ‘Fitness Showdown’ can be considered a success. At first, I was worried that the refund mechanism would cause revenue to plummet, but it didn’t. Instead, it further stimulated players’ enthusiasm for recharging.”
“Besides continuing to release new items for ‘Fitness Showdown,’ there’s basically no other work.”
Lin Wan asked again, “So what will be the next new project?”
Wang Xiaobin shook his head, “Not sure, we’re waiting for Mr. Pei to assign tasks. We both have some ideas, but none are very mature.”
The topic ended there, and Lin Wan organized the documents, preparing to move on to the next topic.
But at that moment, Ye Zhizhou, sitting nearby, suddenly looked up, seemingly realizing something.
“Wait, I just thought of something!”
“Maybe Mr. Pei has already hinted at our next new project?”
Wang Xiaobin and Lin Wan were both surprised: “Huh?”
Ye Zhizhou suddenly became excited and said to Wang Xiaobin, “Just now when we met Mr. Pei at the door, what did he say?”
Wang Xiaobin tried hard to recall: “Uh… Mr. Pei said to fully cooperate with Chi Xing Studio’s work, and if necessary, Shangyang Games’ matters could be put on hold.”
Ye Zhizhou said, “Isn’t that it?”
Wang Xiaobin still looked confused: “What do you mean?”
Ye Zhizhou paused, then explained: “Shangyang Games’ matters can be put on hold first, meaning we shouldn’t rush to start new projects or conceptualize new games.”
“Fully cooperating with Chi Xing Studio’s work is clearly not just about helping with game design. After all, no matter how much we cooperate, the design work would still primarily be led by designers here at Chi Xing Studio.”
“But our cooperation doesn’t have to be limited to that. We can also do things that help the VR headset!”
“For instance, what if we develop a VR version of ‘Fitness Showdown’?”
“I suddenly realized, aren’t ‘Fitness Showdown’ and VR a perfect match made in heaven?”