THE FUTURE OF WORKING WITHOUT PHYSICAL MONITORS WITH VR HEADSET

Those who know me know that I'm quite a tech geek and also a bit obsessed lately with productivity.

I've been working with at least two monitors for years now. I firmly believe that the more things you can have in view, the less time you waste switching between viewing one thing or another.

A few months ago I bought a portable screen. It's a 15" screen that I can carry in my backpack along with my laptop. So when I'm at home I enjoy having three screens (a big 29", the portable 15" and the 15" laptop itself) and when I have to go somewhere I can enjoy having 2 screens.

Honestly, size matters. The more pixels I have available, the more productive I feel. Being able to work and have the code editor in full screen, the web on another screen and something else secondary on the third screen ... it's the best.

In the middle of these changes, I saw a video from Oculus, where they showed a concept of using virtual reality glasses to show virtual desktops and being able to work with them.

I got excited about the idea, got some virtual reality glasses, did some research and found several solutions:

• Virtual desktop
• Vspatial
• BigScreen
• Immersed
• The oculus desktop that I saw in the video
• Other options in beta

The problem is that I use Linux. I don't use Mac or Windows. And as always, this means having fewer (or no) options to choose from.

Let's see a basic review of the options I've seen.

Virtual desktop

Advantages

• It is best known.
• I think it was the first to be developed.
• It has a one-time cost of about 20$.
• Supports many types of glasses
• It is used by a lot of people to play games from their PC.

Disadvantages

• It is limited to Windows only.
• I believe they are developing a Mac version (currently not available).
• NO plans to include Linux
• It does not have good support for multiple monitors

vSpatial

• Available for Windows only
• Free, I believe they have paid options. I haven't looked at it in detail as it's not a viable option on Linux.
• You don't work with monitors. Each window of your programs appears independently.

BigScreen

• It is focused on entertainment and not work.
• You can have an external monitor only if you use Windows.
• It is free

I use it to watch movies and little else.

Oculus option

• In the Oculus promo video, they don't say release date. It is currently not available.
• It will probably only be available for Windows (The same as Oculus Link).
• They don't support Linux in other areas, so I don't think it will be any different in this case.

Other beta options

• I have seen other beta or OpenSource options that are very green.
• They seem abandoned (more than 2 years without new features).
• They do not work with new devices
• They are very complex to install
• Or visually they are not attractive at all
• I have seen a couple for Linux but seeing the demo videos... I would not recommend them even to my worst enemy.

Immersed the best option?

I think Immersed is the only viable option for Linux right now. Having support for Windows, Mac and Linux. It is the only viable option for teams with people working with different operating systems.

Advantages:

• Focused on work.
• You can use your real-world monitors
• You can create new virtual monitors (until you have a maximum of 5 between real and virtual).
• You can create rooms to work together with other people
• Has a virtual webcam option for meetings (they say it will be available soon for Linux)
• It has a free version with limited functionality.
• Allows you to change the working environment (background image)
• Support for having a virtual keyboard mapped to the real world keyboard.

Disadvantages:

• They are relatively young, still have some bugs, but support in Discord chats is very good.
• They support Linux, but it has less functionality than Windows/Mac. This is because Linux is the latest thing they are doing.
• If you want many monitors you have to pay a monthly recurring fee of about 15$.
• Only available on Oculus devices

So I recommend anyone who feels like working inside their VR headset to use Immersed. In many cases, the free version should get you by, and I think they are one of the best there is when we talk about working using our VR headset.

Using it on a day-to-day basis

Well, now we know that it is possible to work in this way and any operating system, but surely you are wondering if this has advantages or disadvantages vs working normally with physical external monitors of all life. I try to solve your doubts.

Is it comfortable?

Yes and no. It depends on the case.

In my case, I don't feel any neck or headache after hours of using it. Some people do have those problems.

I find it more ergonomic than physical screens since I can move any screen in any position and angle.

One thing to note is that you can work in any posture. I mean you can be sitting in a chair, standing or lying on the bed. I find it useful to be able to work standing up and not always sitting down.

Can you read well?

At any resolution, you can read decently well. If the resolution you have set on your computer is too low, you can simply zoom in. Playing with distances and resolutions you shouldn't have much of a problem.

It's also true that you can't compare a 4k resolution in the real world to the virtual 4k inside your glasses. I also don't know exactly what the pixel colour is really like.

For normal use or programming (in my case) it is perfectly feasible to use these virtual desktops inside the glasses. If you are a designer or someone very picky about resolution and colours, I can't recommend it because compared to a real-world 4k display .... it looks worse.

For watching movies or entertainment it's the bomb, but for reading or working it lags a bit behind compared to high-resolution external monitors.

Immersion, focus and productivity

You disconnect from the real world. For me, it's much easier to get in focus and not get distracted by what's around me.

I also use the different interchangeable environments to have something that clicks in my brain. One environment where I just work, another where I just watch movies and another where I disconnect and my focus is on finishing an important task. It's like switching rooms in the real world.

I have to warn you that the free version of Immersed has few scenarios to choose from. If you want more to choose from you'll have to pay for the premium version.

The good thing is that you can try it for 14 days for free and see if it's worth paying for.

In my case, in the end, I'm going to keep using the free version, since I won't be using many of the paid features.

PC performance?

If everything runs smoothly and you don't have jerks, it depends on two things:

• Power of your computer
• Speed of your router

Immersed works wirelessly, all data is sent from within your wifi network. This is good because it works wirelessly. But it's bad because if you don't have 6G wifi then you can't use very large screen resolutions, as it's more data to send/receive and everything goes slower.

To have a smooth experience, and that the response time is less than 1 or 3 milliseconds, they recommend using no more than 3 screens and that they are no larger than 1440x900 pixels.

And as for the power of the computer, it requires the same GPU to move the same resolutions in the real world (for example 4k screens) + consumption of 15-20% in CPU (to me it consumes up to 20% of CPU when I have been using it on my PC with an i7-8750H CPU).

I have tried to use screens with 4k resolution, and the problem is in the network. Having a slow wifi network, the glasses have a lot of lag and it is an ordeal to move the mouse or watch a video. If I lower my resolution to the recommended 1440x900, then everything goes very smoothly and I rarely notice lag when moving the mouse.

One thing to note is that currently the Oculus Quest 2 supports putting a USB-C HUB with an ethernet port. This means that you can connect via network cable your glasses and have a speed that allows you to have 4K displays. I have tested this and it works very well. The problem is that you have a cable that can sometimes be annoying. And you have to take into account that Facebook (the creator of the Oculus Quest) may block that port in the future. 

In short, if you have a good wifi router and a powerful PC ... you will have no problem using Immersed, but keep in mind that your PC will have a higher CPU consumption.

And to clarify a bit how I use the ethernet cable. I am connecting the glasses directly to the PC with the ethernet cable. I am using the PC as a bridge to share the PC's wifi connection using the wired connection. Another option would be to connect the glasses directly by cable to the router, but in my case, I have them in another room and it is not possible for me.

Travel and transportation

Completely YES. It is the future. To be able to go on any trip and take up to 5 monitors in your backpack .... there is no other solution today.

All the bad things

Not everything is good. This type of technology also has bad things.

Drinking

In my case, I have a bottle of water and I have no problem, but if you drink coffee or tea in a cup .... you will have problems.

You are blind, you don't see where the cup is and you have to look for it using the touch of your hands watching out not to knock the cup over. If you add to that that the cup is probably hot (coffee/tea) ... you have all the numbers to make a mess.

Add to this the fact that with glasses on it is not easy to drink from a glass. Either take off your glasses or use a straw. Another option is to use a container with a small opening, such as a water bottle.

Keyboard

Another problem is the keyboard, you don't see it. Either you know typing or you have a problem.

I'm not good at typing right now, it's one thing I've always wanted to learn, but it's never been a priority in my life.

There are two solutions to this:

• I have tried using the glasses along with the webcam. I point the webcam at the keyboard and have a virtual screen where I see the keyboard and my hands. The problem is that it's awkward and it feels weird typing this way. It's like typing with hands that are not yours.
• Another option is to use the oculus hand detection plus the new virtual keyboard that Immersed has released. This option has been recently released by the guys at Immersed in the last few weeks (October 2020). It allows you to map the virtual keyboard you have inside the glasses, with your keyboard in the real world. It works surprisingly well. It is still in beta so to speak, some keys do not match (in my case FN, arrows, numbers).

Videoconferencing

If you use a webcam like so far, people won't see your face. You only see ahead with glasses on that cover half of the head.

Immersed as a virtual webcam available for Windows and Mac that allows people to see your avatar when you are in a video conference.

Honestly, the virtual webcam can help, but it can be annoying for others not to see your face and reactions.

And on linux, right now, there's no virtual webcam!!!!

Coworkers

If you work from an office, from the point of view of your coworkers, you are antisocial. You will be isolated in your world. Some people may feel bad if you don't pay attention to them or don't look them in the face when you talk.

In my case I telecommute from home and I don't have this problem.

Scares

Being isolated in your world, you can be easily scared.

In my case, a relative who has entered the room without warning, or the pet you have gives you a blow because you don't pay attention to it.

Conclusions

It is possible to work with VR glasses during your workday. Not everyone can.

Those who have to look at the keyboard to type, or those who need a good screen with good colour fidelity and resolution ... better to continue as they are now.

On the other hand, those who travel a lot, those who work from home or those who don't have the space/money to buy a lot of external monitors .... is the best option at the moment.

I'm not using them right now for work when I'm at home since I have three screens. But when I have to go somewhere on a trip (when the Covid allows it) I will use these glasses to be able to have an office anywhere.