Comment by dahwolf
3 years ago
I must be old-fashioned or even anti-social, but what exactly is the point of watching a movie together remotely? Does it become some kind of group debate that constantly interrupts the movie?
3 years ago
I must be old-fashioned or even anti-social, but what exactly is the point of watching a movie together remotely? Does it become some kind of group debate that constantly interrupts the movie?
With comedies you're laughing together and it's awesome. I did that constantly during COVID with friends. Especially great for reality TV shows, you can pause and make jokes about what's going on.
It's really fun to pause and chat about what's happening and then resume. Yes it's constantly interrupting the movie but that's the whole point. But because you pause you're not missing dialog or anything.
I mean, do you not see a difference in watching something on a couch with friends vs. watching the same thing by yourself?
I'll come clean and admit that as it comes to watching movies, I'm anti-social. I do not want to discuss the movie whilst watching it, at all.
Lighter content like the news, a talk show, things like that...sure.
During Covid & lockdowns, loads of people watched movies together. It's not much different from watching a movie with a friend at your own place. VR gives the activity sense of presence which is hard to describe, but basically it's even more of a social experience.
> It's not much different from watching a movie with a friend at your own place
not to sound rude, but that's a bit of a stretch.
It is much different.
Maybe not better overall for some people, but very much different it is.
> VR gives the activity sense of presence which is hard to describe
Not really hard, it's similar to proprioception
Difference is proprioception enables you to feel limbs that are actually there, which is not as good as tricking your brain to feel something that it's not there.
>not to sound rude, but that's a bit of a stretch.
Not to me. I've spent several thousand hours in VR. When it comes to watching a video with someone else online, the most immersive way is in VR. Things like the now defunct Rabb.it or Watch Together are for many technical reasons better (no screen door, don't need any bulky headset). But it doesn't feel like being there with your friend.
>Difference is proprioception enables you to feel limbs that are actually there, which is not as good as tricking your brain to feel something that it's not there.
I've witnessed dozens of people who can "feel" a virtual touch from another avatar on their avatar. VR tech from 5 years ago was good enough to already elicit such reactions. The determinant seems to me to be time spent in a sufficiently immersive virtual world. And we've had those for many years already.
When I'm away on a remote site for a week or two, it is nice to be able to watch a movie with my wife after a shift. There's something nice about the feeling of being connected even though I'm 2000kms away from her.