Thanks, lots to consider!
> One feature that could be cool or useful would be showing few second videos with a quick speed through or highlights when you hover over a ride to give you a preview of the featured rides and maybe an upvoting system along with that (also recommendations based on previous rides and compared to other users?)
In our next update (http://virzoom.com/mybb/showthread.php?tid=39) we're planning thumbnails and a ride sharing/upvoting system based on how much other people ride each!
> I like the freedom with the Google Maps Street View, but courses with defined distance and start/end points and approximate times could help for exercises as well as maybe multiple stage rides over the course of a few days like the Tour de France or longer trails/roads.
We're also adding endpoints and navigation to ride in our next release, for exactly this intent. You'll also be able to resume long rides (like Tour de France) where you left off or restart them or ride in reverse.
> An overlay to keep track of your best times or go against your own or a friend's ghost would also be nice motivators to make it more fun.
We'll have something like that, like at every mile along a ride to say what percentile you're in. So 52% would mean you've reached it ahead of 52% of previous riders. Though we don't want to put too much emphasis on virtual speed, because a) anybody can lower their resistance or difficulty to artificially inflate that, and b) we want people to enjoy rides at their own pace and resistance/difficulty that gives them best workout.
> A geocaching type thing to try and find cool natural features or details caught in the Street View footage (a screenshot mode to capture cool views or moments or gamification with objectives could go well with Explorer).
It's like you are reading our backlog! I'm sure something like this will appear in a future release.
> It feels like I need to tilt my head too far to the point where it's uncomfortable to steer and a sensitivity slider may help with this.
Funnily enough, learning to steer is a bit like riding a bike for the first time. Try tilting your head earlier to make larger arcs, and also slow down your pedaling rather than tilting more to turn tighter. We've found that decreasing sensitivity without learning to do those things makes people tilt/lean too much. Increasing sensitivity like you are suggesting might be a good option, if you want to tilt less for the same effect, but we've seen by default that can freak people out who are learning. I'd love to hear what you think after another week of riding!
> For the recentering, I often have issues with it and can never reorient the bike back with the road, even when I try recentering while facing another direction.
First I want to make sure you are recentering by looking down and hitting our button. Recentering with the Oculus controller does a subtly different thing. But yes I hear you'd like an option to straighten the bike along the road. One way to do that now would be to select "Reverse Direction" twice from the Options menu. Each time reorients you along the road.
> It may be better to have the bike go along a fixed track with transparent dotted or dashed lines along the road showing the path since this gets rid of the recentering or isn't dependent on the head tilt tracking and I can lean naturally into a turn without needing tracking.
While that sounds good, we believe this is guaranteed to make you simulation sick, as described in https://virzoom.com/blog/vr-that-moves-you/
Control over directional navigation with your head look is key to synchronizing the rotational acceleration your eyes and ears sense. The steering input is separate, coming from head tilt on the Go and head deflection on PC/Quest, and deflection can feel more natural. But learning to navigate one step at a time is the key to enjoying Explorer and Play.
> With a fixed path, it may also help the rendering artifact issues I see occasionally as well.
Heading directly between dots on the road does indeed minimize image stretching artifacts. Using the 3rd person view minimizes it even further, though some people feel better closer to the ground so comfort isn't entirely related to artifacts. Note we can't eliminate them because the sense of motion you feel is a trick with the images, not a fully constructed scene.
> On the beta feedback side for VZfit Explorer or VZfit Play, it may help to have dedicated forums or threads for feedback rather than everyone creating their own threads.
Agree we'll need to segment it once we see the different kinds of posts people make. For now I expect it'll all be feedback!
> Looking forward to using Explorer more and I need to give VZfit a try.
Great! In VZfit Play, while you are learning to navigate we recommend spending most of your time in levels marked "Comfortable", which are flat and give wide room for error. When you feel ready then spend more time in "Moderate" which have more turns and hills, and only after those feel good spend time in "Intense" levels in which you fly. You can try anything at any time, but the first time you move up we'll offer a warning and tutorial.
> One feature that could be cool or useful would be showing few second videos with a quick speed through or highlights when you hover over a ride to give you a preview of the featured rides and maybe an upvoting system along with that (also recommendations based on previous rides and compared to other users?)
In our next update (http://virzoom.com/mybb/showthread.php?tid=39) we're planning thumbnails and a ride sharing/upvoting system based on how much other people ride each!
> I like the freedom with the Google Maps Street View, but courses with defined distance and start/end points and approximate times could help for exercises as well as maybe multiple stage rides over the course of a few days like the Tour de France or longer trails/roads.
We're also adding endpoints and navigation to ride in our next release, for exactly this intent. You'll also be able to resume long rides (like Tour de France) where you left off or restart them or ride in reverse.
> An overlay to keep track of your best times or go against your own or a friend's ghost would also be nice motivators to make it more fun.
We'll have something like that, like at every mile along a ride to say what percentile you're in. So 52% would mean you've reached it ahead of 52% of previous riders. Though we don't want to put too much emphasis on virtual speed, because a) anybody can lower their resistance or difficulty to artificially inflate that, and b) we want people to enjoy rides at their own pace and resistance/difficulty that gives them best workout.
> A geocaching type thing to try and find cool natural features or details caught in the Street View footage (a screenshot mode to capture cool views or moments or gamification with objectives could go well with Explorer).
It's like you are reading our backlog! I'm sure something like this will appear in a future release.
> It feels like I need to tilt my head too far to the point where it's uncomfortable to steer and a sensitivity slider may help with this.
Funnily enough, learning to steer is a bit like riding a bike for the first time. Try tilting your head earlier to make larger arcs, and also slow down your pedaling rather than tilting more to turn tighter. We've found that decreasing sensitivity without learning to do those things makes people tilt/lean too much. Increasing sensitivity like you are suggesting might be a good option, if you want to tilt less for the same effect, but we've seen by default that can freak people out who are learning. I'd love to hear what you think after another week of riding!
> For the recentering, I often have issues with it and can never reorient the bike back with the road, even when I try recentering while facing another direction.
First I want to make sure you are recentering by looking down and hitting our button. Recentering with the Oculus controller does a subtly different thing. But yes I hear you'd like an option to straighten the bike along the road. One way to do that now would be to select "Reverse Direction" twice from the Options menu. Each time reorients you along the road.
> It may be better to have the bike go along a fixed track with transparent dotted or dashed lines along the road showing the path since this gets rid of the recentering or isn't dependent on the head tilt tracking and I can lean naturally into a turn without needing tracking.
While that sounds good, we believe this is guaranteed to make you simulation sick, as described in https://virzoom.com/blog/vr-that-moves-you/
Control over directional navigation with your head look is key to synchronizing the rotational acceleration your eyes and ears sense. The steering input is separate, coming from head tilt on the Go and head deflection on PC/Quest, and deflection can feel more natural. But learning to navigate one step at a time is the key to enjoying Explorer and Play.
> With a fixed path, it may also help the rendering artifact issues I see occasionally as well.
Heading directly between dots on the road does indeed minimize image stretching artifacts. Using the 3rd person view minimizes it even further, though some people feel better closer to the ground so comfort isn't entirely related to artifacts. Note we can't eliminate them because the sense of motion you feel is a trick with the images, not a fully constructed scene.
> On the beta feedback side for VZfit Explorer or VZfit Play, it may help to have dedicated forums or threads for feedback rather than everyone creating their own threads.
Agree we'll need to segment it once we see the different kinds of posts people make. For now I expect it'll all be feedback!
> Looking forward to using Explorer more and I need to give VZfit a try.
Great! In VZfit Play, while you are learning to navigate we recommend spending most of your time in levels marked "Comfortable", which are flat and give wide room for error. When you feel ready then spend more time in "Moderate" which have more turns and hills, and only after those feel good spend time in "Intense" levels in which you fly. You can try anything at any time, but the first time you move up we'll offer a warning and tutorial.