Amanda Watson

Engineer @valvesoftware | Creator of Air Link and CitraVR | prev. @oculus, @apple, @microsoft, @DisneyResearch

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

I’m pleased to announce I recently started a full-time engineering position at Valve!

I'll be working on various things, including VR (and Steam Frame)

[Ethical Gooner @TheMirrorcle]

As a CitraVR enjoyer, Valve hiring @fewerwrong to work on the Steam Frame is pretty sick.
https://t.co/s0MpfdWBV1

[cnlohr @cnlohr]

Feels good to finally be launched. For those curious, my focus was on the VR streaming, mostly on the dongle, and co-authoring our multi-link streaming. https://t.co/qZsn0t5Msh

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

@InnerBushido It was the first one ever and on a huge scale. In spite of the limited access, it didn’t have that “first con” feel because the people in charge had clearly done it before

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

The first-ever PokémonXP was…pretty neat!

I was expecting more chaos based on public reports, but all the lines I was involved in went pretty fast.

That said, I got selected to stand in line for almost none of the things I signed up for.

[Valve @valvesoftware]

Steam Frame is here! Our wireless VR headset + controllers, available now in the following models:

Steam Frame 256GB
Steam Frame 1TB
Sign up now and learn more on @Steam https://t.co/N9IvWskQRP

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

@LCDTheOG @agingtop23 Nah, 16 — like the one with the dog

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

@agingtop23 Uhh…I’ve been cycling through Return of the Obra Dinn, Detective Instinct: Farewell My Beloved and The Last Express, which is a terrible idea and I would not recommend.

Started re-playing FFXVI on PC, still on the free part.

If I am ever playing The Sims, that is a bad sign.

[Jim Bohnslav @jbohnslav]

in all my years of doing neuroscience, I never thought we would end up here

[gfodor.id @gfodor]

Astra just harpooned my white whale. Full 6DOF tracking of PSVR2 controllers using a Leap Motion 1 camera attached to the base of my monitor.

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

@visigoth Come hang!

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

I’m pleased to announce I recently started a full-time engineering position at Valve!

I'll be working on various things, including VR (and Steam Frame)

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

@cyannick Thanks dude! You seem to be ramping up on VR projects that are Interesting to Me. I’m excited!

[Azad Balabanian @Azadux]

Holy shit IT WORKS!! One shotted with GPT6 Astra

I now have a fork of UEVR where I can play any UE game within a volumetric window!

This actually renders the game in 3D - meaning, two real game cameras, not some depth map bullshit. Everything looks right

This is an alternative (and more comfortable IMO) way to play most 2D->VR hacked games as there’s no motion sickness, and no need to redesign the UI and interaction systems

Needs a lot more polish before I publish it but OMG IT WORKS!

[CNN @CNN]

Duane "Keffe D" Davis has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur. https://t.co/ARIWl78Gt9

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

@motorsep 0% me, this was after my time. I dunno if they’ll want to share.

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

The engineer who made this happen has a great story to tell!

[LaurieWired @lauriewired]

Say what you will about Meta, but you have to admit the “software unlocks” over the lifetime of the Quest 3 have been ridiculous.

How do you go from 120hz at launch to 207hz without hardware changes? Almost double the refresh rate. Clearly, the panel could do it, but I’m so curious about the lineage. It’s not just the display either, the GPU clocks are also ~25% higher than launch.

Were the engineering teams just extremely conservative? Or was there just enough real-world headset data over time to realize “huh, we actually have a lot more headroom than we realized”.

I’m really struggling to think of any other consumer product that gained that much of a bump over its life. Sure, I think the Nintendo Switch boost clocks got a *little* higher; but nothing like this.

Can you think of any other consumer examples like this? I’m honestly very curious.

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

@AspaceN That is a very funny idea.

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

@realThileban I mean, it’s a lot harder for people who are starting out now. I wouldn’t beat yourself up about it

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

@jasminezroberts Heh, some long-awaited approval of my life choices!

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

Yeah, so I published this “apology” I wrote in college: https://t.co/uNJX8Nn9US

It documented me getting my job at Oculus, including the parts that sucked. I probably would have forgotten about those parts otherwise.

Note: the section with the suit boy/girl is not what really happened, the rest is pretty true (I may have also exaggerated how many times George talked about his lawyers)

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

@George332673754 That sounds cool. Idk, I might skip over the sleeping-under-desks/running-out-of-money part and go to straight to where they’re getting served a slice of that giant 30th anniversary cake

[Amanda Watson @fewerwrong]

I really enjoyed QuakeCon this year. I hope it continues.

It’s just a really chill environment that things with “con” in their name don’t normally replicate.

Getting to hear from all the Id founders was cool, I’m grateful they made such a big effort for the 30th. Can’t help but wonder if it’s because *they* also think it could be the last one.