The current state of VR (Virtual Reality) is like the very first silent motion picture from 1896.
You know, the one where a train is shown in the distance, slowly pulling into a train station, getting bigger and bigger on the screen as it approaches and finally stopping to let people get of the train. Yeah, that one.
This one (a minute long):
https://youtu.be/v6i3uccnZhQ
As the story goes, people had a very visceral reaction to seeing the first motion picture. The one above. They were used to seeing flat 2D, non-moving pictures. Nothing like this new "motion picture" stuff had every been experienced before in history.
People got scared of the approaching train. Some were probably concerned enough to want to leave the theater or duck down to avoid the oncoming train. But all were in awe.
Do you remember your first experience with VR? Yeah, I was blown away too.
We are in the very early stages of a transformative time in, well, many areas: movies, games, experiences, apps, and dare I say..."teleportation", who knows what the future holds.
If you have a VR HMD (Head Mounted Display) such as Gear VR or Oculus Rift, congratulations! You are an early adopter.
You get to have a visceral experience something like the very first motion picture viewers experienced. And you get to share that feeling of pure amazement with others who have never heard of Gear VR or Oculus or virtual reality.
A quote from this Wired article ( Here's What We Need to Do to Get VR to Take Off | WIRED ) got me thinking... WOW!, virtual reality truly is transformative:
..."For now, the sheer immersion of VR gives creators some leeway. We’re in the phase equivalent to early film, when simply showing a train approaching the viewer was mind-blowing. Even with limited fields of view and (in the grand scheme of things) low resolutions available on today’s hardware, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone whose jaw doesn’t drop the first time they try a modern VR experience."
I can really see VR becoming a form of teleportation. Think about it. When this stuff advances in input (hand movement, eye tracking, body movement, etc) you will be able to virtually transport yourself to ANYWHERE and ANYTIME with ANYONE. In this world, out of this world, microscopic inside someone's body to navigate and strategically destroy cancer cells.
Who knows what the future holds. All virtually of course. Or is it?
But, with advances in controls and physical feedback, we will be able to experience forces (grabbing things, punching things, picking things up, etc), sights, sounds - and it's sure NOT going to feel virtual any longer.
Kind of like in the move Avatar. Jake Sully is not really "in there", in that physical alien body, but it sure feels like it to him.
And you, early adopter, can tell your great, great grandkids what VR was like "back in the day." Maybe if your Gear VR (and battery!) still works in 50 years, you can show them first hand. And they will laugh that such a trite little thing amused and amazed you so much.
Think about how far we've come from that first silent motion picture to today's grand, theatrical, immersive 5.1, 7.1 surround sound, HD, 3D, 4K, etc, etc tv and movies.
VR only gets better (much better) from here!
What do you think the future of VR has in store for us?
You know, the one where a train is shown in the distance, slowly pulling into a train station, getting bigger and bigger on the screen as it approaches and finally stopping to let people get of the train. Yeah, that one.
This one (a minute long):
https://youtu.be/v6i3uccnZhQ
As the story goes, people had a very visceral reaction to seeing the first motion picture. The one above. They were used to seeing flat 2D, non-moving pictures. Nothing like this new "motion picture" stuff had every been experienced before in history.
People got scared of the approaching train. Some were probably concerned enough to want to leave the theater or duck down to avoid the oncoming train. But all were in awe.
Do you remember your first experience with VR? Yeah, I was blown away too.
We are in the very early stages of a transformative time in, well, many areas: movies, games, experiences, apps, and dare I say..."teleportation", who knows what the future holds.
If you have a VR HMD (Head Mounted Display) such as Gear VR or Oculus Rift, congratulations! You are an early adopter.
You get to have a visceral experience something like the very first motion picture viewers experienced. And you get to share that feeling of pure amazement with others who have never heard of Gear VR or Oculus or virtual reality.
A quote from this Wired article ( Here's What We Need to Do to Get VR to Take Off | WIRED ) got me thinking... WOW!, virtual reality truly is transformative:
..."For now, the sheer immersion of VR gives creators some leeway. We’re in the phase equivalent to early film, when simply showing a train approaching the viewer was mind-blowing. Even with limited fields of view and (in the grand scheme of things) low resolutions available on today’s hardware, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone whose jaw doesn’t drop the first time they try a modern VR experience."
I can really see VR becoming a form of teleportation. Think about it. When this stuff advances in input (hand movement, eye tracking, body movement, etc) you will be able to virtually transport yourself to ANYWHERE and ANYTIME with ANYONE. In this world, out of this world, microscopic inside someone's body to navigate and strategically destroy cancer cells.
Who knows what the future holds. All virtually of course. Or is it?
But, with advances in controls and physical feedback, we will be able to experience forces (grabbing things, punching things, picking things up, etc), sights, sounds - and it's sure NOT going to feel virtual any longer.
Kind of like in the move Avatar. Jake Sully is not really "in there", in that physical alien body, but it sure feels like it to him.
And you, early adopter, can tell your great, great grandkids what VR was like "back in the day." Maybe if your Gear VR (and battery!) still works in 50 years, you can show them first hand. And they will laugh that such a trite little thing amused and amazed you so much.
Think about how far we've come from that first silent motion picture to today's grand, theatrical, immersive 5.1, 7.1 surround sound, HD, 3D, 4K, etc, etc tv and movies.
VR only gets better (much better) from here!
What do you think the future of VR has in store for us?
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