It's been a week, and I successfully got myself out to another coffeeshop! This time I'm at Pomegranate Bistro in Redmond, and I have a work buddy! She's sitting across the table from me reading and editing her short story. I'm so jealous that she's even in the frame of mind to be creating, but it's so inspiring. I hope she and I can do this more often. (at least, she was when I started this)
In any case, here's my post for this week! I had hoped to post it on Wednesday for a new theme: "Wondering Wednesdays", but didn't have time to finish it until now.
About 3 weeks ago, I got to play through the very first level in virtual reality that I've actually enjoyed. It was on the Vive, and I playtested a student game in its earliest stages, no less. It inspired me to do more research on VR and where it's currently at.
My excitement about VR seems to be a bit delayed from the rest of the gaming world. The concept of headset VR has been around for decades. I'm pretty sure the beginnings of HMDs (Head Mounted Displays) started in the 1960s, but we've come a long way since then.
VR was a HUGE attraction at PAX this year, but I wasn't excited enough about anything to wait in the long lines to try it out. The difference in the popularity of VR in just the last two years is staggering.
When I went to PAX Prime in 2015, VR was a novelty, but definitely not the main feature of the convention. But this year, VR had an entire floor at the Westin, and was available to demo at more than just a few booths in the main expo halls. The industry leaders seem to be pushing for VR to be more available at a decent consumer price point, as these signs demonstrated this year.
But I think VR is still missing some very critical things that are important to my gaming experience. The boy and I discussed this, and he's even further behind the current VR bandwagon than I am. He's waiting for a VR console you can plug your brain or spine into directly for full immersion---but that terrifies me. Anything that can plug into my body and render my real body paralyzed reminds me of the consoles in Cronenberg's Existenz -- which are way too fleshy for me. Let's also not forget the ramifications the movie explores about not being able to tell when you're in the game or when you're in reality. It's a concept that many people will remember from Inception, but Cronenberg's film draws a much more direct -- albeit a bit NSFW -- line to gaming.
I do bet that if I showed the boy the movie (or even this clip), he'd change his mind. I don't think the general populus will pay for VR like that.
Personally, I don't think VR will suspend my disbelief until they address more than just the visuals. Many more of my senses are used to form the world around me, and VR only currently addresses one: sight. And, I've learned, we still have a long way to go to trick my mind with just new eyes. That said, I don't think the headsets need to be perfect. I am still able to lose myself in a regular video game (as I have recently, for many hours, with the new Gears of War 4), and that's only 2D, with sound, and a tiny rumble pack in my hands.
I'm more in favor of the VR concept in Ready Player One, with the headset, haptic gloves, haptic suit, haptic chair, etc. Although, I do worry about the ramifications that book brings up as well. Getting so immersed in VR that you forget to take care of your physical body is certainly on many gamers' minds. I won't even go into the other theoretical risks that book brings up yet, either. Maybe another time.
I would much prefer the type of VR that allows you to move about within virtual space with your own body. But I feel like that may be more conceivable with AR or MR headsets. Augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) are very similar to VR, and are often labeled as such. I only learned about MR a little while ago. I think the Foundry describes the difference between the three the best. I've interpreted the current differences this way:
I think MR is my ideal everyday game. Where I can be present in both the real world and my game world at the same time without having to be paralyzed in one or the other. It would be handy to be able to go fully virtual for lazy days, but only for lazy days.
In any case, here's my post for this week! I had hoped to post it on Wednesday for a new theme: "Wondering Wednesdays", but didn't have time to finish it until now.
About 3 weeks ago, I got to play through the very first level in virtual reality that I've actually enjoyed. It was on the Vive, and I playtested a student game in its earliest stages, no less. It inspired me to do more research on VR and where it's currently at.
My excitement about VR seems to be a bit delayed from the rest of the gaming world. The concept of headset VR has been around for decades. I'm pretty sure the beginnings of HMDs (Head Mounted Displays) started in the 1960s, but we've come a long way since then.
VR was a HUGE attraction at PAX this year, but I wasn't excited enough about anything to wait in the long lines to try it out. The difference in the popularity of VR in just the last two years is staggering.
When I went to PAX Prime in 2015, VR was a novelty, but definitely not the main feature of the convention. But this year, VR had an entire floor at the Westin, and was available to demo at more than just a few booths in the main expo halls. The industry leaders seem to be pushing for VR to be more available at a decent consumer price point, as these signs demonstrated this year.
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| Credit: Instagram@bcorpuz |
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| Credit: AMD |
But I think VR is still missing some very critical things that are important to my gaming experience. The boy and I discussed this, and he's even further behind the current VR bandwagon than I am. He's waiting for a VR console you can plug your brain or spine into directly for full immersion---but that terrifies me. Anything that can plug into my body and render my real body paralyzed reminds me of the consoles in Cronenberg's Existenz -- which are way too fleshy for me. Let's also not forget the ramifications the movie explores about not being able to tell when you're in the game or when you're in reality. It's a concept that many people will remember from Inception, but Cronenberg's film draws a much more direct -- albeit a bit NSFW -- line to gaming.
I do bet that if I showed the boy the movie (or even this clip), he'd change his mind. I don't think the general populus will pay for VR like that.
Personally, I don't think VR will suspend my disbelief until they address more than just the visuals. Many more of my senses are used to form the world around me, and VR only currently addresses one: sight. And, I've learned, we still have a long way to go to trick my mind with just new eyes. That said, I don't think the headsets need to be perfect. I am still able to lose myself in a regular video game (as I have recently, for many hours, with the new Gears of War 4), and that's only 2D, with sound, and a tiny rumble pack in my hands.
I'm more in favor of the VR concept in Ready Player One, with the headset, haptic gloves, haptic suit, haptic chair, etc. Although, I do worry about the ramifications that book brings up as well. Getting so immersed in VR that you forget to take care of your physical body is certainly on many gamers' minds. I won't even go into the other theoretical risks that book brings up yet, either. Maybe another time.
I would much prefer the type of VR that allows you to move about within virtual space with your own body. But I feel like that may be more conceivable with AR or MR headsets. Augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) are very similar to VR, and are often labeled as such. I only learned about MR a little while ago. I think the Foundry describes the difference between the three the best. I've interpreted the current differences this way:
- VR (Virtual Reality): Games that are "totally immersive". They trick your mind into believing that your body is in an alternate reality.
- AR (Augmented Reality): Games that superimpose digital graphics onto video of the real world. Pokemon Go is an example of an augmented reality game.
- MR (Mixed Reality): Games that, visually, use the same tools that AR does to superimpose digital graphics on the real world. However, MR has an added quality that allows the player or the two worlds (real and superimposed) to influence one another. I like the Foundry's example of a surgeon superimposing an image of an ultrasound over their patient while performing an operation.
I think MR is my ideal everyday game. Where I can be present in both the real world and my game world at the same time without having to be paralyzed in one or the other. It would be handy to be able to go fully virtual for lazy days, but only for lazy days.
Based on my experience in the Vive, and most recently inside Hololens, I can confidently say that we are getting a lot closer to my ideal alternate reality experience. I've done so much research in the past 3 weeks that I have a lot of information and thoughts to share. I'll do my best to get it into blog posts in the next few weeks, but my time is up for now. Time to post, and edit later. Until next time!
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