Virtual Reality, which intensifies the thrilling experience of video gaming, is enticing consumers across the globe with state-of-the-art marvels and the promise of wild adventures. However, experts opine, the latest technology is detrimental to users and can isolate them from their physical and social surroundings…
Shabiha Nur Khatoon
With technology taking rapid strides, it seems the reality surrounding us is fast becoming mundane and surely less adventurous. The young generation indulges in the pleasures of the virtual sphere and takes refuge in it. It’s hardly a surprise that virtual reality is gaining momentum and market analysts are unanimous that the trend is not likely to remain a niche phenomenon any more. It will merge with the mainstream in the days to come, and this possibility is prompting all big players of the cyberworld to come up with their Virtual Reality (VR) ventures.
If you’ve been around the world of games and tech for a while, it’s natural to be just a little cynical about the new wave of VR, says Ayan Karmokar, a Pune-based game developer.
“The VR technology was very much available since the mid 1990s, but it simply didn’t live up to the expectation of delivery. VR was supposed to immerse us in glorious digital worlds, enabling us to interact with technology in new ways and experience gaming at its most intense and absorbing. Instead, what it gave us was eyestrain, neck ache and motion sickness,” adds Ayan.
The software developer explains further how modern VR is all set to usher in a new dawn in the world of gaming.
“The new generation of VR is ready to deliver on all the promises previously made. 2016 will see the launch of many new VR systems. Among them the focus is bound to be on Sony’s PlayStation VR. These VR systems are able to take advantage of all the progress made in graphics technology. Besides, they have plugged all the gaps that showed up in previous attempts to deliver something that lived up to consumer expectation — and that, crucially, won’t leave people feeling nauseous,” he says.
For Ayan, the best part about VR is that we can immerse ourselves in the blink of an eye into gaming environments that are not real, but seems real. In the VR world we can be ordinary or we could have superpowers like Batman or Superman. We could experience stuff in VR that one would not be able to experience in an entire lifetime.
The first VR headset which sparked widespread interest was the Oculus Rift, which made a big splash when it appeared on Kickstarter in 2013. It raised nearly $2.5 million and has been the frontrunner in the VR space ever since. It received another influx of capital when Facebook bought the company in 2014 for $2 billion. As for the hardware, the headset requires a PC to run. It will come with an Xbox one controller that will help the player to play the games and control other VR experiences.
The Oculus Rift was originally designed keeping in mind the fact that people could check a lot of new games to be launched this year. But subsequent to Facebook’s involvement with the device many other applications will soon follow.
Oculus Rift has vast ambitions, but Sony’s recently launched VR headset is a little more streamlined. The PlayStation VR (formerly called Project Morpheus) promises to be a gaming machine to the core. To use it a player has to connect to a PlayStation 4, which will power the VR games and apps.
As far as hardware goes, the PlayStation VR isn’t all that different from the Oculus Rift. Sony promises it will have a 5.7 inch organic light-emitting diode display, a fast refresh rate, and low latency for ultra-responsive gameplay.
If gaming is your focus but you don’t have a powerful PC then PlayStation VR might be your best bet.
Parag, an avid gamer who works with Reliance Games in Pune, finds it difficult to choose among the best available VR games. “Surely there are a multitude of titles to choose from but games – specifically authored for virtual reality experience – like Battlezone and The Climb are substantially more enticing than some of our favourite exciting titles that don’t translate quite as seamlessly to virtual reality,” he says.
The avid gamer says: “The future of gaming certainly looks promising. Needless to say, gamers will be spoilt for choices once the biggies of the gaming world start creating more content focused on the VR platform. However, till then it’s going to be an interesting wait.”
City-based app developer Anshuman Dhal Samanta says 3D didn’t work out for many companies as it was too cumbersome and was overshadowed by virtual reality then taking shape.
“The idea of a world that a god-like supercomputer runs has always fascinated us, like the hugely successful Matrix trilogy. And we’ve been into helmet-mounted displays as well. Ivan Sutherland was the first person ever to create a three-dimensional stereoscopic helmet-mounted display, popularly known as ‘The Sword of Damocles’. The core idea was to use a visual platform in the form of a display to make the human and non-human worlds coincide. That was more or less the beginning of what slowly morphed into VR gaming,” says Anshuman.
Like Oculus, Sony’s newly launched VR headset, Project Morpheus, is also not going to see the light of day any soon, but that does not mean that the PlayStation maker’s aspirations have been crushed. Sony does not want it to be just an instrument for playing VR games. Rather the corporate honcho is thinking a step ahead and projecting it as a holistic sensory experience. In terms of completion, the latest disclosure from Sony is it has achieved almost 85 per cent of its development.
And then there’s Samsung. While it’s still under development like the Rift and Morpheus, the Gear VR headset fits over a Galaxy Note 4 Smartphone and can use its video screens. The good thing with Samsung is that unlike Oculus and Morpheus, it’s already out.
“Google and Microsoft have been pushing it a lot. But as a new technology, it has its own flaws and will take it’s time getting to the masses. HTC vive is a stand out in the crowd of VR headsets. Although it’s not a complete package it offers better value for money. In a few years from now, gaming is set to go wild, thanks to evolving VR gadgets and game engines. This fast-changing game development scene will enable gamers to break free of all constraints of movement while guiding their avatar through a virtual environment — something that could make gaming better for everyone,” adds Anshuman.
Sanjat Mishra, a software developer based in Bangalore says that every coin has two sides and VR technology is no exception. The VR sets are latest concepts and the technology is still developing. There are many flaws that need to be worked upon. Reports are trickling in that after prolonged use of VR headsets, users have complained of motion sickness and nausea.
Through VR headsets gamers can lose grip on reality just like in the movie Inception and VR may even overcome reality, which is dangerous and could well have serious consequences. Another of the possible psychological and social disadvantages of VR is desensitisation. If some users were to use VR for entertainment extensively, they could run the risk of failing to recognise the true consequences for actions in which they take part. In real terms, this could cause a lack of understanding of the effects of some actions when they are performed outside the virtual environment.
Socially, some of the disadvantages of using virtual reality as entertainment have already started surfacing. It offers an experience that removes a person from his or her surroundings. The problem that surfaces is social isolation in which the user relies more on interactions that take place in a virtual world than on experiences in the real world. This lack of true, physical interaction has the potential to create incorrect associations that are not part of real social settings. This isolation could eventually cause depression, disassociation and other psychic conditions, even a few severe ones.
Last, but certainly not the least, the enjoyment of the latest technology could well burn a hole in your pocket. Everything comes at a price though, and those eager to experience the thrills of VR are more than willing to loosen their purse strings.
