Headsets a boon for virtual reality boffins
VIRTUAL reality (VR) experiences are more accessible, thanks to the advent of VR headsets that are compatible with smartphones.
Google Expeditions, for one, have already created more than 100 journeys aimed at taking schoolchildren on guided VR “school trips” to places like the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu, or the coral reefs on Heron Island.
“Virtual reality, an immersive experience inside a fabricated world, has only just begun going mainstream,” says Refilwe Boikanyo, communications manager of Massmart, owner of DionWired.
“VR headsets are now compatible with mobile phones, so ordinary consumers are immersing themselves in their favourite games and movies.”
VR gaming experiences are not only 3D but 360 degrees, so you can move your head and see everything at all angles, so when you don a VR headset, you are so immersed in the scene that your head and body move.
The applications of VR technology in the future are endless. Instead of spending hours in the car every Sunday house-hunting, for instance, you could take virtual tours from the comfort of your home.
“You could relive concert experiences from the very front of the crowd, on stage in the middle of the performance,” comments Duncan Palmer of Hero, a data design company that used VR to produce 360-degree marketing videos for last year’s Two Oceans Marathon.
“Especially in education, and even marketing, something you experience and live – albeit virtually – will always leave far more of an impression than a textbook or TV advert,” says Palmer. – Helen Grange