Virtual reality: has its time come at last?
Back in 2014, Palmer Luckey, the young visionary behind the creation of Oculus Rift (below), a revolutionary virtual reality headset, declared that his technology would “change the world”. And at the time, many felt sure it would, said Andrew Osterland on CNBC. The 360º immersive experiences VR offered would, they felt, prove irresistibly exciting. Yet for various reasons, it hasn’t lived up to expectations: sales to date are a fraction of initial projections. But is all that set to change? Now that millions of us are confined to our homes, there’s a widespread feeling this might finally be VR’s moment. What better time, after all, to climb to the top of the world with
swim with whales with or explore the surface of Mars with
VR, Everest theBlu,
Titans of Space?
VR made its first tentative steps in the 1950s, said Harry de Quetteville in The Daily Telegraph, when cinematographer Morton Heilig patented a “cinema cabinet” that used “stereo speakers, 3D display, fans, scent and air effects” to stimulate users’ senses. In the 1970s, McDonnell Douglas developed pioneering flight simulator technologies to train pilots using computer graphics. In the past five years, big manufacturers have started to make reasonably priced VR headsets widely available. But the coronavirus has massively boosted VR’s progre ess, giving it “a second life”. Retailers have seen h huge spikes in sales in recent weeks. It’s still most m widely used for games, but it’s getting increasi ingly popular in other areas too. The likes s of Aardman Animations and the Royal Sha akespeare Company have been given public gra ants to explore “immersive storytelling”.
During the pandemic, many have learnt that VR headsets are a great way for people to s tay connected in virtual chatrooms, said Meira Gebel on Digital Trends – adding “a a new dimension to working from home”. A AltspaceVR, for example, is a platform w which provides meeting spaces in virtual reality which makes it possible to hold conferences during lockdown. Firms in industries as diverse as architecture and medicine are now looking to VR technology to train their workforce remotely: it gives trainees the experience of doing, as opposed to someone just talking at them.
VR is also proving a welcome conduit to cultural events, said Simon Chandler in Forbes. For May Day, for example, a “virtual reality concert” in Helsinki, headlined by Finnish rap group JVG, attracted about a million spectators – 12% of Finland’s population; and almost 150,000 viewers created “virtual avatars” for themselves. The National Gallery in London is in on the act, too, said Apollo magazine. Its “high-tech” VR tour allows headset owners to view around 270 of its masterpieces up close.
A wealth of strange experiences are now available, said Patricia Marx in The New Yorker – from VR porn to tai chi classes. Among the more esoteric offerings are a virtual visit to the International Space Station; a platform that lets you fly “like a bird over New York City”; and “a guided meditation” with Jesus. There’s even a game “in which the player is dared to perform stunts, like crossing a busy road, while algorithmically inebriated”. It’s important not to get too involved, though: a Russian man reportedly got so excited while using a VR headset that he “crashed into a glass table and bled to death”.
If you’re buying a headset, you need to decide whether you want it “for serious gaming or casual virtual reality experiences”, said Lela London in The Daily Telegraph. If the latter, Google’s Cardboard headset (£15) is the simplest and cheapest on offer. If you have a PS4, a decent headset will set you back £259.99. For connoisseurs, the Oculus Rift S (£399.99) and HTC Vive Cosmos (£699.99) offer “PC-powered gaming that feels unbelievably life
tM like”. These days, VR is much improved, said Kevin Roose in The New York Times. But it’s still well short of the “fully immersive experience” promised by sci-fi; it doesn’t really transport you to another dimension. Not yet. But this crisis may finally “push the technology into the mainstream for good”.
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