UX in the world of Virtual Reality.
There is a big difference between UX Design as we know it today and how it would be in VR.
Designing a world from scratch, creating an immersive experience where one or more people can share the space in real time, creates very different rules to have in consideration and becomes quite a stretch from what we commonly know today as UX design.
All the thought we put behind our devices usability, will have to be re considered when brought into virtual reality ,designing how you are supposed to interact with a computer for example, wouldn't be an easy task.
Key things UX Designers will need to keep in mind:
Creating a believable experience, emulating a reflection of a real world environment, things like depth, light, shadows, backgrounds become a key factor when developing a realistic experience.
Having a clear sense of what the experience should feel like and what the goal is, the engagement the user have with the content and the interactivity with the elements.
Making the users forget they are in a virtual environment, being able to have freedom when choosing and freedom of movement, a guidance to direct attention at the same time giving them certain freedom to interact otherwise users become simply observers.
the use of audio to reinforce the sense of the environment and give feedback
work on motion sickness, motion sickness happens when we receive different sensory inputs.
The potential of Virtual Reality:
Virtual reality will go from Education, Virtual Experiences, Events, Work to Gaming and will most likely develop into more others with time.
Education:
VR allows allows for so many possibilities, studying hands on is one of them, the idea of practicing surgery without having to face the risks, practicing how to do space maintenance work as an astronaut without leaving earth, just to mention a few, the list goes on and on, the possibilities we have for education are almost endless.
Virtual Experiences:
With meditation we would be able to create a peaceful environment combined with the right sounds, nature, birds, wind, air… you could live in a crowded city and a 20 square meter apartment on a noisy street, and travel away to the most peace-full and quiet places on earth.
Treating phobias, being scared of spiders, heights, flying, can be treated way more effectively with VR, by increasingly exposing one to its fears following steps, we can overcome phobias.
Using Therapy to be able to see and say goodbye to a loved one and properly heal, go back to a specific scenario, or specific environment, perhaps visualising your own future, can help a lot, and heal people in more efficient ways.
(just to name a few examples.)
Events:
Feeling like you are inside a Football game, with a surrounding sound, all the fans and a 360* view with no need for standing in lines, no need for binoculars and without leaving the house.
Work:
Being able to work from home and feel like you are at the office without taking your car or taking the public transport, change office, be on the right environment for the right moment.
User experience design will be an incredibly important role when or if VR becomes the next big thing to the point we could say that there is no VR without UX.
UX Design will therefore evolve into so many different branches.
Kevin Mortensen.