Virtual Reality will change our lifes
We all know that the nowadays society is mostly influenced by the technology that is continuously evolving and rediscovered. From the global social media that helps with information spreading, succeeding in interconnecting people through technologies from all around the world to the incredible pieces of intelligent software that ease our everyday lives, all of these are examples of the incredible technological era that we live in. Virtual Reality is definitely one of the most interesting domains with which I have been in contact. This innovation changed significantly and irrevocably the manner in which plenty of areas are seen from gaming and entertainment to financial market and user digital interaction. Furthermore, I will talk about the impact in different areas and also in the user experience that this VR invention is having.
The first question that needs to be answered is ‘what is actually virtual reality?’. It is considered a New Communication Technology. It represents an artificial environment created using a software, that is proceeded in such a manner that the user suspends belief and feels as being in a real environment. Consequently, instead of having a screen in front of them, users are introduced in a 3d world with which they can interact. Usually, VR can simulate up to four senses, vision, hearing, touch and sometimes can go as much as simulating smell.
VR is commonly known as being a form of entertaining, in video games or cinemas. Entertainment and game companies are constantly seeking ideas of how to improve their products using the latest VR equipment, creating, therefore, the desired user experience. The user experience is astonishing, people who interact with this kind of technology have the feeling of being a part of the virtual scenes. In order to benefit from a more realistic experience, this massive cutting edge technology involves the perfect match between software, hardware, sensors, images, and many other elements.
The most frequent perception about VR is that it stands as a form of advertisement, however, it is incredible that it has a large variety of useful applications in more serious and relevant domains as:
- healthcare and clinical therapies,
- anxiety disorder treatment,
- education and training,
- military uses and space training,
- engineering.
When thinking about education, we are used to imagining the traditional book that has all elements necessary in order to offer the student a good understanding of a subject. However, this area evolved lately and our society is moving away from this type of old fashion learning method. Artificial reality offers the students the opportunity to get involved in the subject, to explore and to experience the area that is studying while having a source of entertaining. Nowadays, children have contact with technology from a young age and they are used to playing with smart devices. Sevenoaks School from the United Kingdom, as presented in an article from telegraph.co.uk, improved its methodology of teaching by providing students VR. This idea offers some benefits as the article writer said: ‘sometimes it is easier to see and hear something than having it explained to you, and occasionally students just need to be taken out of a classroom environment and dropped into an immersive world; where they can watch dinosaurs walk around them’.
Army, navy and air force training includes a large amount of time spent in the simulators. The Virtual Reality Society explains that the main advantage of this is the soldiers learn how to react in different dangerous or combat situations. This virtual method has no risks of death or serious injuries, so it is safer and less expensive than the traditional settings. At the same time, this idea is used for Space Training for several years, the astronauts training includes VR simulation of being in space or in different extra-terrestrial situations in order to discover how they would adapt and how they would react in the specific moments.
Engineering Industry has also been influenced by this new trend area as the Virtual Reality Society presents. Discussing mostly Manufacturing and Architecture, the 3d modeling and visualization techniques have been included in the design process for a period of time already. VR facilitate engineers to have an overlook of they product in order to have a preliminary testing stage that can spot different risks or flaws.
More than that, mental illnesses are a wildly spread problem and a common belief is that ‘For many disorders, there are highly effective treatments that don’t require drugs.’. Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET), as presented on techcrunch.com, is constantly used by the psychotherapist in a safe and controlled manner so it helps patients suffering from disorders or even reduce over-stress and anxiety. Special simulations are created by Artificial Intelligence and engineers are working with the therapist in order to produce a custom design that fits each person. This technology is also used for reducing Post Traumatic Situation Disorder because it has been proved that is more effective to find the root of this problem by placing the patient in the situation that they experienced.
As presented above, VR has a lot of implications in the nowadays activity and will definitely become a must have in the future. Most of them are can be seen as advantages, it offers a different point of view and can improve everything that we have a contact with. On the other hand, there are some drawbacks that need to be presented.
The most common drawback is the high price. The software and hardware needed for using Virtual Reality need to be proficient and that implies that is would be more expensive. This fact affects mostly the education system that cannot use this astonishing technology without a large investment. It was found an addictive effect, also common for the majority of the high-tech devices, users can rapidly become obsessed with this fake reality. A large diversity of places or situations can be created or reproduced and users might be deceived. Negative points that have been found by the users are the better tracking system, lag time, overlooking basic laws of physics and lack of acuity.
Even there can be seen a number of disadvantages, the positive effect outnumber them. Virtual Reality is one of the technologies of the moment and is expected to become more popular. Its applications can be found in a large variety of areas, both entertainment and serious use.
My experience
Talking about my personal experience with simulations and virtual reality, I can recall that it started when coming to the university. Being a second-year Computer Science student I had the opportunity to use different headsets and glasses that introduced me to the new reality. I was impressed the moment I first use it. Some of my most recent encounters with it were a preview of vehicle models and a deep ocean simulation, presented during an interview for a job. This experience offered me the idea that VR represents more than games or video streaming. It delivers a better understanding of an idea or product as any users can interact and virtually use it before even physically existing. Also, anyone can visit environments or places that they would never have the chance without this invention.
When it comes to the Digital Society Course in general, I must admit that at the beginning I was unsure if it would fit or even challenge me. Usually, at university, I had courses that were more related to hard sciences that do not involve as much creativity, conversation, debating or opinion sharing, however, this course enabled me areas that I do not usually experience. Academic skills, as writing and critical thinking are crucial for students, in general, I believe that they were missing from the assignments that I am commonly working for the university. Also, it was helpful that students from different courses decided to join this one and the environment during the courses was quite different than the on that I was used to.
First coursework, Digisoc1, made me aware of how relevant is the online presence for an individual. Studying a person’s social media page can reveal a lot of information about the user and about their way of being. It was a good exercise to understand what is the main reason for celebrities popularity and how are they influenced by that. Pecha Kucha presentation, Digisoc2, from my point of view, was a useful reminder that the quality is more important than quantity and that the visual part of each presentation is the most crucial. I have mostly appreciated that we had to present the projects in front of other people, even if I usually tend to avoid public speaking.
DigiSoc3 was the most challenging part of the course. The majority of the ideas discussed during workshops seems perfect for reflecting how our society has changed, however, after seeing the Topic C: Experience new Technology of the course, I realized that the Virtual Reality has a more illustrative impact on our lives and behavior. It made think about the main implications of living in the 21 century and how my life has been changed in the previous years due to the technology.