OASIS: is it possible to create the ‘perfect’ VR world?
How far is Virtual Reality technology to reach ‘Ready Player One’ level, and what does the Virtual World need to succeed. — Opinion article and analysis.
Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation is the name that James Halliday, the fictional character from Ready Player One, chose for his beloved virtual world. In the story, written by Ernest Cline and recently directed by the renowned Steven Spielberg [1], OASIS drastically changed the gaming industry.
Moreover, OASIS evolved into something much deeper than mere entertainment for Massive Multiplayer Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) enthusiasts: the game transformed the structure of society and how the people handle their own lives. However, even when it is easy for us to imagine a future in which Virtual Reality has become a fundamental part of our world, it looks like science-fiction yet.
Actually, technology is not so far from the OASIS point. VR has been in constant development for decades, but it is now when the hype is higher than never, and multinational companies are really starting funding the subject and releasing commercial products [2]. Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Samsung Gear VR are well-known VR devices. Lately, Facebook launched the new Oculus Go with a competitive market price. Video-games and computer firms like Acer, Dell or HP are also competing in the VR race and even Sony PlayStation VR made an important position. The reason is simple: VR has many potential uses, but the perfect environment for this technology is the video-games industry. We can even start to think of a modern VR-Games industry. [3]
So, what are exactly the technological requirements of a virtual environment like OASIS? Have we already satisfied them? Is it commercially feasible? And more important, can anyone make the whole society to get into the game? Can it truly change our world? Let’s discuss about it.
The VR technology behind OASIS
There is something about OASIS that makes anyone want to try it: it is strongly immersive. That is the main characteristic of VR, but we can see a clear difference between the almost-real experience in OASIS and the VR experiences that we can try with Oculus or Playstation [4].
The fact is that OASIS, as we can see it in the Spielberg adaptation, looks like a complete tailor-made life experience. Players feel the game as if it were real. There are several reasons for this: it is completely interactive and most important, the haptic control is precise and totally intuitive. There are no limits for the movements, more than physical restrictions, and the game reflects different stimulus to all of your senses. Just like the real world.
Of course, the visual and auditive parts are the first problems to be solved by the industry, but there is much more to do. When you need a PS4 controlleror an HTC Vive Controller to make your character interact with the virtual world, players in OASIS are moving their actual hands, pressing with their fingers, walking with their legs. Haptic gloves and Omni-treadmills make the players forget they are controlling a character: they are the character.
Human-to-machine interaction requires special attention, because the system needs to react to your intentions with the same fluency as reality. Just as Ernest Cline smartly predicted with the name of his fictional game, the perfect virtual world will be an anthropocentric environment. You cannot really believe you are inside the game when your movements are limited to 3, 4 or 10 limited directions and predefined actions like shoot, jump or salute. The human body is complex, and our extremities are capable of hundreds of different combinations. The virtual world must be complex enough to support at least the most common positions, so that we can fully interact with the environment. Also, eye-tracking systems are necessary to avoid unnecessary or excessive head movement.
The truth is that there have been advancements in this areas too. Several devices are already available [5][6][7], but the cost of acquiring a complete VR equipment — VR headset, gloves, treadmill or even a suit — is still absurdly expensive for the average consumer. Additionally, we cannot forget that haptic gloves and similar devices are just launching to the market, so we can expect a great place for improvement on their precision and viability during the following years. Every technology needs time to develop [8], and the real necessities of customers are satisfied only after several years of sales. For example, image and feedback delays, or frame-rate are very subjective points that require high investment in processing capabilities, and they may play a key role in the immersion [9]. Cloud computing [10] is also one of the most popular technological trends, and it will be probably the basis for the simulation of complex virtual worlds.
So, if there might be an answer to the question — is it possible to create an interactive, immersive virtual world like OASIS nowadays? I believe the answer is not yet. The technology is properly evolving into the right direction, and immersion is getting more and more relevant. However, the innovation efforts, dedicated hardware and computing power are not free and the customers will still have to wait some more years to have a real virtual simulator at home. Of course, there are already good alternatives as those mentioned above, and the market is constantly offering us new experiences that are completely worth trying.
But, it is not only the technical part what matters. Once technology reaches the point, it may look possible for anyone to create a virtual game like OASIS. Nevertheless, we know that not all games are the same, just as not all cars are the same even when automotive industry is big and consolidated. What does OASIS need to succeed? What are the characteristics that would make it be the Game of the Year (GOTY), or even the Game of the Century?
Characteristics of the Game of the Century
As an MMORPG regular player, I admit that the gaming paradigm must endure important modifications to fit OASIS. First of all, it would be an all-audiences game. And what I mean is that the game will not focus on the usual players, accustomed to complex leveling systems, skillsets, quests and in-game economies. Every single player should be able to enjoy OASIS.
Ernest Cline though long about this. That is why he described OASIS as a sector-based universe, in which every sector or world inside OASIS has different rules. This way, users can try many different kind of experiences and still share the same avatar and items between worlds. It is, having a unique player profile to identify with, and the ability to spend your time in whatever you want.
But the game is not all about having virtual vacations. People need challenges, competition, and prices. Of course, developers and investors need to earn something from this. And this is the part in which everything gets complicated. In the book, OASIS items cost real money. But there are some risks on basing your game system on real-money transactions: the players may get segregated into classes. That is what we commonly call pay to win,and it is too much like real life. People do not want to spend their time in a game in which other players are better just because they can spend more money. Despite that, there are other possible monetizing methods that are already used in the gaming sector [11]. Downloadable contents like new exploration areas or cosmetic enhances can encourage people to pay, without generating a clear advantage over other players. Furthermore, the most common business model on the Internet may apply to this new virtual world: publicity. It is not necessary to fall into the exaggerated parody of the film, but companies would pay lots of money to have their names visible in public spaces of OASIS just as they do with real streets, stadiums or stations.
The motivating part for the players is the capacity of choosing. Different zones are determined by rules that create varied types of game-modes, like First-Person-Shooter, MOBA, construction, RTS, racing, Battle Royal or plain exploration. All possible gaming genres and virtual experiences can be possible, including story-driven zones and cooperative-based adventure zones. Every single zone should offer events or tournaments that create loyal communities, and the best possibility of OASIS is that new zones can be developed at any moment so that the new experiences never end. You do not need to find a new game when you want to try something else, you can just travel to different worlds inside OASIS using your personal avatar. Your alter-ego, designed and personalized as you please. For casual players, there would be public spaces to role-play and socialize, or open universities to learn about any matter you desire.
Local in-game currency is almost a must, and it should be completely independent of real-world currencies -even cryptos- to avoid the pay-to-win effect and isolate the in-game experience from the real economic problems. People in OASIS need to have the capability of succeeding in their purposes without dependence of their economic levels, country of origin, sex, genre or raze. Complete and unequivocal equality of opportunities. Of course, it does not mean equality of results.
In the end, designing OASIS is the same as redesigning a new world. A perfect world, in which things could be good enough for everybody to join, but not too easy as to kill the motivation for playing [12]. That is a very difficult balance, and developers must work hard on it continuously. OASIS must be an auto-sufficient environment that can offer everything the player would like. This means that the development team must be huge. Servers must be huge. The amount of digital content must be huge. Everything will have to fit a world scale.
Of course, all of this only has some mean when the number of players -or we can call them virtual inhabitants- is high enough. This is a clear example of the network effect [13], in which the number of users adds value to the product. There would be, for sure, people who wanted to play alone, but one of the main attractions for the virtual world is, paradoxically, socialize. This is not something new; it is already happening on the Internet, and VR just offers a more natural environment for long-distance meetings.
And the truth is that, even when the quality of the product is right, there is only one way to reach the audience: good marketing. OASIS would need an incredible marketing launch campaign, to have the maximum number of possible initial players. And that is definitely expensive. [14]
So, is it possible to make our current society accept the virtual reality as a part of our lives? I think the answer is yes, but centralizing everything inside the same game or virtual world is a really hard and long project. It will take several years for the technology to be mature enough, and then more time to develop the perfect system to create a parallel digital world capable of meeting our expectations.
But well, we are talking about the development of the Game of the Century, the Virtual World that could change the life of humankind. Nobody said it would be easy!
References
[1] Rottentomatoes.com. (2018). Ready Player One. [online] Available at: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ready_player_one/ [Accessed 26 May 2018].
[2] Greenwald, W. (2018). The Best VR (Virtual Reality) Headsets of 2018. [online] PCMAG. Available at: https://www.pcmag.com/article/342537/the-best-virtual-reality-vr-headsets [Accessed 26 May 2018].
[3] Grandviewresearch.com. (2017). Virtual Reality In Gaming Market | VR In Gaming Industry Report, 2025. [online] Available at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/virtual-reality-in-gaming-market [Accessed 26 May 2018].
[4] Slater, M. (2018). Immersion and the illusion of presence in virtual reality. British Journal of Psychology.
[5] Martindale, J. (2017). Headsets are just the beginning. How to make a VR rig for all your senses. [online] Digital Trends. Available at: https://www.digitaltrends.com/virtual-reality/what-you-need-for-full-vr-immersion/ [Accessed 26 May 2018].
[6] Hayward, J. (2018). Haptics in Ready Player One: an analysis of fact and fiction | IDTechEx Research Article. [online] IDTechEx. Available at: https://www.idtechex.com/research/articles/haptics-in-ready-player-one-an-analysis-of-fact-and-fiction-00014008.asp [Accessed 26 May 2018].
[7] Virtuix.com. (2018). Virtuix Omni first of its kind active virtual reality motion platform. [online] Available at: http://www.virtuix.com/ [Accessed 26 May 2018].
[8] Gartner.com. (2018). Hype Cycle Research Methodology | Gartner Inc.. [online] Available at: https://www.gartner.com/technology/research/methodologies/hype-cycle.jsp [Accessed 26 May 2018].
[9] Glennerster, A. and Gilson, S. (2017). Measuring end-to-end latency of a virtual reality system objectively and psychophysically. Journal of Vision, 17(10), p.355.
[10] Engadget. (2017). HTC Vive ditches the PC thanks to China’s cloud VR service. [online] Available at: https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/19/htc-vive-china-cloud-vr-service/?guccounter=1 [Accessed 26 May 2018].
[11] Cobb, C. (2018). Video Game Monetization Strategies. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@chris_cobb/video-game-monetization-strategies-715d78e80fa0 [Accessed 26 May 2018].
[12] Yee, N. (2006). The Psychology of MMORPGs: Emotional Investment, Motivations, Relationship Formation, and Problematic Usage. In: R. Schroeder and A. Axelsson, ed., vatars at Work and Play: Collaboration and Interaction in Shared Virtual Environments. [online] pp.187–207. Available at: http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001539.php [Accessed 26 May 2018].
[13] Currier, J. (2018). The Network Effects Manual: 13 Different Network Effects (and counting). [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@nfx/the-network-effects-manual-13-different-network-effects-and-counting-a3e07b23017d [Accessed 26 May 2018].
[14] Severson, D. (n.d.). The Average Cost of National Advertising Campaigns. [online] Yourbusiness.azcentral.com. Available at: https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/average-cost-national-advertising-campaigns-26091.html [Accessed 26 May 2018].
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