What to Expect Now that Virtual Reality Is a Reality
A few unexpected questions about virtual reality and videogames.
Virtual reality was just a matter of time.
We’ve seen it in movies in the 80s, read about it in sci-fi novels while it was still a technological wonder on par with hoverboards and holograms, and now it’s finally here.
Of course, gamers couldn’t wait to jump on it. When Oculus Rift entered the scene, our fantasies flourished. Video games were powerful and immersive, but VR took it to a whole different level of cool. We found ourselves living in the universes we played in.
It’s escapism of the highest level but it’s the good kind. For an hour or two (or maybe ten, I’m totally guilty here) you can be someone else, inhabiting a new universe completely.
And while we understand the technology behind it, I have a few questions when it comes to play. Will it make us more responsible and develop our empathy?
Or is it enough if it just gives us our friends criticizing our playstyles in 3D?
Second Life, Third Life, All the Lives
It’s not that we don’t like our main life — it’s just that our other lives enrich it.
The first example is Second Life, even without the VR technology. At first it was a place to chat, then it was a place to sext, and finally, even universities caught on. All the while, it was a place to be yourself.
It showed its users a new facet of reality that could be used for communication, education and fun. It was not a whole reality — just a channel of communication, much like the internet.
That is what we are seeing with VR today. Some may say it’ll turn us into people living through their robotic representations, like in the Surrogates movie with Bruce Willis, but what we are actually looking at isn’t avatars — it’s alter egos influencing our primary selves, not replacing them.
VR games give us new agencies within the game, different from the predetermined paths we followed before. That, of course, includes physical agency.
So what about responsibility?
FP on Screen, FP with VR
I love first person POV for the quick immersion. In third person view, I’m the shadow controller. I know everything and nothing surprises me.
In first person, I’m as surprised as my Doom character who’s rounding a dark corner. There is a screen between me and the story and yet, I’m all but screaming when a monster jumps out at me (and it ain’t just because it’s ugly).
I have no problem shooting it in Doom. My friends don’t think killing other characters in games like Call of Duty says anything about them (and neither does removing the pool ladder in The Sims, to be honest).
But if we are in a VR game, the stakes are higher. The danger is more dangerous, and our responsibility for our actions is greater.
Raw Data, for example, is a first person combat game and a futuristic technothriller. Fitting for VR, which is definitely as futuristic as we expected. Its intuitive controls and surreal atmosphere allow us to feel like we are right there.
But it also makes our adrenaline levels and heart rate spike.
It’s about immersion — gaming is a new medium, and every medium wants to pull you in. If it’s interesting, we want the same thing. With VR, game universes become second skin — and that includes responsibility.
Previous criticism of video games included violence impacting us negatively, but I think VR is going to help with emotional intelligence of all things.
You can do something bad for the kicks when a screen is separating you from the game, but how is that going to go when you feel so real?
Of Course I Know How to Do It, I Played a Game
VR didn’t forget casual players either.
In the Diner Duo, you are a chef who — like any real life chef — has very little time and a lot of work to do. Chaos will ensue.
It’s a game recommended to lovers of Diner Dash and casual playing with friends and family due to its multiplayer mode. There are no jump scares or weapons, it’s a fun game to pass the time.
But even here, VR develops emotional intelligence. It brings you closer to the reality of working in the service industry. If you didn’t have personal experience managing those time constraints (and trust me, it’s not easy) now you’ll at least get a taste of it.
It’s a good game that can make us more empathetic, showing that VR won’t only combat boredom and claims against players being desensitized to violence, but actively help in developing empathy. With time, it’s possible that it will even help in training actual employees.
Much like the second skin experience which is an integral part of VR gaming, and which shows us new aspects of it, it’s a new channel for us to develop our personalities.
The more shoes games put us in, the more understanding we will have for people who wear them every day (although I’m not clear on the kind of shoes that monster hunters wear).
Communication, Only Better
Speaking of people, gaming is impossible to imagine without them.
Some of us are casual gamers who are just looking for a like-minded friend to chat about their favorite universe. Others can’t imagine playing without doing it through a major server and voices in their ear shouting: WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU’RE GONNA GET US ALL KILLED!
In any case, we’re social creatures. And VR, the multi-faceted beastie it is, will help with that.
We know what the tech behind it is all about — we’re interacting with a virtual 3D space using biosensors integrated into items like gloves or just controllers. How are we going to interact with other players, though?
For now, there are avatars, physical manifestations of our buddies. They used to shout at us through the headphones, and now we actually see their mouths moving as they tell us what dumbasses we are. We’re really living in the future, y’all.
There’s still a long way to go. We’re a huge community and it can be easy to get lost in it — but we all share excitement about the future.
Virtual reality is a new reality, one that is sure to seamlessly integrate itself into our main reality. It may help us be better people, but even if it just brings fun, it will be amazing.
The only thing we have to make sure of is that we have enough friends to talk it out, and keep the conversation going.
Let’s start doing that today. What are the weirdest VR predictions you can come up with? Let me know, I’ll be hanging out in the comments section.
