Virtual Reality Finally Let My Dad and Me Bond Over Video Games
My dad and I have a lot of common interests. He taught me how to play golf, how to appreciate a good movie and that I must always root for The New England Patriots. Unfortunately, he does not understand one of my big passions, video games. I think this is because he doesn’t understand how they work or how to use a PlayStation controller to accomplish basic functions. One of the few times that he attempted to play Madden NFL with me, he kept getting frustrated because he couldn’t remember which button to press for something as simple as picking his team. He is 62, so the only video game controller that he ever mastered was the basic joystick with a singular button.
The day I brought home my Oculus Rift, that disconnect started to thaw. My Dad had heard of this strange technology called VR, so he wanted to see what the noise was about.
To start him off easy I showed him the game First Contact. It is the initial game that plays when you put on the Oculus Rift. He was immediately able to navigate the menu without any questions due to the precision with which the touch controllers track your hands. Then, the WALL-E-esque environment opens up…and his expression was priceless. He later explained that he felt like he was in the space and it was intuitive how to interact with the environment. He was able to pick up cans scattered around the virtual lab and started to juggle them. Remember, he couldn’t even select his team with a PS controller, but within seconds he was comfortable and productive inside the virtual space of the Oculus. He was shocked at how natural the entire experience felt.
After he was done, I showed him Robo Recall, which is a little more intense. It is a First Person Shooter with metallic spiders jumping at you when you turn every corner and gorilla-sized robots cascading down skyscrapers. Again he surprised me with how quick it was for him to adapt to the new controls and environment. He was figuring out the rules as quickly as I figure out the controls of a new game. When I tried to have him play Call of Duty, he would be killed immediately because he couldn’t figure out how to use the controller to run to a barrier or duck for cover. With VR, he was able to accomplish those movements instinctively.
After that first session of experiencing VR, my Dad proclaimed that he couldn’t wait to get back into those worlds and shoot some robots. While I don’t think he will ever choose one of my games over golf or watching The Patriots, I do think that the ease of VR has made it more accessible to him. This change in his attitude makes me happy because he no longer looks at my games as frustrating distractions. Instead, he has some understanding as to why they are so important to me.
