VR is the New Wave in the Tech Era….Kinda
With the ever expanding ideas and gadgets coming out, where does virtual reality sit? In an era amongst everything having to do with “i” (iPhone, iPad, etc), what are YOU really experiencing?
A major problem facing society with the latest and greatest technology is that we get so consumed and wrapped up in our own little virtual worlds that we can sometimes forget about the real one. We can be so focused on social apps that we lose the fact of actually being social. As technology has progressed, we are losing contact with one another by a tiny screen within your pocket.
What does this have to do with virtual reality? Well, while I am all for virtual reality for a news purpose to show and shed light on places that we can not reach but see and understand the impacts of an event, I believe virtual reality will keep distancing ourselves from one another. If VR was strictly used for news projects I think that could be a very useful and game changing medium.
After watching some of the VR projects, including Clouds over Sidra, I found that the use of VR was powerful. It became more interactive and I felt more a part of the story than any news segment I would watch on TV. Clouds over Sidra told an amazing story and following the changing scenes along with the narration and having the ability to look around was amazing.
(Watch for yourself here!)
The Clouds over Sidra project was a great a story and the VR was the perfect medium for story telling. Going through that emotional journey and seeing where she grew up and where she lives now was powerful. Watching the soccer match and being able to turn around and see everything, especially in her bedroom gives you a sense of being there. Especially with the Google Cardboard, it feels as if you are there as well. For a journalistic story-telling project, this was an A+. It had emotion, it had relevancy and the VR added value to the story. This is the perfect use for it.
When VR is used for major story-telling projects it can be revolutionary. Although it would be cool to see it at concerts or sporting events, I think the VR use for social media or video games can devolve our society. It is a sort of distance rendering technology, along the likes of Google Glass, that seems to try to usher in a new era of technology but all you hear and see are things you can not touch and in some cases an A.I.
When virtual reality is ready and it no longer is in developmental stages and it is primed for worldwide use without the hassle of being so expensive, THEN I think it can be a start to the new age of technology. But for right now, yeah, it’s here, yeah it’s a thing, but to say that it is revolutionary now….well kinda.
