Everyone Has Something To Say About Virtual Reality
Last year it was drones, bionic arm robotics, self-driving cars and Uber-fication. The year before that it was wearable technology, interactive entertainment, productivity software and sexing up the customisation and e-commerce industry (whatever that means).
This year the tech-world brings us Oculus Rift– starring virtual reality, and not the next autobot in the upcoming Transformers (2017 fyi).
Virtual reality in all its glory is basically the birth-child of Google Glass’ hacking of the human body and the re-thinking of the next phase in first-generation technology potential. Early adopters, gamers and die-hard tech addicts are living for the latest installment of AirMech Command, but the wonders of Oculus aren’t just for the passionate gamers out there, there are many other industries doing the unimaginable with VR’s captivating 3D encounters. But before we begin let me [rift] you with the facts:
- VR was founded by videogame legends Brendan Iribe and Palmer Luckey in 2011
- Sci-fi, The Matrix, and anime shows like Yu-gi-Oh! led to the inspiring backstory behind the headset’s inception
- After 4 solid years of prototyping and teaming up with Samsung, you can now cash in on one of these bad boys for $599 from your local JB Hi-Fi
ART: “Virtual Reality is the most important art medium of our time”
If the name alone wasn’t badass enough, the Oculus Rift is the next big thing in experimental art. Art ‘rifting’ is supposedly all about channeling multi-sensory experiences, consciously and subconsciously bending feelings and creating new streams of interactive escape from — yep you guessed it…reality. But with all that art-speak aside, immersing yourself in a parallel universe while you’re levitating on an aesthetically animated 3D representation of a forest would be like how writer from Motherboard, Robert Hackett puts it — tripping on psychedelic drugs without being on drugs.
Artists, experts and critics alike are still questioning whether virtual reality has what it takes to represent a ‘free space, where agency and creativity knows no bounds. No but really. There is a genuine anti-vertigo art movement that feels like a pair of goggles are depictive of a “pre-determined destiny,” because “don’t be limited by the social constructs of society” right?
Unless you’re this sweet little lady🙏, let’s just say the debate is definitely showing some generational gaps between young milennials craving new forms of interaction and elites not having a bar of it — or should I say rift of it? Cool girl from website Artsy, Molly Gottschalk however, believes that artistic illusions in a real sense are powerful statements in the making, and rifting’s only competitor might just be a bottle of wine. I’ll drink to that!
TOURISM AND DESTINATION MARKETING: “Could Virtual Reality do more harm than good to the tourism industry?”
At this point in time it feels like the tourism industry is severely paranoid, but University of California Professor, Jim Blascovich does raise a valid point about tourism’s value-for-money paradigm. Tourism Australia recently launched their teleporting campaign Explore Australia in 360’ program which ‘transported’ New Yorkers to the Great Barrier reef, Great Ocean road and other freaking great places the land down under has to offer without ever leaving the comfort of their couch (#straya).
Some of Manhattan’s tourists on a spectrum of elite to pretentious felt VR was an important pre-trial before a soon-to-be-empty bank account, while population ‘CBF-moving-off-the-couch’ saw no point in visting Australia when they could experience it virtually??
CINEMA, PORNOGRAPHY & ENTERTAINMENT: “Virtual reality is the new frontier revolutionising the film-making industry
Anti-crowd/isolation seekers and Bieber fans still in the closet are rejoicing over Oculus Cinema dropping its latest line of concert experiences. There’s no denying that isolated movie theatres are the future and VR is here to stay with its visionary tale of intimacy, power and emotional vulnerability.
There’s a huge market for VirtualReal Porn, and fans have even turned to Reddit to brag about the state-of-the-art display that no longer gives a sense of distance like flat-screen computers do (wow enlightening stuff). Well they’re not wrong there. Stoked for you Reddit User: /r/oculusnsfw. With the merging boundaries between cinema and gaming comes the widening divide between those components that are interactive and the components that are enjoyed passively like:
- Audience fixation through storytelling
- Augmented humanity with visual stimuli
- Disembodied characters with detached cameras
- Unscripted storylines driven by audience power
HEALTHCARE, FITNESS, EDUCATION & TRAINING: “There’s potential for everyone and major use for Virtual Reality”
Have a flying, public speaking, and/or height phobia? Look no further (and have no fear) because endless re-runs of Man on Wire and large daunting crowd simulations are on repeat for your viewing pleasure here. Adrenaline junkies who swear by all things life-threatening and hashtag ‘living life on the edge,’ this is not a drill — you too can participate in virtual law enforcement and military defence scenarios filled with animate guns, knives and more guns. I’m still waiting on a testimony from a credible Reddit user, but we’ll assume virtual shock therapy treatment is definitely working and virtual self-defence is a legit thing and not for the faint hearted.
Run-tastic, Wide-run and Icaros are VR fitness classes for when you have the Swiss Alps at 8 but want to watch Friends in bed at 9. Our excuses not to workout have made these companies millions, as they profit from the blurred lines between work and play. Seems unfair huh, but now you can get the body of your dreams cycling off weekday calories consumed from eating your weight in tacos on the Tour-De-France track (you guys calories don’t count on the weekend remember).
So there you have it. Industries are quite literally gearing up to integrate the very technology that is set to pioneer the future. If by this point you still have zero interest in trying out/purchasing the overly hyped Oculus Rift, don’t worry I haven’t found myself racing to my closest JB Hi-Fi either. There’s been a lot of talk about virtual field trips (shut up and take my money), low-cost medical and trauma training, and even immersive games and speech pathology treatment for special needs and disabilities. Despite what the Reddit reviews say, let it be known that virtual reality is still far from perfect, and unless it can actually recreate the full ‘avatar’ Pandora-utopia, VRs are no comparison to real life frolicking in an actual forest.
Originally published at The Isthmus.
