Join us as we take a look at the
current state of virtual reality in
gaming and beyond BY CHRISTIAN GUYTON
VIRTUAL REALITYkeeps coming back, like a bad smell. Or a
nice smell; a pleasing scent of sandalwood for the proponents
of VR, as they insist that it’s “the future of gaming” or “the next
level of immersion.” Some of us at Maximum PC are skeptics,
while others think VR just hasn’t quite hit its stride yet. There are
applications beyond gaming, too, with virtual reality headsets
now being used in medical and architectural fields.
The problem is that there have already been a few “futures of
gaming.” First it was webcam body-tracking, then it was motion
controls, then it was touchscreens, then it was motion controls
again, then it was, uh, figurines with NFC chips in them? Yeah, we
don’t know what Nintendo was smoking when it dreamed up the
Amiibo, but the point is that gimmicks like VR have been a part of
gaming for a long time, and most of these fads have fallen apart.
Virtual reality has stuck around for longer than most, with
the industry currently in its “third phase” of VR products. The
technology is improving significantly, too, with newer headsets,
such as the Vive Cosmos and Oculus Rift S, claiming to offer
superior motion tracking, graphical fidelity, and immersion. The
amount of money being poured into VR projects has certainly
risen in recent years, with even Facebook swooping in to buy up
big VR business Oculus for a staggering $2.3 billion in 2014.
Where is VR heading, though? Examining the history of the
industry demonstrates a lack of innovation since the initial
introduction of modern VR headsets. While the hardware has
improved, the way VR works hasn’t really developed, and there’s
yet to be a killer app that makes VR headsets a must-have
product. So, we’re left asking: What’s next for virtual reality?THE STATE
OF VR
THE STATE THE STATETHE STATE
OF VROF VROF VR
the state of VR
46 MAXIMUM PC JAN 2020 maximumpc.com
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