Beyond entertainment
VR isn’t just for gaming, of course. Indeed,OculuscreatorPalmerLuckeypartedways
with videogames to found a new companyspecialisingin defencetechnology,putting
that VR know-how to work on drones, sensorsandsoftwarefortheUSmilitary.Virtual
reality has been examined by numerous militariesworldwidefortrainingpurposes,
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without any exposure to real danger.
Virtual reality has also been used for medicalpurposes.Traineesurgeonscanpractice
complex operations in VR, or rewatch 360-degreevideosof moreexperiencedsurgeons
at work. VR headsets have even been usedforexperimentaltherapypurposes,suchas
a program that simulates the effects of dementiaona person’svisionandhearing.
Applications such as this can allow familymemberstoseethingsfromtheperspective
of a relative suffering from a mental healthcondition.
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and palaeontology. Archeologists can mapoutdigsitesusingdronesandcamerasto
produce digital copies of the locations, enablingstudentsandscholarsallaroundthe
world to tap into them and explore. The nextlogicalstepis torecreatethosesitesas
they would have looked in their prime, creatinga portaltothepastforacademics
and enthusiasts alike to experience historicallocationsastheyshouldbe.
The uses don’t stop there. Some businesseshaveadoptedVRforvirtualmeeting
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in gaming and entertainment at all, but intheworldof workinstead.AUSNavymedic
usesa VRparachute
trainingsimulator.FPS. Driving and flight sims can be
fantastic, dropping the player into the
cockpit of an F1 car or an awesome
spaceship, providing static immediate
surroundings while the environment
moves around the player. Meanwhile,
the extra layer of immersion generated
by VR has led to some fantastically
scary horror games – Resident Evil 7:
Biohazard is a particularly jump-scare-
filled delight.The end of VR?
VR isn’t beyond saving. But it feels like
we may be approaching a critical
juncture; the make-or-break point for
this generation of VR, where the format
will either evolve and continue or
collapse, presumably doomed to return
in another decade or so when the
technology has evolved.
It’s hard to see how a single game
could fix the problems with VR at this
point, though. VR might need a killer
app, but it may not be enough.
Industry veterans are still divided on
whether VR is really the direction in
which gaming is headed, and even
tech titans such as Facebook and
Google have proven unwilling to sink
huge amounts of money into VR
projects. Valve, meanwhile, has
committed to another bout with its
recently-released Index VR headset.
Oculus is showing no sign of
stopping either, with the Oculus Quest
supposedly being the final product in
its first generation. It’s hard to see right
now how the second generation will
be particularly different, though,
beyond minor improvements to the
displays and processing power of the
new headsets.
If VR is left alone to chug along
without real support, it will die.
Overpriced hardware and a dearth of
proper games have already hamstrung
the platform’s worth to serious gamers,
and super-cheap alternatives could
actually have hurt the marketing
narrative of VR by convincing many
consumers that it’s a one-off gimmick,
fun for half an hour before you put the
cardboard headset down, and go back
to using your phone like a normal
human being.
We’d really love to see VR turn
around. The potential is there, and
modern headsets provide a far more
convincing experience than pre-2010
attempts. But unless developers prove
willing to band together and properly
push the value of the hardware with
new, bigger, more involved games, we
don’t see it happening. Perhaps the
success of VR is inevitable; like cloud-
streamed gaming or motion controls,
it’s one of those USPs that comes back
around every few years to have
another attempt at success. Whether
we’ll see it now, or have to wait until
the 2030s, is anyone’s guess.TheOculusGowasoneof
thefirstmainstream
attemptsatanall-in-one
wirelessVRheadset.© US NAVY, FACEBOOK
Technology
The state of VR
March 2020 | |^61