Have you ever played a game or watched a movie in which you felt like you’re inside the game or the movie? This is what VR is , creating an digital 3D environment around the user using computer generated imagery stimulating a real presence through senses like sight, hearing and touch. VR is a user interface in which the user is able to interact with his environment. Isn’t it great to have such an exciting experience ,you’re playing a game and you’re in middle of a war zone , shooting at the enemies and the enemies just looking as if just standing in front of you ready to shoot you , or you’re in a roller-coster just feeling as if you’re actually riding it .I think we all have heard about poekmon go , which is based on AR, which is just like VR but its just digital elements used by smartphones ,whereas VR is complete experience which shuts out the physical world. The snapChat lenses that we are using today is also based on AR.
But the truth is its been 20 years that VR is in market but hasn’t been in the limelight.The first biggest reason is its cost. Its very expensive. Just to even get a VR experinece ,its costly and to buy a VR set like Oculus or Samsung Vr or Vive Pro Starter Kitis not something which everyone can purchase . Also most of the parents wouldn’t indulge in buying this much costly items for the sake of playing VR games, which would just make their child sit in home for the entire day instead of playing outdoor.
Have your ever been to a Mall and experienced the VR set ?Yes you did and it was quite a good experience . But when you went to mall again, did you do that again ? No ,right . Did you after sometime felt trap inside something and want to just take fresh air ?Did your headache after a while?
The second reason is setting it up. Most of these devices aren’t something we can just plug into a power outlet . They might take a full room with sensors all around you. Then if we are using PlayStation VR then we need to install cameras and sensor bars, and also need to get controllers for playing it. It not like just we can buy VR and its done , its totally not the case , there are like specific sensors,controllers and different devices for the respective games we need to play . Its not like normal XBox or PS4 . Using the Gear VR for a long time can burn up your phone’s battery . Setting up VR is a lot of time consuming and is much costlier.We have also gone or seen VR arcades, VR escape rooms, and even VR Ghostbusters that gives VR experience .But to honest going somewhere to get a 10-15 min of experience spending a plenty of amount is something that one would not want to try again and again.
The VR headsets are heavy to put on . In our normal PS4 you can go on hours playing game , but in VR after spending some time in that Headsets we might feel very suffocated and would want to remove it. Its also disorienting wearing the headset for more than half an hour and can leave your head spinning when you take it off . According to research Facebook is recommending that people take a 10 to 15 minute break for every 30 minutes that they play.
Virtual reality cannot be a shared experience. like when we play or watch movie with our friends we are sitting together and enjoying together but in VR we all are in same room but in our own VR’s and it just feels like you’re worlds apart.To be more clear its juts like today’s senario of get- togethers ,parties and functions , where people come to meet each other , but end up siting in the same room using their own phones and not speaking a word to each other .
Also running virtual reality in not something you can do any where or in any platform , itis very platform specific.If we purchase a game that requires the sensors and controllers of the HTC Vive, we cannot use them in other .In the same way games made for PlayStation VR won’t be playable on other headsets and vice versa. A game you brought for one platform won’t work on any other platforms.Even the best games that have been in VR, like Resident Evil 7 or Superhot VR are available on regular PC’s so average people would definitely not go for it . People like gamers to be more specific who wants to play for 4-5 hours continously would definitely prefer gaming in PC’s or PS’s.
Shristi uniyal 