Virtual Reality Technology

How Virtual Reality technology affects our life?

Figure 1: Facebook to buy virtual reality gaming company Oculus VR. [online] BGR. Available at: http://bgr.com/2014/03/25/facebook-oculus-vr-acquisition/

Virtual reality technology has become one of the hot topics in the gaming industry, as it could be the next major device after smartphones.  According to Sharma, virtual reality is a new technology that makes users feel in a virtual world by using computer hardware and software. (Sharma, 2014) Users are able to interact with the digital information and objects with the help of computer stimulations. One of the examples is Oculus Rift, which is a virtual reality headset that takes the consumers into the games and virtual environment. It leads 3D gaming to the next level by delivering a completely new gaming experience to the players. Players can feel as a part of the game by looking around the virtual world through the eyes of the game character.

The line between physical and digital world has become blurry within the past decade. The development of virtual reality technology enables easy and fast interaction between consumers and the virtual world, which brings a lot of advantages to us. Roberta Fistenberg had a hard battle with cancer that had weakened her that going outside was no longer possible. She told her granddaughter, Priscilla that how she missed the outside world. So Priscilla decided to programme an Oculus rift to give her grandmother one more chance to see the outside world again. (Opam, 2014) 

Video 1: Grandmother Uses Oculus Rift as Therapy. (2013). [video] 

Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5eIHyFYFMM&channel=TheArtTavern

Furthermore, virtual reality gives us a chance to understand other individual identity and experiences by using digital world to participate into other people’s daily life. For example, a British artist, Mark Farid plans to give up 28 days of his life to virtual reality, by wearing a VR headset and a pair of noise-canceling headphones. He will experience the daily life of some strangers through videos and audios. (Robertson, 2014)

Virtual reality technology provides an interaction between people, objects and environment, which gives a better understanding of the space the users inhabit. However, virtual reality is not only benefits gamers but to the society. In the future, we can improve our task performance by changing the way of how we work as we gain more experience with virtual reality. (Stoakley, Conway & Pausch, 2014) According to Leather, there could also be virtual tour of the world by using virtual reality and the Google Streetview-like technology that could make the users feel like they were really there. (Leather, 2014)

Facebook is now owns Oculus VR after closing the $2 billion acquisition. (Dredge, 2014) According to Zuckerberg, he claims that virtual reality is a new communication platform for us to share unlimited spaces and experiences with the people in our life. Users can consult with doctor face-to-face, which is very convenient to those who are not able to move due to the sickness. With this technology, users can communicate with one another by just putting on the goggle at home. Besides that, virtual reality provides us a new platform to share the moment with friends but also their entire experiences and adventures. (Zuckerberg, 2014)

Figure 2: Reed, B. (2014). Facebook to buy virtual reality gaming company Oculus VR. [online] BGR. 
Available at: http://bgr.com/2014/03/25/facebook-oculus-vr-acquisition/ [Accessed 11 Dec. 2014].

Conclusion, this type of technology can bring a lot of advantages compared to traditional computer. We can combine virtual reality with E-learning to create interactive scenario that reflects real-life situations, which helps the users to learn without putting them into a costly or dangerous environment. (Skills2learn.com, 2014)

REFERENCES: 

Image:

Reed, B. (2014). Facebook to buy virtual reality gaming company Oculus VR. [online] BGR. Available at: http://bgr.com/2014/03/25/facebook-oculus-vr-acquisition/ [Accessed 11 Dec. 2014].

check, T. (2014). The rift with Oculus Rift revealed - why Facebook needs a reality check. [online] TechRadar. Available at: http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/the-rift-with-oculus-rift-revealed-why-facebook-needs-a-reality-check-1237963 [Accessed 11 Dec. 2014].

Video:

Grandmother Uses Oculus Rift as Therapy. (2013). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5eIHyFYFMM&channel=TheArtTavern [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

Information:

Skills2learn.com, (2014). The advantages of virtual reality simulation - Skills2Learn. [online] Available at: http://www.skills2learn.com/virtual-reality-benefits.html [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

Sharma, A. (2014). What is Virtual Reality I Virtual Reality Technology | Virtual Reality Environments - EngineersGarage. [online] Engineersgarage.com. Available at: http://www.engineersgarage.com/articles/virtual-reality-environment [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

Opam, K. (2014). Dying grandmother uses Oculus Rift to walk outside again. [online] The Verge. Available at: http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/19/5629778/dying-grandmother-uses-oculus-rift-to-walk-outside-again [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

Robertson, A. (2014). What would it be like to spend a month in virtual reality?. [online] The Verge. Available at: http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/18/7235895/seeing-i-artist-to-spend-a-month-in-virtual-reality [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

Stoakley, R., Conway, M. and Pausch, R. (2014). Virtual Reality on a WIM: Interactive Worlds in Miniature. [online] Cise.ufl.edu. Available at: http://www.cise.ufl.edu/research/lok/teaching/ve-s07/papers/wim.htm [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

Leather, A. (2014). Why Oculus Rift And Virtual Reality Could Be Huge And Not Just For Gamers. [online] Forbes. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/antonyleather/2014/04/14/why-oculus-rift-and-virtual-reality-could-be-huge-and-not-just-for-gamers/ [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

Zuckerberg, M. (2014). Mark Zuckerberg - I'm excited to announce that we've... | Facebook. [online] Facebook.com. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10101319050523971 [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

Dredge, S. (2014). Facebook closes its $2bn Oculus Rift acquisition. What next?. [online] the Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/22/facebook-oculus-rift-acquisition-virtual-reality [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].