Will virtual reality replace reality?

"If I’m in a space and there’s a large red arrow pointing to a door, it’s awful." Jessica Brillhart's comment could well embody what most of us are looking for in a VR experience.
That is: Freedom. Reality is confining, suffocating, and it beats you to your knees and keeps you there permanently if you let it. Oh, hold on. This wasn't supposed to be a blog about being an underdog, facing adversity and getting through them stronger than you were before. Nor boxing.

Yes, this is a blog about lifting either your third finger from the left, or your third finger from the right, in the general direction of reality. Where was I? Oh yes, freedom. Well, everyday-entertainment makes us more free than how we presently are, but does that mean that subsequent technologies will always replace another medium of entertainment? Yes, and no. Enjoying entertainment requires imagination, and exercising imagination is effortful. Whether or not people would find themselves enjoying a good book over a film based on the book, or a VR world based on the book, they tend to opt for the more easily attainable experience.

"Well, that is true, Mr/Ms author, but wouldn't acting in a VR world require some kind of effort that is not needed in movies?". Yes, dear reader, indubitably. "VR requires a caffeinated level of engagement. To me, it feels like work." - is what someone might say. Of course, I can slyly evade the entire question that I posed in my title by saying: "It depends". - - I can't? Well alright. Personally, heuristically, and from my gut, I feel like every individual is consciously, or at least subconsciously, receptive to the idea of virtual reality. Even scent and touch could soon become available to the VR experience, and in my opinion, that level of immersiveness far outweighs the effort that I have to put into VR world experiences!

Can I fly in a VR world?

Short answer: yes. Longer answer: as either a bird or as a comic character.

Recently, an experience simulating flying as a bird was developed by some folks at Zurich University. The concept is like a direct translation of the words that people in one form or another have composed in their subconscious: "I would like to fly like a bird".

Birdly': a VR project from Zurich University

But what about us Marvel and DC comic geeks? Or rather, enthusiasts of any artistic work that depicted cool characters flying around without wings. Without, well, a reasonable explanation, usually. But the point here is that the concept of 'flying like a bird' has evolved. I don't mean to put down the fellow VR aficionados at Zurich, who have done a fine job at simulating a certain kind of experience. But there is a step that I see as being far and above the experience that Zurich University designed.

VR4D skydiving experience

The world's first VR4D skydive could be the first step to including the flying experience to VR games that utilize 'free flight'. What I visualize is a VR gaming experience with literally no strings, or any other interfering objects, attached. Flying around New York city as Superman, Ironman, or other fictional characters that may or may not have the suffix 'man' in them, is something that I'd pay very good money for. That is, when I'll actually be able to buy things with my own money after getting a degree and a job.

Arguably, integrating a free-flying experience can easily subside what Ultrahaptics, mentioned in my previous post, aimed to accomplish: the exhilaration of physical sensations in a VR experience. I'm very much looking forward to the possibilities of flying around as [insert innumerable aviation-capable characters from the entertainment industry], and so should you!

Can you touch things in a VR world?

Earlier this year, "Ultrahaptics" raised 23 million USD for an interface that uses ultrasound to make the VR world a much more tangible concept. Pun intended. Basically, the user feels feedback from their hand motions, such as when seeing a switch through their VR glasses and turning their hand to flip it on.

Ultrahaptics in action

Sure, sure, the company says they are interested in implementing the technology to car dashboards. But you know what's much, much cooler? When it comes to entertainment, we have had the visual and auditorial experiences in various forms since theatre play became a thing ages ago. We are also getting a scent-experience into VR, like discussed in my previous blog post.

But wait, actually touching things in a virtual world? Eerie or incredible? I vote for: incredible. The degree of immersion that comes from touching virtual reality objects could be on par with the experience that most people have with current VR technology. When you first put on VR glasses and turn your head from side to side, the camera follows. But when you pick up any object, or perhaps even run into something, the line between reality and virtual reality becomes awfully apparent.

But what if objects gave feedback when you touched them, had a weight, even consistency to them?
Each sense present in a virtual reality world complements every other sense that is present. It creates constructive interference. But arguably, what the VR audience is least familiar with is the sense of touch.

Put on your VR glasses, high-end headphones and even an attachment that sprays various scents to immerse your experience. But in the end, personally I think that being able to touch something in a VR world would be a much more surprising, exhilarating experience. Time will tell how ultrahaptics will evolve. I'm stopping smoking and drinking green tea to live long enough to test out advanced ultrahaptics. And so should you!

You can smell the VR world coming

Ha. A classic.

VR is obviously all about enhancing experiences that we have with our everyday sources of entertainment. But I don't think that the first, third or fifth concept that arises to most people from the term 'VR' would be 'scent'. Therefore, it makes you very special to have searched for such keywords that directed you to this blog post.

Scents can add an entirely new dimension to VR. Vaqso, based in Tokyo, has added a scent-emitting attachment to a VR headset. This device currently has room for three different scents and it can vary their intensities. Imagine this on a larger scale. In an open world game, you can talk walk up to a 1960s’ gangster and actually smell the pungent odour coming out of his cigar. In a survival game there could be strong monsters who are completely silent, but let out a certain scent that alerts you to the danger of their nearness.

Click to read more about Vaqso

This element can take on a subtler levels as well. Again in a survival game setting, getting closer to a camp where someone put out a fire recently can gradually intensify the scent of burnt wood or cooked food.  Many things about navigation can be substituted or complemented by scent, making games more intensive. Of course, scent can be used to simply enhance and intensify all kinds of experiences. Taking a break from monster-hunting you could sit on a field looking at a sunset, use your arm to grasp the ground, then bring that hand close to your nose and smell fresh grass. I mean whaaaat how cool would that be?

Scent is often a trigger for childhood memories and plays a very important role in long-term memory. Perhaps in the not-so-far future the tech will take steps to incorporate scents in all kinds of VR worlds!

VR, it can become so much more

An omnidirectional treadmill simulator

In the early 90s, video game companies rushed to take benefit from the first VR buzz generated by the work of NASA and a select few universities. Some companies were even releasing their own virtual reality headsets. When virtual reality games first arrived around this time, they were a disappointment to the majority of the audience.

That thing is huge!

It is easy to understand their disappointment if you let your imagination run wild about the potential of virtual reality. To help with this, think about every captivating book, film or a video game that you have ever experienced. VR technologies could bring many of these fantasy worlds into your living room. If you think a step further, experience is all about our senses, and advanced virtual reality can create sounds, physical sensations and even scents to enrich our entertainment experiences to completely new extents.

Presently, improved technology has enabled possibilities for VR to develop due to the rising investment into VR for its societal benefits, such as with healthcare and education. VR can be used in tomography to view a computer-generated “scan” of human bodyparts. Once better developed, this method can be used in better determining treatment to patients. Whilst in education, all kinds of models from human bodies to celestial bodies can be more vividly and engagingly examined for benefit of the mankind. Yay!

It’s been over 2 decades since the first VR technologies had been adapted into games, and technologies. Entertainment- focused projects have been undertaken in the past years in utilizing VR. Popular open-world games like Fallout 4 and Skyrim are getting their VR-adaptation releases this year.

However, we are still far from reaching the full value of VR with these adaptations. My further blog posts will explore latest -and potential advances of sense-related tech towards hopefully rejuvenating your hype around evolving VR technologies.