Virtual reality and gaming: it’s meant for more
Once thought ofas a technology of the far distant future, we now live in a world where we canexperience virtual reality (VR) from the computing power we hold in our pocket.I’d tried VR once before with my phone and an overpriced cardboard box, butwhile I understood the premise, I knew there was more to it given the rightequipment.
Earlier thisyear, I was lucky enough to get my hands on an OculusRift VR system of myvery own at a heavily discounted price. My friend was moving out of the countryand couldn’t risk accidentally mistaking his flimsy bedroom walls for bad guyswith guns. After buckling it in to the passenger seat and driving it home, Iimmediately plugged in the necessary cables and set up the sensors around theroom. I slipped the headset on, picked up the controllers and was instantlytransported to a new world.
One moment Iwas in the front room, the next I was hundreds of miles above the Earth mendingdamaged components on the International Space Station. An hour later I’m firingrifles in the jungle and then relaxing in the evening to catch up on Netflix inthe cinema with my friends from across the globe. I was hooked.
However, whilethe technology was incredible, I couldn’t help thinking this technology couldbe used for more than beating baddies and watching movies. VR can be used tosimulate the makeup of turbo engines, the structural integrity of buildings andsit in meetings with virtual colleagues thousands of miles away. It’s meant formore — it’s virtual reality, notvirtual gaming, after all.
Thinking outside the box
Technology isconstantly evolving and so is the way it’s being used in education. The digitalgamification of classroom learning has been an ideaput into practice in recent years, but VR can offer a lot more here. It canbring students closer to environments and locations they wouldn’t otherwisefully grasp with traditional teaching methods, unbound by geographical orlogistical constraints. Students can learn from VR demonstrations rather thanlectures, allowing teachers to explain topics better by immersion instead ofPowerPoint presentations.
Additionally,training skills for high-risk jobs needing precision and practice can benefithugely from a virtual environment. VR is currently being used to help train medical surgeons and bomb-disposal personnel, an area which is otherwise dangerous,expensive and far from the real experience. Unfortunately, in areas like these,you can’t exactly afford to ‘learn on the job’.
A helping hand
Learning isn’tjust for the classroom either. Throughout our lives, we’re thrown in the deepend and need to adapt. Whether it’s a new job, picking up a hobby or assemblingflatpack furniture, there’s always something new.
For some, it’s learningto adjust to a very different world to the one they’ve previously known havingspent decades behind bars. VR has been employed by correctional facilities inthe United States to become accustomed to life beyond thewalls once again. Tohelp with this, the inmates are enrolled on a three-year programme where theygradually learn to deal with conflict and handle the infamously efficientsupermarket self-checkout.
No basket required
The idea ofusing VR to browse online stores has been in circulation for several years now,but with the technology becoming more advanced and lowering in cost as timeprogresses, it can start to be put into practice.
Unsurprisingly,retailers are taking notice of VR’s commercial potential and paying attentionto accommodate shoppers’ needs in an effort to to reach higher similarconversion rates to bricks-and-mortar stores. With modern VR, it’s not justabout seeing the product in front of you, but reaching out, touching, holdingand trying them out for yourself. A potential use for VR is to break into theonline clothing market, worth over $100bn in the United States as of 2018, whereusers can pick clothes out from virtual racks, trying them on with a gesture whilechecking out their virtual reflection.
Virtualshopping’s not just for clothes though. Walmart filed two patents in 2018 regarding VR furnitureshopping, where users can wear a headset and sensory gloves to browse thecatalogue and achieve an in-store experience in the comfort of their own home.Of course, VR isn’t the answer to every shopping activity; some would work bestwith augmented reality (AR), but we’ll leave that for another blog.
As the VRmarket grows rapidly in size from technology becoming more advanced and withgreater accessibility to the wider population, I’m sure we’ll come up with evenmore creative ways to stop us from leaving the house entirely. Society will movecloser and closer to becoming like that of Ready Player Oneas our reality as we know it becomes almost entirely virtual. Perhaps, I’m notsure.
In the meantime,though, I’ll stick to blasting the undead and riding rollercoasters from my comfortable,textured and very real armchair.