Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is evidently the next revolutionary step for computer interaction and entertainment. Video games have gradually presented more immersive experiences since their conception. It is probably ideal to a game developer to have their players feel comfortably situated in the game’s world, in that way they are better capable of understanding scenarios in the game with less guidance and responding to the game’s stimuli quickly. As the technology used to support video games became more sophisticated, so did too the levels of detail and realism that developers could create in their game worlds. It would seem natural that video games are edging ever closer to what should be considered a virtual reality experience. 

Primitive forms of virtual reality have existed for quite a long time. Nintendo had an early vision for virtual reality with their infamous Virtual Boy console, which was a large headset that players could peer into to play their games and block out the rest of the world, rather than staring at a distanced screen. More recent video gaming consoles, including Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony’s Playstation, and Nintendo’s Wii have employed motion-control features to give players a more tangible and “realistic feeling” approach to interaction with games as an alternative to sitting down and pressing buttons on a controller. Although these features were innovative, they were still far from what might be considered true virtual reality. A device that may just be capable of creating the most advanced virtual reality experience today is the Oculus Rift.

The Oculus Rift is currently a prototype virtual reality headset that is designed to track a player’s head position and orientation, deliver 3D content to both direct and peripheral vision, and be lightweight and comfortable to wear. Oculus is one of the modern companies trying to truly create a consumer solution to virtual reality. They’ve developed several prototypes of their Rift as strides towards a fully-featured consumer version. These prototypes are intended to be used by developers as “dev kits” to get a head-start in producing Rift-compatible games and technology, although they are available to anyone who is curious about the future of virtual reality.

However, Oculus was recently acquired by Facebook. This ignited a lot of skepticism in consumers, as Facebook is known more for its massive social network and advertising platform than any virtual reality innovation. Since the announcement of the deal, followers of Oculus lost hope and joked about things such as ads appearing directly in your face, breaking you from immersion in your favorite game, or perhaps the new Facebook-branded Oculus Rift will ask you to share your in-game perspective to other friends on your account. Realistically, Facebook could simply be looking to expand its market and the acquisition of Oculus could be mutually beneficial. Facebook will claim ownership of Oculus and receive the credit of the Rift’s continued innovation, now fueled by a supreme budget.

Other companies have already developed prototype virtual reality headsets of their own. Sony has its Project Morpheus and Samsung has its Samsung Gear. Both aim to provide a truly immersive experience for consumers, and now that Facebook owns Oculus, may appear to be a more viable option despite the iconic appeal that the Oculus Rift may have once had.