At its most basic, Virtual Reality (VR) is simply a simulation of a 3D environment. But on a deeper level, when we step into an immersive space, we are transforming human experience. VR could profoundly impact the way we work, learn, and play, creating new opportunities and raise unanticipated ethical challenges.
Virtual Reality replaces the real world with a digital simulation that can immediately impact your senses. Early VR headsets were bulky and difficult to wear until the consumer VR revolution which began with the Oculus Kickstarter project. Early on, Google offered its own inexpensive solution with a pseudo-VR experience through Google Cardboard and a smartphone. requires additional technology such as Smartphones and low-cost VR. Soon, the Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Go arrived, along with high-end systems such as Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive, and PlayStationVR. Content ranges from 360-degree photos and videos (though this is not fully VR) to deeply immersive geo-located environments with haptic feedback (that relies on gloves, vests, and full-body suits).
With the rapid advance of the technology behind Virtual Reality, we’ve seen new standalone VR headsets – especially the new Oculus Quest which offers full-motion, untethered, virtual experiences. We will soon see a convergence of immersive technologies with AI, making our current virtual experiences seem simplistic. These technologies will feed off of one another, creating the virtual worlds of the future.
VR is creating fascinating opportunities for Education, Media, Storytelling, Journalism, Work, and Retail environments. It is already beginning to transform entertainment and learning even though we are in the first steps of a long journey. In the end, it will impact society far more than the development of the graphical interface at the Xerox PARC labs in the 1970s for computing.
We are only now beginning to identify the ethical issues that will be raised by Virtual Reality. What we do know is that technology will continue to progress, eventually blurring the boundary between the real world and the virtual. It is precisely this intersection of the real and the virtual that both fascinates and concerns us. It is where Digital Bodies resides.
Facebook Connect arrives this week – the rebooted Oculus Connect 7 conference that reflects the social media giant rebranding its work in virtual reality. We’ll be streaming it live here if we can, and there’s always …
Read more Facebook Connect Predictions – a New Oculus Quest, Social VR, and AR News
We’re deeply intrigued by haptic developments like Droplabs’ haptic shoes since VR primarily focuses on visual and audio inputs. Human experience is about so much more than what we see and hear – it’s about what …
Read more Droplabs’ Haptic Shoes – Feeling Virtual Reality in your Feet
With every major live event being canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s no surprise that we have a virtual Burning Man festival this year. Last year’s gathering of 80,000 from over 25 countries will be …
Read more A Virtual Burning Man Festival Joins the Multiverse This Year
We all knew this change was coming and the rumors were flying at last year’s OC6 gathering in San Jose. Beginning in October, new Oculus users will be required to have a Facebook account. And for …
Read more Like it or not, Oculus will Force you to use a Facebook Account
The following article, The World Is 3D and Media Should Be Too, is republished from the Immerse site on Medium. Nonny De La Peña is one of the founding leaders in the contemporary VR revolution and …
Haptic devices are hardly where we would like them to be, but 2020 is turning out to be a year of exciting developments. The Feelbelt Kickstarter project promises to deliver a wearable belt before the end …
Read more New Research on Lighter and Thinner VR Haptic Gloves
We were expecting an Oculus Quest 2 in 2020 and only started having doubts when a global pandemic disrupted everything. But the latest rumors/news from the Nikkei Asian Review points to a fall release for the …
WalkinVR is Steam-compatible software that helps remove barriers for people with disabilities. The software has been around since 2017 but is officially released on Steam today. It’s welcome news for all of us who have been …
Read more WalkinVR: Making VR More Accessible for People with Disabilities
It wasn’t hard to see this coming. At last year’s Oculus Connect conference, the San Jose Convention Center was rife with rumors that the Oculus Go headset would be canceled. Nearly every presentation focused on the …
Read more Oculus Go Headset Discontinued – The End of 3DOF VR?
We’ve never been a huge fan of VR treadmills. For one, living in small apartments in New York City precludes their use. Much as I want locomotion in VR, I still want my couch, and there …
Read more New VR Treadmill Blows Past its Kickstarter Funding Goal
As we continue our uneven recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic (good in some countries, record outbreaks in others), you may want to check out Jean-Michel Jarre’s live concert in VR. The French electronic musician will do …
Read more Experience Jean-Michel Jarre’s Live Concert in VR Sunday
It’s been a dramatic few weeks and to acknowledge the protest movements, the social VR platform Bigscreen is offering a special live VR movie screening of Selma. Covering the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, …
The latest way to tap into your creativity might be Paper Beast VR, which is coming to Steam VR this summer. You may have already used one of the 3D modeling and sculpting tools like Google Tilt …
Read more Indulge Your Creative Side with Paper Beast VR on Steam
Expanding the range of sensations is essential to the development of virtual reality. A new haptic feedback belt from the German company Feelbelt is an innovative solution to the technical challenges. Unlike complex gloves or bulky …
Read more Haptic Feedback Belt Offers Innovative Solution for Immersive Experiences
Getting Zoom fatigued? You’re not alone. We are – maybe because we’re living on it almost all day, every day. So with the news today that the Spatial VR collaboration platform is opening up its doors …
VR hygiene will be a major issue once the Coronavirus begins to recede. The global pandemic will eventually run its course, and education and arts organizations, entertainment venues, and other gathering places will reopen. None of …
A report today from Bloomberg News provides details on Facebook’s effort to develop a new Oculus Quest VR headset. From our conversations at OC6, we were expecting to see a new Quest this year. But with …
Read more Facebook is Developing a New Oculus Quest VR Headset
It’s been out less than a year (debuting May 21, 2019), but it’s good to see the popular Oculus Quest back in stock. Both the Rift S and the Oculus Quest VR headsets have been almost …
Read more Oculus Quest Back in Stock – the Popular Headset Returns
Many things are holding VR back from widespread public acceptance – cost, content, and hardware design are all significant factors. A Kickstarter project from TGO takes aim at one element of the design issue by creating …
Read more We Need These Button-free Controllers for Virtual Reality
Seeing the damage caused by the Coronavirus in virtual reality is an eye-opening experience. Most of the public understands the external symptoms of the virus but seeing the way it impacts the lungs is something that …
Given the recent news, we’re looking at the Coronavirus and Virtual Reality. Several VR and AR conferences are canceled or postponed, and we expect more to follow. SXSW caved in yesterday, and while it covers far …
An exciting bit of news surfaced today regarding a new VR distribution platform for the Oculus Quest. In a series of tweets, Chris Pruett, Director of Content Ecosystem at Oculus, discussed their curation policy and offered …
Read more A New VR Distribution Platform for the Oculus Quest?
This summer, I will be teaching The Art of Immersive Storytelling workshop at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, Colorado. The mission of Anderson Ranch Arts is to enrich lives with art, inspiration, and community. I …
Read more The Art of Immersive Storytelling Workshop at Anderson Ranch Art Center
The recent VR news out of South Korea is remarkable – a mother reuniting with her deceased child in VR. You knew we’d have to deal with the dead in VR – or at least the …
Read more The Dead in VR: Mother Reunites with her Deceased Child
Leave it to an artist to pull off a simple Google Maps hack with nothing more than 99 smartphones in a red wagon on the streets of Berlin. It got us thinking about the implications of …
Read more A Google Maps Hack with 99 Phones – Will VR be Next?
Persuasion Machines is a compelling experience at the Sundance Film Festival which grapples with the issue of data privacy in XR. The project builds upon the Netflix documentary, The Great Hack, pushing it into a VR …
Read more Sundance Takes on the Question of Data Privacy in XR
It’s been an amazing year in virtual reality. As we look back at the best VR headsets for 2019, we see the Oculus Quest as the breakthrough device. We finally get full VR in a standalone, …
Here are our top ten AR/VR articles from 2019. The articles cover a wide range of topics, from augmented and virtual reality to innovative developments and the growing ethical challenges we face. They reflect our own …
Just in time for 2020, the XR Association has released new guidelines for social VR and immersive spaces. The XRA is an industry consortium of the leading manufacturers of headsets and technology. It’s mission is . …
Read more The XR Association Releases New Guidelines for Social VR
As expected, there were no major hardware releases at Oculus Connect 6. But we didn’t lack for VR news. The major announcement was that hand tracking will come to the Oculus Quest headset. We can finally …