Thoughts on Virtual Reality

So I bought one of those virtual reality headsets, Playstation VR to be more specific. 

No need to read this part: I've had some money saved up for a trip to Thailand, but then I did a cost-benefit analysis on that plan, and decided to "live a little" because I reasoned that I can experience more stuff with less effort and price. A trip to Thailand can be unforgettable and it would give so much contrast to my life, but I got a feeling that I am no more than just a utility to my travel partner, that I am being used to get to visit exotic places. I got the feeling that I am like a door that leads to Thailand: you do what needs to be done so that the door opens and enables the passage, but you wouldn't want to drag the door with you after you've gone through it. I've had this feeling about her for quite some time, that I am just something she just puts up with, because I am still useful. Our relationship was platonic, so it wasn't about not getting my doorknob rubbed. There was just something I wasn't getting, something felt wrong. I felt that she just doesn't actually care about me as a person, just what I can do for her. And I'm sorry if this hurts that someone, but that's just how I felt.

So anyway, I decided to listen to this gut feeling and bought a gaming console, few games and a month later the VR headset. I've testing it for a week now, and I'm so glad that I did decide to go this way. There's just so much potential in this technology, I mean beyond the use as an entertainment device it could be used a learning tool. After testing a few demo games that came with the device, one of them really stood out for me: Tumble VR. It was a puzzle game. The goal of that game was to arrange blocks and objects to complete each level, usually the goal was to build a tower of those objects, but there were other types of levels. In some of the levels your goal is to direct a laser beam to a specific point using angled mirrors, for added complexity you had to guide the laser through a glass object that changes the beam's color, guide it through a spot and place another color changing class object in its path to change it back or to a third color and then place mirrors to guide the beam to its goal. Now here's where I came to love this game: it uses physics engine, so the blocks are affected by gravity and other elements like material specific friction and wind and it happens right in front of your eyes, you use your own body to manipulate the objects e.g. you turn your head to see an object, move your controller to point to the direction of the object, press a button then the object flies into your hand. Then to place the object you have to extend your arm and turn your hand to place the object, like you would put stuff in its place in the "real" world. Okay this might not seem much, but these kinds of games are what we need. 

It was fun (I bought the full version and played the first 40 levels non-stop), and it teaches spatial and kinesthetic awareness, a thing or two about causality, increases concentration, expands creativity among many things. Those things would be great for kids to learn while playing an immersive game that is also a teaching tool. And don't think it would be a too big of a leap to make a "game" to teach molecular biology/chemistry with this technology, I mean it would make it so much more interesting to see the molecules interact with each other right in front you, walk around studying, examining and interacting with them. How would this technology change computer aided design? You could teach surgery with VR, not that it should be an online course, but it could be used as an aid to comprehend the procedures needed to perform it, to supplement other studies, to learn, to give perspective. 

Also it could be done like visualization therapy is done with mirror boxes. 

"The hypothesis that the mirror illusion enhances spatial coupling is supported by studies on healthy volunteers, showing that the mirror illusion increased the tendency of one limb to take on the spatial properties of the other limb" -Marian Michelsen. 

If it works on one hand why wouldn't it work on both? Although there is no hard evidence to support that it actually works, it's worth a try. I mean, if I was to become a surgeon, I would like to see it from the perspective of a surgeon, the human body may seem nice, neat and clean in a book, but in reality some operations may get very bloody (though becoming surgeon one has to know that already..). Sure I'd be a surgical spectator in the operation like normal people, but I would definately supplement that experience with a recorded virtual version of it. It doesn't have to be a 3D render of that situation, but a simple video recorded with wearable 3D camera. In my opinion seeing what there is too see, and becoming used to it reduces mistakes. And a student could watch it over and over again in her/his living room. But maybe strapping a camera on a surgeon is too risky, only the surgeon can say if it makes his job harder. Sure there are surgical operation videos online now, but seeing it in 3D adds depth perception, something that a 2D video doesn't have.

Pilots have been trained using virtual reality for quite some time, so lessons can be given with less risk, cost and environmental pollution. Imagine teaching science with VR to illustrate the basics of nuclear physics, quantum physics, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, astronomy. Virtual reality could be used to visit a 3D render of an ancient temple or tomb. A learning game about being an astronaut would be pretty sweet, because the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU, the jetpack) is controlled with the same type of controllers like some of the VR systems on the market. VR could be used to observe life underwater, just throw a 360 camera, with a lenghty cable attached to a buoy, overboard and stream that online. Or put one in a forest or a jungle so people could study animal interaction without disturbing them (although some life forms may react to the wireless signal, if used to broadcast online) It could be also used as a user interface to operate machinery or other things.


I see the immense potential that this could bring to people as a recreational and as an educational device. For me it is a recreational learning tool (introduction to fencing, fitness boxing, exercising in general, sciences, ancient history, shooting sports.) But the saddest thing is, I know this won't be how it's going to be used. The usage will be a perverted version of those aforementioned. Consumers will stay as consumers, and use it to escape reality instead of bettering it or themselves. As a user interface, it will be used to operate war machines. I usually am against technology, a hint of the reason can be found in my previous posts. But this has potential to teach us the important stuff, for the time being, but it doesn't change the bottom line: it's a loan like every other technological achievement.

I saw a danish documentary the other day about VR, there was a question about where this technology will lead us, after it will become part of our daily lives and mundane, what will be the next thing we want? We can now immerse ourselves into a virtual world by stimulating our auditory perception and sight, through that we can stimulate spatial awareness and equilibrioception (sense of balance) to a point, but we want more. It's funny how people want to immerse themselves in a virtual reality craving evermore realistic experience, in other words we want to change our realistic reality to another realistic reality. Some video games already have implemented hunger and the need to sleep to the player character, some games have so much grinding in them that it actually IS work, with the exception that you pay to "play" it. What I am trying to say, that it seems like we don't want to be here, like we want out. Why is that? Why do we want be somewhere else than where we are? We crave for a deeper immersion to some other reality that it won't be long until we want the freedom of movement and to touch and feel the stuff in virtual reality, and to my knowledge that's something that has to be done by stimulating the brain or by having some sort of a nanogel bath tub/sargophagus thing that reacts to our movements and gives us bodywide stimulation. But what's ever funnier is that we don't need to invent or create any technology to have the perfect virtual reality, we have a built in system for that: Lucid dreaming. I think that is something worth researching when escapism is the goal.