When people talk about Oculus Rift, the headline-stealing VR device, most will talk about the potential for gaming and making the player more immersed into incredible 3D worlds where you can turn and see more naturally — as if you were there yourself.
Mario Aguilar at Gizmodo posted an envy-inducing article yesterday about his incredible experience at the exhibition of HBO’s hit-series “Game of Thrones”.
At said experience, he was able to enter Westeros (the “realm”) and travel up the rickety lift to the top of “The Wall”. If you have a single drop of doubt about how realistic this VR headset can be; go read that article and see the images of him visibly shaking and grabbing the railing for support.
So we know the Oculus is immersive, and today it is great for games built in 3D, but how about moving forward?
Two of the key issues to overcome are motion sickness and eye focus. Today, most 3D imaging will show everything in focus; whether it’s far or near. When something is out of focus in the distance; your eyes will try (and fail) to focus on it with today’s technology.
Advanced eye-tracking would have to feature in an upcoming release of the headset to deal with this problem and prevent breaking the feel of virtual reality. Different parts of the 3D digital environment will have to be rendered fast enough – and in the exact degree – to fool the eye.
But when these advancements are implemented; the Oculus has the potential to change how we experience everything. Take ‘Gravity’, the already incredible film which shows footage in a POV-style as if it is being streamed straight off astronaut’s helmets — on any day you can pull on your headset and experience it as if you were there.
So moving forward; it could change the way we experience entertainment… but what else?
How about for advanced training? What if trainee surgeons could practice in real-life scenarios and see the effects of their actions without any risk to patients?
What about patients themselves in stress or shock? What if they could be transported out of their current situation completely whilst work is done or healing completes?
What if military personnel who have lost limbs could feel like they are doing all they would have previously? (Granted there are astounding advancements in prosthetics in recent years…)
What if… the Oculus could prevent limbs missing altogether?
Currently we are at the start of innovative implementations being found, developed, and put to use. Some of the best are those which will hook into other devices; furthering immersion. One of the oft paired-with devices to the Oculus Rift is Virtuix’s “Omni” – essentially a 360-degree treadmill in a cage which allows players to walk around safely and freely when in virtual worlds.
Pair these technologies with a bot and you have the precision and skill of a trained person but able to work remotely and still in full-view of the situation. For bomb disposal, this could be revolutionary. There’s already a game to simulate it.
So Oculus Rift is more than a game-changer; it’s an everything-changer.
Do you think the Oculus (or other VR headsets) will have the potential to change everything?
