VR is here and I got myself a PlayStation VR. For all the hype surrounding VR now that it is the public it is going to very interesting to see how the public reacts to it. For the general public, this is the first real experience they will have with VR and I hope that it is great for many people because this will set the tone and future for this medium.
I got to finally set up my PS VR this holiday break and I can say that is going to be an issue. The amount of effort and space it takes for me to set up means I will only be using it to show off to family and friends or when I get a bigger place. Nothing against the PS VR but even as revolutionary as it VR doesn't change the fact that I play games to relax.
I got to show PS VR to my family and this was their 1st experience. My brother who is a gamer got Job Simulator very well. My parents who aren’t at all gamers couldn’t handle any interactive controls but they loved PlayStation VR Worlds. Ocean Descent was super easy for them to understand and they were mind blown by how immersed they felt.
We all had that scary movie moment where we mentally believed even if it was just for a brief moment that could happen to us. There are times in drama where we emotionally feel attached and sad when a character we like dies. Some games can make pressing a button even if it a simple decision intense. VR has the ability to do all of that but also make you forget that you are physically not in a real world.
It is that experience when you physically forget that you are in a fake world that only VR has the capability to do. My mom, dad, and uncle all tried to grab hold of the bars in Ocean Descent only to realize nothing was there. The fact that their brains were so easy to trick on the first generation of objectively the weakest VR platform speaks volumes to the future.
All the possibilities outside of gaming are so thrilling to envision. As a gamer, VR is the obvious relevant application to be excited about but that isn’t going to be the most significant function in the future. There is a reason why Facebook bought Oculus, they saw a future where this technology can be used for so much more.
The technology for VR is very impressive but this is just the beginning. It will be interesting to see how the gaming industry adapts to the launch of VR. Shue Yoshida said it best by saying this is just the first generation of VR and it going to take generations to see all the potential of what VR can bring.