Future VR Technology

As is the case with any new gaming platform, your primary concern after hooking it up to your TV is going to be which software will most successfully show off the hardware you’ve just purchased. Sony has been prominently advertising  PlayStation VR Worlds  as the game that will do just that, with it essentially assuming the role of the PlayStation VR headset’s answer to  Wii Sports , only with less bowling and more London gangsters telling you to f*** off.  However, whereas  Wii Sports  was a game that remained firmly on rotation until the Wii spluttered its dying breaths,  PSVR Worlds  is destined for an infinitely shorter life span. PSVR Worlds  is a collection of five mini-games, with each intended to highlight the capabilities of the headset.  The London Heist  is an on-rails shooter that whirls you through a couple of action set-pieces, each punctuated by snippets of a plot that happily apes...

While the first generation of VR devices is still concerned with its own usability and usefulness, product features like display resolution, frame rates, product weight, and comfort dominate the conversation, whereas more aspirational aspects like shared experiences, human interactions, and other positive outcomes are much lower on the list of priorities. Mapping out the VR devices that are on the market today or are slated to be shipped later in 2016 according to their immersiveness and inclusiveness the results are clear — while current products support different levels of immersiveness, they all fall short in bringing other people into the VR experience. The trajectory for second generation headsets points to increased immersive qualities – the current key ingredient in creating premium VR experiences. Future virtual reality devices will become untethered, smaller, and lighter, and thus more mobile, further “tune out” physical reality with more lifelike 3D video and au...

The latest version of the YouTube app can play any video in virtual reality mode, on both Android smartphones and iPhones.  Just open up the app on your smartphone, and pull up any video. For any  virtual reality video there is a  little Cardboard outline at bottom right.  Hit play and then click on Cardboard icon to switch to VR mode. Y ou should then see the side-by-side virtual reality view where you feel in the middle of the action. You then  put the smartphone into your Cardboard-compatible viewer and enter the video. I f you want to watch a regular video, one that wasn’t filmed in 360-degrees y ou can still watch it with your headset. It will feel a bit like you’re sitting in an extremely dark movie theater, watching the video on a giant movie screen. You  open the video on your smartphone s tart the video, then click on the three-dot settings button at the top right.  A menu will pop up and the c lick on the Cardboard icon. T he screen will...

The way we see games might also be due for a big change. Since the 1970s we have played games on televisions. Some people think that we may someday play within virtual reality, wearing headsets so that the game world is visible all around us. There are many astonishing games out there for example Star Trek: Bridge Crew, Robinson: The Journey and The Climb that are based on VR technology. Although conventional games are still popular it is believed it is only a matter of time before all the best games come in VR. Imagine playing a COD game where you can simply turn your head to follow a spaceship as it crashes and burns across the sky of an alien world. Pretty awesome isn’t it?   Game developers are still figuring out what video games can be and do. Games have already moved from computer labs to living rooms to the palms of players’ hands. Where will they be tomorrow? Will new technologies change the way we play? How can the player be more fully absorbed in the world of a v...