VR or virtual reality is making its entry in our lives. The Oculus Rift viewer is still low quality, but the next generation product is about to hit the market. Virtual reality is not the same as 3 dimensional or stereoscopy, because it allows arbitrary choice of point of view, and it changes it with an immidiacy that creates an powerfull illusion of emersion. To have the best effect the resolution should be high and the latency of updates to the image should be as short as possible.
CastAR allows the projection of augmented reality in a visible environment
Holoportation is the name Microsoft gives to their execution of the obvious idea, not done very well but sufficient to know what it can become : As real as reality.
The challenge is of course that that image doesn’t only need to be presented, it also needs to be calculated and generated because it depends on the unique head orientation of the user. There is nothing special about an Oculus Rift, it is strange that one company gets so much attention, but that is the market today. CastAR makes a product geared more to creation of augmented reality like microsofts Hololens (which seems to be a concept rip off either benefitting CastAR or not).
VR is going to change things because the experience will become so realistic (including audio) that people won’t be able to put don the devices. 2d Video will skip 3d and go VR as software and rendering algorithms are developed that can turn any existing video stream in a VR experienceable world. Direct translation will never be perfect but computers are learning to make up the parts it can not extract from the images. An intermediate step is POV VR, where one is able to look from one perspective at any one time, the perspective of the one filming.
| Name | Stereoscopic | Free head movement | Free perspective | Reality based | Simulation based |
| Stereoscopy | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Can be |
| VR-Real | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| VR-Sim | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
It can be expected we can walk and sit inside an Elvis movie soon. Already any actor can be translated realistically into an Elvis or Merilyn Monroe haveing exact the same movements and emotional expressions. This development is a concert for law enforcement, as it also means that image proof becomes extremely unreliable to the point that anyone can be rendered realistically in any situation real or imagined. Expect a lot of blackmail going on before this becomes mainstream knowledge.
The above is POV VR, the person in the image above may be hyper realistically replaced by anybody else. This kind of scene is probably going to be pretty commecially interesting.
There are some consequences to VR in its different flavors. It may be a good thing, because as the technology becomes less of a burden our reality can become less interesting. TV already changed our lives so much, we went inside, and our outside world could become boxy and ugly. Gaming added to this, and even MUDD (Multi User Dungeons and Dragons, a text based fantasy game) was able to pin down some users until they basically rotted in their chairs. Now we are going to be distracted in a whole new way, so satisfying and complete that we may never leave the house again. World of Warcrafe is already captivating (capturing) hundreds of thousands of users around the world. We want to live in an interesting environment and the easiest way to create it has become the digital way.
VR will save energy and resources because people move less and forget about wanting the real thing
This development has some positive consequences for our planet. Not only will people travel less if they can satisfy their curiosity using VR, or are to distracted to want to go anywhere, VR also allows us to better control remote systems and introduce people in a remote environment. It makes it easier to visualise consequences of actions and it creates a method to train people mentally and physically to do things in real life. As computers are becoming more and more efficient (my i5 processor barely needs ventilation while the first pentiums made a PC sound like a fighter jet), and rendering algorithms become better at maximizing bandwith use.
Autonomous gardeners, but maybe driven by people in VR environments?
Drones that map their environment in 3d, allow it to be rendered to Virtual Reality may be guarding plantations of trees in deserts or remote areas that nobody wants to live in. It is not necessary to have only destructive uses of drones, and with better actuators and VR it may be possible to be much more active. We now don’t know wild animals very well, but what if we where able to observe them on a daily basis.
VR drives creation of 100% simulated realities, but can also allow us to wonder through real remote places, increasing our relationship with them
How cool is it to own a hose? A simulated hose can be as realistic as a real one in VR, the sword of the virtual is double edged, because it can make us indifferent and care less or make us more involved in what we can not access or achieve.