Virtual Reality: a New and Promising Technological Frontier

Virtual Reality (VR) has gained quite some buzz since mid-2016, with multiple companies and developers rushing to forward this new addition to the gaming industry, is it really time to hop onto the VR bandwagon just yet? VR is a type of gaming where someone puts on a head set with a screen overlay, where a high-resolution television screen would give them the illusion of being in the game, given the device’s movement would match their own.

The first addition to this new age in VR began with the Oculus “Rift,” which started with a Kickstarter in 2012 by the company Oculus. Kickstarter is a website where various developers, artists, and technological pioneers put their idea or product on the Kickstarter website, and people can invest money to them to help the creators reach their “stretch goals” and make their dreams a reality. Some ideas are sure fire hits, while others fail horribly. The Oculus “Rift” was the prior, and reached its goal in no time, but soon got bought by Facebook for $2 billion in 2014.

The new age of VR had begun, soon leading to various new innovations with the technology, all sticking to the 2 control sticks or “nunchucks,” and the rectangular head mount that has become the device’s signature. In 2014 Sony software announced the “PlayStation VR,” though allegedly had been working on the idea of head mounted gaming technology since 2009, this device was intended to be a far more accessible, consumer great product. In 2015, the game and software developer Valve announced the “HTC Vive,” which was a far more advance and efficient VR device compared to the “Rift” or the “PS VR,” it’s PC requirements are exponential, but those who have the proper high end software and requirements, find the “Vive” to be the superior Virtual Reality device.

However, the biggest innovation in this growing branch of industry would have to be the Microsoft “Hololens,” which is doing what the other competitors have yet to follow, which is implementing Augmented Reality (AR). What AR entails is that consumers would be able to see real life through the device, but it would display virtual additions to someone’s everyday life. Though Microsoft featured the “Hololens” to be applicable to video games at their E3 Conference in 2016, showing how someone’s “Minecraft” world can be recreated as a miniature version on their living room table through the “Hololens’” AR head set. The only problem is that the “Hololens” is still in development, and has yet to be released to the masses.

For now, it is safe to say that most people should wait for VR and AR to become more developed and perfected. If they have a powerful computer and plenty of disposable income, the “Vive” would be an easy choice. If they just want to see what VR’s like, the “PS VR” would be a good choice. But for now, it would be wise to save those $300 plus, and see where this new and promising industry leads.