VR Technology Demos

Demonstrations of first Virtual Reality (VR) devices are starting and I assume they would only become more frequent as the time goes on.The technology and the experience is pretty cool and new. Not sure how it will play out in the long-term. I still feel a bit dizzy after today's demo.



The demonstration today was a movie from CTBTO, filmed in the Australian outback. Being able to watch all around you certainly beats any 2D experience the TV brings, no matter how many pixels they get to cram in there. Even without the interaction the experience was great. This depends on how picturesque the scenery is. And I can imagine how easy it would be to miss the important details should this way of watching become a standard for movies, the way they are created today.

The technology in this case was Oculus. It is a pretty light device into which one simply plugs in the mobile phone and there is the full sourround video and audio.



Earlier this month I saw another demo, made by 3. They showcased another device, I think from Microsoft, which was connected to a PC but also had two hand controllers that allowed for a host of interaction with the environment. There was an ocean-underwater scene, mostly for watching. Then there was an interaction with 3D drawing in space. Painting rings around planets or putting them on fire was quite fun, I must admit. There was a more earthly experience of in-office interaction with copy machine, monitor, throwing balls and mugs around, and so on.



In summary, the experience of trying these things out was the best part. The technology is new and will allow for some amazing appliances but the experience is the best thing you get out of it.