My Experience With VR – A Brief Introduction To NEW 400/600
What do we talk about when we talk about Virtual Reality (VR)? A technology which allows us to enter an artificial world and interact with virtual features or items? Variety of high-tech equipment including headsets and handles? Shooting games? Or just a mysterious phrase? Whatever you thought, here I share my experience with VR and help you to know what we did at the beginning of the class, New 400/600.
Before the class, my only experience with VR was using a VR cardboard to watch a documentary about China’s scenery. Though it was a real scene, I didn’t really feel engaged. I simply thought: okay, VR is just a tool, similar with computers and TVs. But after experiencing all the high-tech VR equipment in the Innovation lab, Newhouse 3(the classroom of New 600), I realized that VR is not simply a tool, but has the potential to change a human’s behavior and thoughts; it is changing the world now.
How did I realize that? Just see what we did in the class. All my classmates, including me, are totally immersed. Someone held the handle like holding a pen when he played the game “Tilt Brush”, which allows him to draw in the air and draw a 360 picture around you. Someone walked around the room and tried to stand on her tip-toes several times in the real word to explore more in the virtual world. Some were scared by the virtual monster and leaned back when watching the “Stranger Thing”. And me, I was totally lost in Dunkirk the movie. When watching the movie with VR headsets, I felt that I was not only an audience member but a witness and even a participant. That feeling came over me especially when I was put into a scenery of a plane which had me dashing to the ground. I was in the pilot’s position, I looked around and found nothing I could do to stop the tragedy happening. When I came closer to the ground and the scenery became dark, I even felt kind of desperate. Even after taking down the headsets, I could hear my heartbeat. I couldn’t point out the exact reason why I felt empathized. Because of the director who chose a great view for the VR audience? There were no other characters around me except myself sitting in the pilot’s seat. Because the full spherical range of vision, where I was able to look around to the environment that I was in? Because of the 360 sound, which was lingering in my ears? Or because of the combination of all the factors above, which contributed a VR experience which you could never miss?
There are three different kinds of high-tech equipment in the Innovation Lab: the Samsung Gear, the HTC vive, and the Oculus, and one cheap and easily-accessible tool: cardboard. After experiencing all, I think every tool functions differently. The Samsung Gear focuses on VR movies. The HTC vive allows users to physically move to explore more. The Oculus’s special handles support users to interact with computers. All work pretty well except the cardboard as I needed to hold the cardboard the entire time when watching. I couldn’t really feel physically present. I felt detached: my eyes told me, you’re in another place, but my holding hands said, no you’re not. But depending on how much the cardboard costs, it’s still okay. And if any other factor affected my experience, I would say it was the quality of 3-D graphics. Sometimes the characters in the VR games don’t look real based on the technology’s limitations. But all in all, that’s only my experience. And why not have your own? Take New 400/600, and you will have the chance to learn more about VR.
