My first ever experience with virtual reality technology was with Sony's Project Morpheus at an event in NYC this summer. I had high expectations. I had heard about the Oculus Rift and the list of other virtual reality systems. I figured that if there were so many companies willing to invest into this new (possible) frontier of technology, there must be some substantial quality to these products. After all, it's virtual reality. And for virtual reality to work, it has to be real.

I was therefore slightly let down by Project Morpheus. I had done a street luge game, where you lie down and tilt your head to navigate down a virtual mountain. The game suffered from a fraction of a second lag behind my actual body movements, which made it hard for my brain to believe what I was seeing. The result: I felt a little bit oozy, a little bit dizzy, and a little bit confused by the time I took the goggles off. It didn't help that the simulation had me moving at a virtual 30 mph down a windy mountain.

I admit, I was impressed by the technology. Even though it wasn't smooth, the graphics engine was shockingly real and very impressive. The software and hardware required to create even a rudimentary version of that luge game would be an ambitious project to any company, but Sony did a decent job for what is still a beta product.

In class last Wednesday I had the chance to try the Samsung Gear VR, the Google Cardboard, the Oculus Rift DK1 and the Oculus Rift DK2. Prior to then, I assumed Sony's Project Morpheus was the standard.

Although all the products hope to earn the accolade for best virtual reality system, I've been impressed by just how unique each company's approach to VR is. Take, for example, the Samsung Gear VR. The graphics were clear and crisp, and the device itself was snug and fit well enough that I didn't think I was wearing a VR headset, I felt like I was actually watching Cirque du Soleil.

I didn't even realize until after I put the device down that the Samsung Gear VR is just a phone slipped into a pair of goggles. That same concept is behind the Google Cardboard, which is really just a box with a phone slipped into it as well. I see Google Cardboard as training wheels for the full VR experience. You obviously wouldn't hold the Cardboard up to your face for more than 15 minutes at a time, but it's an awesome conceptual tool to demonstrate just how accessible and practical VR can be. You can just take a phone, pop it into a box, and simulate something.

Oculus Rift's DK1 was the most similar experience to Project Morpheus. The graphics were good, but not anywhere comparable to the smoother experiences of Samsung Gear VR and obviously the DK2.

Through the Gear VR and the DK2 it's becoming apparent to me just how good companies are at making movement more fluid in VR systems and making graphics more realistic. Because as I mentioned earlier, for virtual reality to work, it has to be real.

I'd be interested to check out the AirDrift experience on the Oculus Rift DK2 because it does two things: simulates geography and simulates flying. Geography, I imagine, is incredibly difficult to make real. If the DK2 can simulate this well, it speaks to the potential of VR. Secondly, flying is something humans can't actually do. I'd be interested to see how AirDrift simulates a motion that we can't actually compare in real life.

The only concern I have for these systems on the whole is the bridge between real reality and virtual reality. The worst feeling for me, for all the system I've tried, is taking the headset off after having an experience. After being immersed into, for example, Samsung Gear VR's Cirque du Soleil experience, I felt a bit of confusion and dizzyness when I took the goggles off. My brain had to reprogram to reboot my real senses. My eyes had to re-dilate.

This remains my only skepticism of virtual reality; that we (society) would never want to adopt full immersion into a virtual world. This is because in virtual reality we surrender all our senses and attention to whatever experience we're in. That total immersion can change the way we store memories and experience events to a level where we actually confuse virtual and actual reality (which I perceive to be the seconds of limbo after removing a VR headset).

I'm interested to see, as this class goes on, whether or not that skepticism will be addressed.