Over the summer I was able to partake in my first real experience with VR. Prior to the summer, my interest in the VR world was sparked when Facebook introduced Facebook 360. This is where I was first exposed to this world but it wasn’t until the summer when I realized VR is so much more than just a 360 video.

During our class, I started out at the Google Cardboard station. This is definitely the most basic, bare bones type of VR you can get your hands on. It was nice to start at this station though because it set the stage for what was to come. With the Google Cardboard, it’s more about the app you are using than the actual headset. Some apps like LittlStar had some really good videos in VR. There were also some that were complete fails. For me, it’s all about the quality of the video and screen resolution. If it doesn’t look real, it won’t feel real. This station did have the Samsung Gear that I thought worked much better than the Google Cardboard. The videos I watched on the Gear just made me feel so much more immersed and the screen went across the whole 180. With some of the Cardboard, the video only was in the dead center of the screen and you could see some black spaces. The one thing I particularly don’t like about these types of devices is that they are only really made for 360 videos so you can’t actually walk around and experience the video, you have to let the video walk for you which I feel is not really VR.

The next station we went to was the Holo Lens. I had no idea something like this had even been created until I walked into the lab that day. This is an example of mixed reality where they are see-through glasses but you’re having a full experience with virtual storytelling. I have one complaint about these and it’s the weight of the glasses. They rested very heavily on my nose that made my experience not as enjoyable but the wow factor from the mixed reality weighed out the heaviness. The quality of the Holo Lens was spectacular. The graphics were just as good as a computer screen, if not better. The nice thing about the Holo Lens is that there is no motion sickness or nausea factor. Since you can see right through the glasses, you have that sense that you are still on the ground in real life but experiencing the VR side at the same time. That’s one of the main reasons I really enjoyed using these and would like to dive into their capability later on in the class.

We then moved onto the Oculus Rift. This was definitely a big jump from the last two stations. Now I’m finally immersed into the VR world. I really enjoyed using this but the part I didn’t like was how it was stationary. I like to be able to move around the room making it feel as real as possible. Since this was my first time experimenting with the Rift, I might have been able to walk around in other settings but I don’t know much about this device. Over the summer, I met with someone in the VR industry and he told me they recently switched to the HTC Vive from the Rift because they found the Vive was a lot more conducive to what they were working on. I’ve heard in the past that the Vive is better than the Rift too so maybe it is time for Oculus to get on their game if VR creators are leaving that and going to the Vive.

My last station was the HTC Vive and this is my far the coolest experience I’ve had. I was fortunate enough to experience this over the summer but I was only exposed to one thing, a horror video game based off the Paranormal Activity movie franchise (I definitely think we need this for the lab by the way). I loved how you were able to move around the room and actually feel like you were in the setting. I tried out a couple of the videos (is that what you call them?) and they were all pretty cool. This definitely had the smoothest head tracking out of all of the devices. I want to learn more about the difference between virtual and real life filming because I saw some that seemed very fake like I was walking on water but then there were some that looked super real, like I was walking through a castle. This is something I’d like to dive into (no pun intended) to learn more about and the benefits of filming verse creating graphics.

Overall, my experience with VR this past week was outstanding. I can’t imagine what is to come once we are able to actually start crafting our own stories.