Larissa Urbiks

My experience with virtual reality is very limited. This is why I was excited for the class in the Newhouse innovation lab. When I entered the room I saw all the different VR viewers, students wearing them and interacting in another world. This was really funny to observe. There was this table with Google Cardboard phone-based viewers, another table with Samsung Gear viewer and two other VR headsets – the Oculus Rift Dk2 and the HTC Vive.

I decided to begin my VR journey with the HCT Vive headset and the story “After Solitary”. I recognized fast that there is a brand new storytelling dimension with virtual reality. Suddenly I was standing in a room with a man I’ve never seen before. He was telling me his story and took me to the place where this all happened – the jail. I sat with him in his cell. I was with him at this cruel place. The atmosphere was oppressive and I was a little bit afraid. Afraid of that place and the things happened there. This wouldn’t be possible with a standard video. I really felt physically present in his cell. I walked around; I sat on the floor; I observed him and had the feeling that he knows that I’m here. I think the reason for this physical presence was that I was placed right inside the environment and that I was able to move there. (The wire limited my movement, so I would prefer a wireless viewer.) Also, the fact that the environment was created with thousand of real photos contributes to this real experience. Just as the sound, that supported the spatial orientation. It didn’t even face me that the screen resolution was a little bit pixelated. Everything else was simply impressive.

The second step of my VR journey was trying out a Samsung Gear viewer. I experienced a story from New York Times Magazine about a street artist. In a direct comparison to “After Solitary”, the 360° video from New York Times Magazine loses. I wasn’t part of the virtual reality, of the story and the street art action. I was just an observer. There are two reasons for this, I guess. The first one is the camera perspective. There were many scenes filmed from the bird’s-eye view. So I was looking from above on the activities instead of being placed in the environment. Besides, it happened sometimes that the camera was too far away from the scenes. It would have been a good thing to have had the possibility to zoom in. The second reason is that there were too many people in some scenes. Especially when I was in the midst of them, I thought that I always got in their ways.

Another video I watched with the Samsung Gear was a U2 music video. Especially at the beginning, it was awesome because it felt like they are playing a private concert just for me. Also, the 3D sound was great here to separate the different instruments and voices.

The third step of my VR journey was exploring the earth with the Oculus Rift Dk2 headset. This was pretty exciting because it makes the whole world accessible with only one touch of a bottom. Unfortunately, this experience caused nausea. I think this was because of the zoom in and outs. Nevertheless, it was great that I could decide where I wanted to go and had a VR experience where I could walk and touch. I also tried Tiltbrush out, but to be honest, I didn’t understand how to draw with the holders. I need to practice how to control them.

Last but not least I tested those Google Cardboards, but after those excellent experiences and especially my favorite the HTC Vive, this was just like a nice try. It serves the purpose, but many things had a terrible screen resolution, and it was kind of annoying to hold it.

All in all, I am very impressed by virtual reality – of course, it’s not perfect for now, but it will be. I’m happy that I have the chance to visit this course and learn more about virtual reality.