My first ever, notable VR experience was when I was accepted by Johns Hopkins University for a graduate program in marketing. I received in mail, a package that had a Johns Hopkin’s cardboard, which enabled me to hook up my IPhone to the same and experience the campus virtually. It was a great marketing and public relations technique, I thought. I could see each classroom and the different buildings of the campus. Not only that, my inquisitiveness led me to explore the campuses of other universities, to which I had applied. Thanks to virtual reality, I had already seen the campus of Syracuse University even before I landed here.

Last week, I got the opportunity to experience the world of virtual reality, from a different perspective,  through Professor Pacheco’s VR storytelling class. So far, I had thought that virtual reality was in a very primitive stage of existence and was only being used to market brands and experiences to consumers. However, after listening to Professor Pacheco’s thoughts and experiences, I have a different understanding of the same. My mind was bursting with ideas for VR application, ideas that could not only be applied to the world of business and consumer technology but also to medical science, psychology, health and wellness, entertainment, security and many more.

The VR lab consisted of some interested equipment such as HTC vive, Google Cardboard and Oculus rift. These pieces of technology gave us a glimpse of where the VR industry is heading and what it is capable of creating. On oculus rift, my classmates and I experienced interacting with a virtual robot. We could waive to the robot, accept things offered by it, play games with it and use other props that were in that virtual setup. It was an immersive experience. I had a 360-degree view and could truly interact with the virtual environment. Everything around was responsive and there was no lag in the system. The idea of interacting with a robot who introduces you to different things in the system was an apt way of introducing someone to a future technology, I believe. For the time that I was involved with Oculus, I was largely unaware of my external surroundings and could only feel them when a classmate was standing too close to me or was too loud. As I witnessed my classmates using the Oculus rift, I could see that they were thoroughly enjoying it. They smiled throughout the experience and were completely oblivious to their surroundings that were outside the virtual system. I also got a hint that the experience was addictive as people wanted to try the same equipment again.

HTC vive was quite similar to Oculus. However, I did not feel that it had the same level of immersive quality as the rift because I saw my classmate Brittany experiencing a virtual explosion in Syria and there was no emotion of panic or surprise on her face. She was smiling throughout the story and though she seemed inquisitive to explore the scenario, she was detached from it. This could happen for a number of reasons, either the sound on the system was not effective, the graphics were not of high quality or the story element was missing. I personally felt it was a mixture of all these issues. I personally used the HTC vive to explore the a 3D map of earth, which was quite similar to a Google earth experience. Though the head tracking was smooth and the screen resolution was above average, the overall experience was dull and not so different from that on a PC. I guess I just chose the wrong program!

Overall, the VR equipment that my class got demos of in the lab, was above average. The graphics were of high quality, screen resolution was pleasing to the eye, there was full range of motion and vision and the sound added to the quality of the experience. However, having heavy headsets and wires is a hassle and can restrict one’s movements. On top of that, these hindrances can cause disruption in the overall immersive experience as their sensation on your skin reminds you that you are experiencingng a “virtual world” and, as a result, keeps you detached. I do not know whether that is a good or a bad thing because no one experienced nausea or disorientation during the demo. Out of all the equipment that were tested by me or my classmates, I got a feeling that the Oculus rift was the winner as the majority of students were hooked onto it and I myself found it to be highly engaging. It was quite close to creating the illusion of transporting me to a different reality!