Wow! I did not expect VR to have the effect it did on me. During the first class exercise, just being in the room seemingly made me nauseous. I was already battling a migraine and could not bare to put on a headset and confuse my brain.

Samsung Gear VR

A few days later, I tried for round two. First, I went for the Samsung Gear VR headset to experience skydiving. I was blown away by the picture/video quality; however, I forced myself to remember my feet were planted on the ground. But once the headset was on and the video moved as I turned my head, it was easy to forget where I actually was. The screen resolution was fair and the head tracking was quite smooth/seamless. As the skydiver neared the ground, I freaked out because I actually thought I was going to hit the ground. I did experience slight nausea/headache because of how fast the images were moving and by the full spherical range of vision.

I did not find much storytelling in the skydiving experience; granted I was not really expecting one. I just wanted the experience. There was more of a story watching others experience VR. Some students spoke throughout the VR experience, while others were silently absorbing the new world. Some walked hesitantly with arms reaching about and others stood still possibly afraid to fall into whatever pseudo-abyss laying ahead.

Google Cardboard

I enjoyed the ease and utter functionality of the Cardboard; there were no wires, headset with traps, and hand controllers to adjust to. It is clean-cut and to the point. I viewed a race car 360 video via the Littlstar App on my Galaxy Note 5. Again, with this particular video there was not a significant storytelling technique: I was not part of a story per se but instead an experience. This 360 video lacked captivating audio that really put me on the road with the cars. There was the predictable roar of the engine and vehicle zipping by...but that was it. Having to hold the Cardboard to my face did take away from the immersive experience. I was more in touch with true reality (and therefore less present in Cardboard reality). Because of this, I also avoided nausea.

Google Cardboard, with its simple build, had very smooth tracking and full range of vision. Google's minimalist taste really shines through with the DIY-esque feel of the Cardboard. It is quite amazing how I can still capture the VR feel with the far less bulky Cardboard.

Oculus Rift (Touch)

I felt the most present using the Oculus Rift Touch. Although the graphics/screen resolution were not as sharp as the Gear VR and Cardboard experiences, the Rift had an interactive experience that totally blew the others away. There were many moments I jumped and almost felt a sense of panic while immersed in the Rift reality. My consciousness was transported to (I assume) Wall-E's world. Wall-E started off as a computer or some hardware, then with a few clicks...he (or she) quite dramatically and clumsily transformed in the humanized robot. It frightened me, but I could not take the headset off. Wall-E was teaching me how to engage with this world. He handed me an old flat disk and pointed to the computer drive. After struggling to take the disk from him, I'd insert it and receive a 3D printout of the disk's contents. With this new object, I could then play games. I loved this experience because at times I was legitimately confused and would look at Wall-E for guidance and he would just look at me with an expression that said "Um, I don't know". I'd look away and could see him look back at the object I was struggling with.

The storytelling aspect here was phenomenal. I invaded Wall-E's space. He was afraid of me at first, but realized my harmlessness. He then came around to helping me learn how his space works. While I felt the most present in this system, I knew it was a pseud0-reality by my inability to comprehend the hand controls. I was able to pick things up and move things around; but still struggled with understanding each button's function.

Surprisingly, I did not feel nauseous probably because I was not falling from the sky, but instead interacting with my environment purposefully. I know the Rift Touch had sound, but I cannot recall if the sound moved with my head. The Rift had the semi-bulky feel with the headset and wires, but once my consciousness was transported, these pieces did not matter as much. The use of my hands differed from that of Google Cardboard: though my hands are fixated on the controllers, these controllers made my experience far more interactive and immersive because I could actually lift virtual, 3D objects lift up (instead of holding the Cardboard headset).

Overall, this was by far one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. Virtual reality will definitely be a huge takeover of our daily lives...hopefully sooner than later.