Is Virtual Reality A Good Thing?

Photo via The Guardian

So there’s this thing called the Oculus Rift, and it’s pretty much like a virtual reality headset from a sci-fi movie. Up until recently, this would have only concerned you if you were a gamer. However, Mark Zuckerberg recently snapped up the company behind the ‘Rift for a whopping 2 billion dollars—that’s twice what it cost him to buyout Instagram.

“This is just the start. After games, we’re going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences.” Zuckerberg wrote. “Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face – just by putting on goggles in your home.” This could make you feel like you’re in the front row at Wimbledon, when you’re really just sitting at home in a pair of speedos, rubbing oil all over your body as you gaze at Roger Federer’s bouncing locks of hair. It is so incredibly immersive that people regularly flip the-fuck-out when they use it:

“Why haven’t I heard of this before? Why do I care? Can I still eat Doritos while I watch my 3D porn?” I hear you ask. Well it’s my job (as the resident nerd here at YFH) to tell you all about it and also not really answer any of those questions and instead go on a philosophical rant that nobody asked for. If you genuinely wanted to know more about this technology, you would have looked it up on a reputable gaming website by now.

Let’s get one thing straight. I think this sounds fucking awesome, but I also have some concerns. So, before I start sounding like an out-of-touch, 74-year-old pensioner/Liberal voter, I first need to start sounding like an out-of-touch 24-year-old nerd.

Unlike most 20-something males, if I could live any life I wanted, I wouldn’t choose to be Dan Bilzerian. Nope. I would actually choose to live in the Star Wars universe. I’d probably be a bounty hunter, like Boba Fett, only less-ruined by the prequel films. Awesome! Now that we’ve guaranteed that no one will ever want to have sex with me again, let’s move on. I think this technology sounds amazing, and I’d be very tempted to spend the majority of my days living as a (virtual) gun for hire. But, I can’t help but wonder how users will be affected by the prolonged use of these sorts of systems.

As I’ve stated previously, gaming on its own—without virtual reality goggles—can take its toll both mentally and physically. Picture this familiar scenario: You’ve just bought a new game, you’re hooked on it, every moment of it is exciting, and you feel immersed in it. You have a quick break to take a piss. You look at your watch and realise that six hours have passed by, your Mountain Dew has gone flat, and everything you thought you were going to do today has gone out the window. Your head is buzzing and whirling, and you can’t think of anything else except unlocking that next weapon, so you might as well write-off the entire day and keep playing.

I’ve had entire weeks, if not months go by like this. It’s already easy for this sort of thing to happen, but imagine how absorbed you’d be if you were playing with a VR headset strapped to your face?

There will of course be plenty of benefits to this new technology. Virtual reality simulators have already been used for medical and military training purposes. They’ve also been used as part of treatment therapies of patients suffering from PTSD, as well as other disorders and phobias. At this stage, one can only speculate how these benefits could convert into every day consumer use with the Oculus Rift.

The ‘Rift has caused motion-sickness and nausea among testers. When you put it on, it looks and feels as though you are moving around in the virtual world, so your mind can largely believe that you are. But, because you’re not actually moving, your brain doesn’t know how to deal with the conflicting information, and it can feel like shit.

The developers are finding ways to fix these issues and are continually improving the product. If Farmville was able to capture the attention of 8 million people, turning them into mindless, invite-sending zombie people, imagine what’s possible with 2 billion dollars worth of Zuckerboner behind these goggles.

So what happens when people start getting used to using these systems? Is there a point where the virtual world begins to feel comfortable and real, and real life begins to feel awkward or even boring by comparison? People could find themselves sitting by a pool, surrounded by virtual babes, driving virtual speedboats, and having the biggest, virtual, Vanilla Ice memorabilia collection in the world. Then they have to take a break for lunch. They take the goggles off, only to look down and see their morbidly obese belly, and their shitty, Vanilla Ice memorabilia-less room. Getting up and walking to the kitchen could feel strange after spending hours moving around in virtual reality. Some people would be in a rush to get all of their real life tasks out of the way so that they can get back to their awesome, virtual life.

Some gamers have already chosen to spend the majority of their time in virtual worlds like World Of Warcraft. Will there be a point where technology gets so good that many people would choose to live as super heroes in virtual reality, at the expense of being human potatoes in real life? It doesn’t feel so far-fetched when you’ve already felt that strange, lethargic buzz you get after playing a new game all day.

Alright, so I may be jumping the gun and overreacting a bit, but I wouldn’t be surprised if virtual reality becomes the 21st century, digital version of heroin. It may not be a huge epidemic, but as with everything good in life, some people are bound to take it too far.

Written by Luke Morrow