When I attended the VRLA Summer Expo in August, I couldn’t stop thinking about Elon Musk’s speculation that there’s a “one in billions” chance that we aren’t living in a simulation. Musk draws a line of technological advancement from Pong to AAA games in 2016. He argues that if we made this much progress in 40 years, we’ll someday be able to create simulations indistinguishable from reality. Walking around VRLA, I thought about where VR is now and how long it would take to create a Matrix-like existence: a simulated reality that everyone is a part of. At VRLA, it became clear that the hardware has a long way to go, but virtual reality is making an effort to invite everyone in.
VRLA—the world’s largest virtual reality expo—is a biannual event held in Los Angeles. With more than 6,000 attendees and more than 130 exhibitors, this year’s expo was the largest one yet. Everything from the traditional VR experiences (games, rides, and films) to the more experimental (like a VR rave) were on display. Before the expo floor opened, a line of hundreds snaked around a large part of the convention center. The floor itself felt like a theme park, with people patiently waiting in line for hours to try VR demos, from the unreleased VR game Star Trek: Bridge Crew, to Mindshow: the VR app that lets you make your own VR productions. You couldn’t walk far without seeing someone in a headset, or waiting in line to wear one.
“VR and AR are trying to catch up with the OG-R,” said Reggie Watts, the conference keynote speaker. (In May, the comedian performed a set in VR.) “I can’t wait to put on a headset in my living room and be transported to my living room… in VR. That’s where I’d like us to start.” During his speech, Watts spent 20 minutes analyzing the projector menu. The hilarious contrast between everyday technology and the inaccessible headset was obvious. It was a reminder that even with the launch of consumer VR products, it’s still a niche technology still very foreign to the vast majority of us.
In science-fiction stories, like Keiichi Matsuda’s HYPER-REALITY, VR and AR are incredibly powerful, yet mobile enough to touch every aspect of our lives. But in the reality of 2016, consumer VR headsets still allow us to experience robust VR only from our homes. Currently, Facebook’s Oculus Rift and the Vive (co-developed by HTC and Valve) are the major players in the consumer VR market, but both require a very powerful PC (and a lot of wires) for use. Devices like Google Cardboard Samsung’sGear VR utilize smartphones to offer mobile VR, but with what they gain in portability, they lose in power and input precision.
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Source: Vice