by Suhrud Banhatti
Have you ever wanted to experience something amazing? Or visit another world without even leaving your seat? Well it could be possible in the future, thanks to the fascinating technology known as virtual reality.
Most of us can venture a guess as to what it would be like — the common perception is that you would wear a pair of goggles, and would get connected to a selection of various wires. Then, when you turn around, the view you would see in the goggles would mimic your movements, and at the same time create a brand new world around you. So it would feel as if you are somewhere else.
Of course, virtual reality is just a general term for many other things — it can also include very advanced simulations which can be seen on a computer screen, or it could just mean anything which tries to mimic reality.
Although gadgets and games we have at the moment can’t match that level of realism and immersion, some of the newest consoles are getting pretty realistic. For example, some games on the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 look incredibly detailed when viewed through HD television, and when games are developed properly, the level of immersion they achieve can be very high. If you think about it, most video games are basically attempts to bring gamers into new worlds — much like virtual reality.
For example, if you play the new Call of Duty 4, you will be transported to an intense war scene, with soldiers and numerous enemies to shoot down. Unlike real life, you wouldn’t need any army training, but it would still be a fairly realistic experience, due to jaw-dropping graphics. The new service — Home from Playstation 3 is another obvious example.
Home is a new virtual life system that Sony is planning to provide for gamers free of cost. You can create an avatar — an extremely realistic 3D character (which could loosely resemble yourself), and then your newly made character can walk an absolutely enormous world.
At first glance, it looks like a free version of The Sims, but since the PS3 has online capabilities, hundreds of people can walk around in that world, chatting to each other and playing pool, or watching TV at the same time. Not only that, but each user can have their own apartment, which can be filled with furniture or posters, and you can even call a friend over for a date. Everything is completely free-roaming, with minimal load times, so it would feel even more realistic. A starting step towards virtual reality?
On some level, most gamers play video games because they want to escape their own mundane lives for a few hours, and experience another world with action and adventure. It is a harsh truth that the majority of people can’t afford a rich luxury lifestyle, and perhaps they want to simulate a better life — maybe that’s why The Sims was so popular when it first came out.
Virtual reality could also help medicine. It could eradicate the need for human or animal testing. If virtual reality can be made to bundle in smell and touch as well, the possibilities would explode in our faces.
Or we could use it to train — like in The Matrix (Oh Boy!). Strap yourself onto a chair, go into a virtual training program, and learn karate (or rock climbing, or bungee jumping, or yoga, or…). We are talking about redesigning the universe here!
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