Over the last couple of months our class has been working with Virtual Reality. The definition of Virtual reality is “the computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person using special electronic equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors.” this may seem like a new concept however humans have been trying to create this medium for what seems like forever originally there was things like The Kinetoscope in 1891 which then lead to the Mutoscope in 1894 which were large machines in which film or series of images are viewed through a peep hole or viewing port. The Mutoscope is commonly known from carnivals or penny arcades often having the themes of cartoons, historical landmarks, and peep shows.
However within the last couple of years there have been many large advancements along with many in between. The first thing that comes to mind is VR arcade roller coaster machines in which people would sit in a chair and have a headset come down in front of them for them to look through they get strapped in and the machine moves according to whatever the screen displays this was a large advancements however it was limited in viewer experience as they had no control. Another giant leap towards the greater experience of today is the google cardboard.
This is something that I had experience with myself as I got one at a patriots game in which they were giving them away. The google cardboard is a cardboard headset in which the user places their phone in the slot and holds it up to their eyes and using the gyroscope within the phone in order to view 360 videos and images. This was one of the first easily accessible devices of this nature for the public. This was great because it finally allowed you to move your head in order to get another view rather than just a fixed view given to you.How this technology was still not to the level of VR today as it would only give you the view from a fixed location within the 360* image. Luckily we didn’t have to wait very long for this technology to come out. The modern VR has been able to bring everything from the past and improve it as today VR consists of a headset that is able to track the direction you are looking along with head movement and positioning. This VR also consists of two hand controllers that allow you to interact with the virtual environment. This technology has advanced significantly over the years. I am very interested in seeing where this technology will go in the future.