So, the Oculus Rift is actually coming. Are you excited? I'm not. In fact, I'm kinda worried.
I'll preface this by saying I'm a gamer, to some degree. I used to be a heavy gamer about 2-3 years ago, but now not so much. I stopped because of entheogens. They showed me I was playing too much. So I listened. I used to play League of Legends, and I stopped that entirely. It's a mind numbing game filled with toxic people. A huge portion of my mates play that game. They say "it's strategic, you have to train your reflexes". Yeah, my individual reflexes were fast when I used to play that game. But at what cost? Playing the same game, choosing the same pool of heroes, and buying the same items (not real money, for you old farts). It took its toll on me. And don't get me started on the community. There was a guy on my team who wished my mother died from cancer, just because I died once to the enemy team.
So now I only play a handful. GTA Online for shits and giggles with mates, and Path of Exile for its challenging creativity. And even then, not that often.
I want to mention something else here. I was invited to a storytelling conference by my university. I was the only science faculty representative. Every one else was either media or journalism. I initially thought they were going to talk about written media. Boy, was I wrong. Almost every one talked about virtual reality or augmented reality. They were talking about immersion, and engaging the viewer within the story. It sounds all well and good, but I'm always skeptical of "cutting-edge" technology, for fear of cutting myself. What's going to happen when everyone is wearing a Google Glass-esque contraption on their face? People will be too immersed in the virtual world (or the augmented world) that they'll lose the real world (or be jaded by the augmented one). Everyone is hooked in. We already have a more primitive version of that; social media. The way people are totally absorbed in their phones is astounding. When I studied in the university computer rooms, everyone was on facebook. Literally every one. So I made sure to keep an eye out over the duration of my study. I would glance around every 5 minutes. It did not change in 2 hours. Same thing happens on the train. The train line that I live on is one of the most beautiful journeys. Forests, rivers and nature reserves for most of the journey. Totally oblivious to the wonders out the window, people are staring into the little screen, with dead emotionless faces.
Humans need social interaction. Scrolling through that facebook homepage is not social interaction. Those that do actually talk to their friends only talk about trivial shit that is frankly a waste of time. I only use the facebook messenger to set up hangouts with mates, or for very brief interactions. Face to face contact is vital.
People want more immersion. They want immersive books, movies, TV shows, video games etc. Where does the boundary lie? The ultimate VR is what the Matrix is all about. Is that what we're striving for? Humanity is never satisfied with what they got, they always want more. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but the Matrix could be a possibility. Definitely not in our lifetimes.
Sorry for the rant, but this all fits in with VR (somehow). I've been told numerous times that I'm an old man in a young man's body. I know that this community is "different" from the rest of society, so you guys might share my sentiment. I do feel like I'm in the minority, though.
I'll preface this by saying I'm a gamer, to some degree. I used to be a heavy gamer about 2-3 years ago, but now not so much. I stopped because of entheogens. They showed me I was playing too much. So I listened. I used to play League of Legends, and I stopped that entirely. It's a mind numbing game filled with toxic people. A huge portion of my mates play that game. They say "it's strategic, you have to train your reflexes". Yeah, my individual reflexes were fast when I used to play that game. But at what cost? Playing the same game, choosing the same pool of heroes, and buying the same items (not real money, for you old farts). It took its toll on me. And don't get me started on the community. There was a guy on my team who wished my mother died from cancer, just because I died once to the enemy team.
So now I only play a handful. GTA Online for shits and giggles with mates, and Path of Exile for its challenging creativity. And even then, not that often.
I want to mention something else here. I was invited to a storytelling conference by my university. I was the only science faculty representative. Every one else was either media or journalism. I initially thought they were going to talk about written media. Boy, was I wrong. Almost every one talked about virtual reality or augmented reality. They were talking about immersion, and engaging the viewer within the story. It sounds all well and good, but I'm always skeptical of "cutting-edge" technology, for fear of cutting myself. What's going to happen when everyone is wearing a Google Glass-esque contraption on their face? People will be too immersed in the virtual world (or the augmented world) that they'll lose the real world (or be jaded by the augmented one). Everyone is hooked in. We already have a more primitive version of that; social media. The way people are totally absorbed in their phones is astounding. When I studied in the university computer rooms, everyone was on facebook. Literally every one. So I made sure to keep an eye out over the duration of my study. I would glance around every 5 minutes. It did not change in 2 hours. Same thing happens on the train. The train line that I live on is one of the most beautiful journeys. Forests, rivers and nature reserves for most of the journey. Totally oblivious to the wonders out the window, people are staring into the little screen, with dead emotionless faces.
Humans need social interaction. Scrolling through that facebook homepage is not social interaction. Those that do actually talk to their friends only talk about trivial shit that is frankly a waste of time. I only use the facebook messenger to set up hangouts with mates, or for very brief interactions. Face to face contact is vital.
People want more immersion. They want immersive books, movies, TV shows, video games etc. Where does the boundary lie? The ultimate VR is what the Matrix is all about. Is that what we're striving for? Humanity is never satisfied with what they got, they always want more. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but the Matrix could be a possibility. Definitely not in our lifetimes.
Sorry for the rant, but this all fits in with VR (somehow). I've been told numerous times that I'm an old man in a young man's body. I know that this community is "different" from the rest of society, so you guys might share my sentiment. I do feel like I'm in the minority, though.
