Week 1 — FGMD 7003 Real and Virtual Worlds
Ready Player One
I found the concept for Ready Player One really interesting. The future of VR becoming an alternate reality to real-life sounded fascinating. Everybody connected in an MMORPG where you can create your character and partake in activities you are not able to in the real world. A very simple version of this universe exists in a few games, the one that comes to mind is called VRChat. VRChat is an MMORPG where you connect and interact with friends and various other users in a 3D virtual world. It utilises VR, although it is also playable without VR, to allow players to socialise and partake in minigames.
Ready Player One did get me thinking into the practicality terms of this universe, such as sports. Are sports like tennis and golf worth being in a VR world? VR sports would always allow perfect conditions for weather meaning that you could play even if a tropical storm was passing through in the real world. Game set-up is another point that would benefit sports in the VR world as it would be automated, meaning you would not need to retrieve a ball or tediously place game objects which cause interruptions. In fitness terms the player would still be moving around a similar amount to real life, however, they would not be getting the other benefits such as fresh air and sunlight.
The car race scene got me thinking about activities people would be able to participate in even if they had no budget in real life, such as motorsport. But this got me thinking about how people act in racing games. Current players can not feel the pain from accidents, so they would usually slam into other cars to help them make a corner or get an overtake. But if the player were to wear a haptic bodysuit, they would feel the consequences of their actions. However, they are still not likely to care as there is only so much the suit can do before it becomes a torture device.
Another aspect that caught my attention was that in-game credits could be used on real-life purchases. I thought about this and linked it to adverts I have seen for a claw game that lets you receive the winning prize through the mail. This led to some quick thoughts about how the economy could be destroyed if in-game credits are too easy to earn, for example, Grand Theft Auto V with missions that give you too much prize money and their solution was to raise the prices of future added accessories making it near impossible for new players to buy things.
Black Mirror S3 E4-San Junipero
The San Junipero episode is about a virtual world where elderly and deceased souls go to relive their younger healthier days. I thought that the concept was comforting, having a safe space to go to in your final years where you can live carefreely. I found the level of immersion interesting as you could relive yourself in different time periods, the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s were examples shown in the episode. I find it interesting how people could choose to separate real life and virtual in a way to “start over”. I also like that you can carry over your real-life memories and live eternity as if you're permanently on holiday. I found a small component that others may not notice quite fascinating, the characters were able to taste the drinks in the virtual world. The episode does leave a lot of unanswered questions, for example, What happens if the servers get full? Who is sustaining this? Do you have to pay? Are they really themselves in there or are they AI making them believe they are real? How much customisation do you get for your avatar? Can you look like your elderly self? Is San Junipero the only location (could you go to the city, countryside)? or is San Junipero just the afterlife's name? Can pets go there too?
VR Art Blog
The VR Art Blog documents various different ways of showcasing art using virtual and augmented reality.
Project Update
For this units project, I want to continue developing on my final major project from my Product Design BA. My project was about driver distractions and ways to prevent them. By simplifying controls and limiting driver distractions I created a touch-sensitive steering wheel and dashboard. Rather than buttons and dials, I utilised pressure-sensitive fabric and projectors to show the buttons. I could create a form of simulation that shows the components I created in use.
