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As the topic of the metaverse grabbed the headlines, another more or less forgotten topic came along – virtual reality.
Despite not being new, there are still many people who, when invited to explain what it is, or to give examples or even possible applications, find it difficult to do so.
Therefore, in today’s post, we intend to answer these and other associated questions.
What is virtual reality (VR)?
We can start by saying that virtual reality – or simply VR (Virtual Reality in English) – is a simulation of an alternative reality and for that it makes use of a set of technologies, most commonly digital.
However, although definitions give us an idea of what they are trying to explain, understanding is not always clear and comprehensive.
For this reason, we are going to resort to a seventh art science fiction classic, the first film of the Matrix trilogy and an excerpt from the dialogue between Morpheus and Neo, in which the first begins to introduce the second, what is the Matrix and what is the “real” world in which people live.
Morpheus: “This is Construction. It’s our loading program. We can carry everything, clothing, equipment, weapons, training simulations, anything we need…”.
Neo: “So are we inside a computer program?”.
Morpheus: “Do you really find it hard to believe?”.
Morpheus: “Your clothes are different. Your body plugs are gone. Your appearance now is what we call a ‘residual self-image’. It is the mental projection of your digital self”.
Neo: “Is this not real?”.
Morpheus: “What is ‘real’? How do you define ‘real’?”.
Morpheus: “If you’re talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, taste, see, then ‘real’ is simply electrical signals interpreted by the brain”.
Possibly the iconic scene in which this dialogue takes place contains one of the best illustrations of a possible virtual reality and actually goes a little further, but it is not our purpose to discuss the other aspects of the film’s plot.
In the plot, the Matrix is, among other things, a virtual reality (and also a metaverse), insofar as it presents itself differently from the physical world in which the characters actually exist.
Here, the example of the film takes us to some of the different characteristics of virtual realities:
- be in fact a alternative and therefore totally dissociated from the world or reality we are used to and many computer games fit into this;
- Be a copy digital and/or virtual world, as the Matrix did, at least in terms of what the real world should be like for people. Simulators are part of another group of examples that try to get as close as possible to what we know and expect from “reality”;
- The more there is a feeling of the VR experience being real, it is said that there is greater immersion. Immersion comes from the sensation of realism that the experience can produce;
- The greater participation and use of the senses (vision, hearing and touch), represents the interactionor the ability to visualize the scenarios and locate yourself within them, walking through them, or manipulating objects;
- Direct consequence of the two characteristics above, when they occur at high levels, they lead to involvement of the individual in virtual reality.
For the new generations that didn’t have the opportunity – or the interest – in watching The Matrix, another example of the screens is the “Player No. 1” (Ready Player One), directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 2018.
In it, the protagonist Wade Watts, like most people in the year 2045, prefers the virtual reality of the game OASIS, to the real world.
With the development of the film, Watts – and the other people – face the challenge of solving an existing puzzle on the platform, which was created by its creator, but for that, he sees that he needs to abandon the virtual existence and experience reality and situations that really matter in your life.
Even the director – Spielberg – warns about the “danger” of dependence on the virtual to the detriment of the “real”. In fact, people have been experiencing this and it goes by the name of digital addiction.
This takes us back to a very distant past, still at the beginning of the Internet and when the technologies that serve virtual reality were not yet accessible.
Yes, because at the time of IRC (Internet Relay Chat), there were people who spent hours on chat servers based on the protocol, each with their nicknames (nicknames), avatars, governed by a set of rules, in environments and with robots that controlled the rooms, such as were called the virtual “spaces” where interactions between users took place.
They were like their own realities and sometimes dissociated from the so-called real world.
But as we said, although we commonly remember alternative realities simulated digitally or with intense computing support, there are also analog simulations.
This is the case of the RPG (Role Playing Game), which is a type of game that emerged in the 70s and whose main title at the time was Dungeons & Dragons. In RPG each participant can assume a role or representation of characters, with supernatural powers and in settings full of fantasy.
Are Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Metaverse the same thing?
No, these are not three different names for the same thing!
And although some examples of the metaverse can even be confused with virtual reality, such as the aforementioned Matrix case, it is not the rule.
The metaverse, as it has been conceptualized, makes extensive use of virtual reality, however, it is broader in that more elements of reality are present, such as social interactions and persistence, the first of which (social integration ) can exist in a VR simulation, but that is not mandatory to conceptualize it as such, as will be clear in the examples that we will give.
In other words, in the metaverse there will always be the assumption of infinite people interacting, whereas in VR many simulations can and are individual.
Persistence is associated with the concept that in the metaverse things will happen regardless of an individual’s participation, which may even be “disconnected”. That is, a meeting at the company can take place with or without your presence.
When the subject is augmented reality, the same reality that we already experience is added, it is amplified, it is augmented (hence its name), with new sensorial information (vision, hearing, touch and smell), making use of technologies. This is the case, for example, of the game Pokemon Go, which was a rage for a while, in which players used their smartphones and pointing them at certain physical locations saw the targets they were looking for on the screen.
Augmented reality has used, for example, QR Codes, in order to deliver to the user a range of additional content regarding a product, for example, such as details of its manufacture, composition, technologies used and what else its creator interested in reporting.
Examples of Virtual Reality applications
Understanding what virtual reality is involves experiencing possibilities or applications in which it is present.
The most common nowadays is its use in electronic games and it is understandable that this is the case, after all the visual component has been one of the main elements to produce immersion.
With the advancement of technology, the supply of increasingly powerful video cards and better VR glasses, as well as an audience that traditionally invests heavily in state-of-the-art hardware, game producers have used and abused, seeking to achieve the triad immersion, interaction and involvement.
However, there are many other areas in which virtual reality has been used and it is not new.
At aeronautical industry and even in aerospace, sophisticated simulators make use of virtual reality, to train pilots in situations as close to reality as possible, especially the most adverse ones, in which not only skill, but correct and quick decision-making can mean the life of people.
The main Formula 1 teamsthey also have state-of-the-art simulators, which simulate new circuits that are included in the category or to train new drivers, so that when they arrive at the real circuit, they already know the layout, each curve, straight, which gear they should do and what speed limit is possible and how the car will behave.
At medical it has also been extensively used, from the moment of formation, as a didactic resource for students, including as a support tool for medical professionals.
Companies of architecture and engineering it has also made use of virtual reality, both in the project phase to simulate various aspects of the work even before it starts, or even for future and possible buyers to take a virtual tour of a property.
Even military use is not uncommon, in which soldiers can simulate special operations and conditions that can theoretically pose a risk, but through very realistic simulations and without real risk to their physical integrity.
More accessible than most previous examples, the zwift is an application that allows bike lovers and athletes (cyclists and triathletes) who do indoor training – on the training roller – to have simulations of different routes, including all the landscapes and characteristics of the route, such as climbs and even interaction with others users who are training at the same time and have chosen the same route.
These are some of the many examples that show that VR is a set of technologies that is not just interesting or useful for leisure.
Conclusion
Virtual reality is the set of technologies that aims to produce realistic simulations useful in entertainment, sports and various professional areas.
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