Virtual Reality Evolving?

Monday 2 March 2020



Virtual reality has come a long way since it was first used, the first virtual reality headset was made in 1968 by a man named Bob Sproull but this isn't the first known piece of virtual reality, in fact, there is evidence of it from the 1860s which means the concept is over 150 years old! It's definitely not a new concept and has been in the works for years, the outcome is pretty cool and we are able to use it to our advantage in many ways such as gaming, surgeries, flight simulations, and even therapy but the main concept I'm talking about in today's post is being able to see a loved one who has passed on.

A mother who lost her daughter back in 2016 was given the chance to be able to see her daughter who had died at a very young age, given the opportunity I think this is something I would take a chance on if it meant I could see my grandad again one last time even if it was just in the virtual reality world. People are understandably divided over being able to do this as it's something very personal and could either give someone closure or make them feel worse, but from the foot, the mother Jang Ji-sung was obviously very grateful and happy to be able to see her daughter again even if it was only for a little while.


In a way, I agree that this private moment she had with her daughter should have stayed private but it also was great that others can see that virtual reality can open doors and help others with healing, given that this can also be dangerous as people may want to keep coming back and seeing that person they lost and would rather stay in the world of virtual reality than the real world but it's still something that could benefit those who need the comfort and chance to say goodbye.

It took just under a year (8 months) to create the virtual version of Na-Yeon by using filming and programming, it was used as a way to console the family who had lost the little girl which was a pretty beautiful thing to do, no parent should have to lose their child. Na-Yeon died from leukemia so being able to see her in a world where she isn't something must have been so magical for her mum, no one wants to see a loved one battling to live.

Jang-Ji's husband and 3 other children sat and watched (and cried too) on a screen whilst she was stood in front of a green screen with a VR headset on interacting with their daughter, he was obviously very emotional about it because he saw how happy his wife was. I'm not going to lie, I got pretty emotional watching the video and seeing happy years come from Jang-Ji, it was such an intensely beautiful moment, when she was talking about being able to see her daughter through VR you could see how ecstatic she was.

Movies have some of the most imaginative VR and android concepts that could become reality, take the movie Gamer, it's not the best but the idea behind it makes an interesting one. People are able to use virtual reality and mind control to play as a paid actor in this world, a lot of users choose to be someone else in order to escape the world they live in, in the case of this movie the wife of the main character uses it because she is denied custody of her own daughter and is given to a wealthy family which would understandably destroy me it was real.

A better example is the movie and book Ready Player One, it's more for playing video games but it's a way of escaping, what I found very interesting is how the creator of this world was able to immortalise himself forever which is something I would like to have done for me. I think one of the most well known movies that involves virtual reality is The Matrix, it has such a unique way of taking people to another world, when I eventually watched it properly it opened my eyes to a different kind of virtual reality to other movies and shows i've seen before which is what Black Mirror also does, I personally feel that they show the scarier side to VR. 

Technology is evolving constantly, I know by now some thought we would have hover cars and we don't but we certainly do have cars that run on electric and speak to us thanks to the built-in speaking system, we have sat-nav which has helped many people navigate to where they need to get to and my most favourite is being able to use virtual reality when gaming, even if it does make me sick due to motion sickness and vertigo. Thanks to Tiktok I have found other ways people are using VR such as creating art, the process is amazing and makes the painting look 3D. The main person I watch who does this is a woman called Anna dream Brush, her art is stunning and it feels like you go on a journey with her whilst her art comes together in Virtual Reality, check out one of her videos below:



What are your thoughts on Virtual Reality and what would you like to see come from the world of VR?

Comments

Any hate will not be published.