Virtual Reality (VR) may be described as an artificial environment which is software created. It is presented in a manner which makes the user to suspend beliefs and adopt it as a real or actual environment (Cianfrone & James, p. 286-290). VR is experienced with computers through the use of two senses from the real five senses, that is, sounds and sight senses. The simplest and most basic form of VR is expressed as a 3-dimensional image which can be interactively explored at the desktop or personal computer (PC) (Huang & Hsuan, p. 274-283). This interaction is often achieved by the manipulation of the mouse or keyboard to enable movement of the image content to desired directions or rather, zooming out or in. Further complicated efforts are engaged such as the approach of actual rooms or spaces which are augmented with wearable computing machines, wrap-around output or display screens, and haptic components which allow the user to feel the displayed images. VR may be broadly divided into two: Simulation of the real environment to aid education and training, and the development of an imaginary environment for the interactive story or game. The VR Modeling Language (VRML) permits the creator in specifying images and their display rules and the interaction employing textual language statements (Cianfrone & James, p. 286-290).
VR games of the future are those that presently lie in the pipeline but promising new ways of VR application for pushing existing boundaries between the environment and the player. Future VR games can be discussed in two broad areas: Upcoming VR games and Future expectations. So if we think present VR games are awesome, then we imagine what future games would offer. Of course, they will incorporate latest innovations in VR technology like new VR input devices and glasses including the wand, same as the Nintendo Wii controller. The innovations go toe to toe with adjustments in computing power, speed and cost reduction. Implementations of this technology would offer advanced games allowing complete immersive VR experience to be achieved in cheap mode. In fact, one of such systems might cost less than PS3 and Xbox (Huang & Hsuan, p. 274-283).
Upcoming VR games
The upcoming VR games can be viewed as the large scale activities like E3 Expo. It is a showcase platform for most of the video and computer manufacturers in the world to demonstrate innovative consoles for games and related experiences. It is at the Expo where we get the chance to see real latest developments in technology for gaming and handling of devices, the web, and computers. It includes the involvement of some of the big name firms like Sony, Disney, and Nintendo (Huang & Hsuan, p. 274-283). There are also mobile phone applications being released based on augmented reality implying a combination of virtual and real worlds. In other terms, we use the generated computer data like video or sound to augment that is, improve a particular aspect touching on the real world.
Future expectation
Foveated Rendering
It looks very exciting with new establishments in VR gear and games consoles playing VR games. One of the big VR limiting factors today is the struggle of quickly rendering what inhabits gaming experience. Rendering scene details at 75 FPS on 3D is a non-trivial obstacle, including in such high-end computer gaming rigs. In cases for mobile or console VR experiences such as Sony’s Morpheus Project, those obstacles tend to be even extremely severe (Heim, p.102-152). Considerable progress has been made on attempts to find cheats allowing the running of VR experiences to be more smooth (including a method referred to as ‘timewarp’ which fills in the missing frames by the use of smart interpolation algorithm), though it is still a serious limiting factor to consumer adoption for the VR hardware (Riemer, p. 77-111). A solution for a way out on this is the adoption of foveated rendering. A foveated rendering is dependent on critical facts of the human eye for which the photoreceptors located in the retina of humans are scarcely distributed: nearly all these photoreceptors are clustered in the small circle at the center of retina referred to as the fovea. Far from the fovea, people are practically blind. We normally get out of it by frequently flicking our eyes around the globe and stitching the collected data together into the illusion of detailed, continuous visual image. It is unsettling in a mildly way but also useful for the displays of head mounts. By including tiny cameras to track the operator’s eyes in the headset, it is possible to render just image parts that can be seen in full by the fovea making the remaining visual field on low resolution. This technique offers dramatic speedup in comparison to rendering conventional scenes that make big difference in the consistency and quality of the visual experience.
Motion Controls
Having your head always engaged in the game is a challenge on its own, though that is not enough. When dozens of people are put on the headset, the first thing that nearly all of them will do is to try touching something or look at their hands. Present VR technology makes players feel like intangible, invisible ghosts, or worse off, a ghost trapped in bodies they are unable to control. Oculus had announced their work on controller problem even though they have not produced a viable solution yet. PS Move controllers from Sony Morpheus are tracking wands that allow people to move their hands while gaming though they too suffer from occlusion and precision problems and not feeling quite like their real hands (Heim, p.102-152). Many companies have always been trying the development of VR input solutions aimed at providing glimpses on the look of an ideal scheme for VR input. The Leap Motion, in its restricted tracking volume, provides for very high tracking precision while the STEM controller gives higher PS Move precision experience style without both the optical tracking and occlusion problems. Control VR showcase an inexpensive sensor to be worn on arms and torso capable of capturing motion triggered at individual finger movement level. Unfortunately this system is bulky and demands precise calibrations to generate valid results.
Considering the haptic side of every element, Tactical Haptics is in the process of developing devices that will be using skin-sheer for creating pressure illusion in the hands of the user. The most likely defunct software of Novint Xio was initially designed as inexpensive exoskeleton which was able to provide pressure on the hand of the user on all three dimensions (Riemer, p. 77-111). The current development could be the cheapest alternative to high-end systems of robotic haptic similar to the ones offered by Cyberglove. Neither of the above products is best suited for VR just yet, but all together shows a sign of what a high-quality, inexpensive haptic VR controller may soon look like.
Cons
The biggest problem with VR is cost: complete immersive packages, like a CAVE for which somebody can interact exclusively with objects in closed spaces are expensive too that only companies and research departments can afford them. Universities with R&D sections can equally manage to afford such setups costs (Huang & Hsuan, p. 274-283).
Somatic Technologies
In this regard, the design of video games include particular emotional reactions, providing points where the attention of a player is often drawn into his/her physiological state (Gino, p. 1-13). The emotions may either be desirable (such as happiness, elation, contentment, and so on) or undesirable (that is, anxiety, anger, fears, etc.). When a player earns awareness of the impacts of emotions on his or her physiology (that is tension, heart rate, muscle relaxations, breathing, etc.), he/she becomes readily capable of identifying these physiological traits when they do arise in reality. From body cells perspective, the difference between whether emotional responses triggered by stimuli originate from a virtual experience or the real world is microscopic. Gameplay may stimulate the fear of some stimuli from individuals eliciting similar replies to those occurring when physical stimuli are present. There is a biofeedback in the process whose role is to monitor physiological behaviors during gameplay and capture or detect huge emotional reactions. The biometric measurements that are real-time in nature like an electroencephalogram (EEG), galvanic skin response (GSR) and heart rate variability (HRV) are correlated with the processes of physiology and are capable of indicating degrees of attention, arousal and stress (Gino, p. 1-13). Increased awareness enables players to further adapt their mentality and also the physiology in the event of multiple reoccurrence of such related situations. Technologies like Isochronic Tones and Binaural Beats have proven to show unconscious and conscious human mind and body effects (Gino, p. 1-13). Through the application of standardized audio technologies, the alteration of perceptions is possible even through entertainment offered by particular brainwave patterns through sounds within the game may influence the behavior of players. The simplified nature exhibited by this technology enables for its easy incorporation and modeling in suiting the needs of nearly every game.
Inviting experiments have been achieved which process the incorporation of eye movements designs or techniques. For a long time now, it has been believed that eye movements correlate with the mental processes that we regularly undergo while various eye movements are being associated with their corresponding mental state. Techniques such as eye movement, desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) make use of this relationship by the use of movements in triggering particular neurological pathways with the aim of influencing emotional processing. EMDR has been used in recent times to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) conditions with effective significance. By nature, the video game demands players to stare at screens while being engaged in plays and the eye movement is therefore easily influenced by this medium. EMDR technique can be used to modify games in efforts of eliciting or suppressing particular emotions. The process of control over emotion will allow behavior modification during gameplay for suiting the wants of the game or acting towards specific physiological goals (Gino, p. 1-13).
More dramatic techniques and technologies like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) may also get incorporation into gameplay. It works as a method that is non-invasive in nature to cause hyper-polarization or depolarization within brain neurons allowing the decrease, increase or scrambling of certain activity types in brain targeted areas, typically close to the surface. Brain areas are usually accurate in their regulatory functions for processes that they are involved in. TMS, therefore, can accurately locate an area of interest hence influencing the process that it takes part into (such as vision, memory, cognitive processing, etc.). Latest advances in TMS plus other active physical hardware have ensured their possible incorporation into the game advancing on the formidability of new possibilities of influencing gameplay experience (Cianfrone & James, p. 286-290). Simulations in gaming give a sandbox environment which allows the users to role-play and explore the various causes of action. Gaming enables real-time snapshot of choices for analysis. In the military, for instance, pilots and combat troops are trained using simulated reviews and scenarios.
Therefore, the versatile nature presented by video game plays means that may somatic technologies can be easily incorporated into these games. We can take advantage of this use in creating valuable experiences at gameplay sequences which are beneficial due to present physiological traits. In the induction of distinct physiological reactions by particular technologies and techniques, there is the possibility of altering the perception of say, a given in-game scenario (Nielsen, p.25-40).
Overall, the direct approach of induction of both expertise and experience with somatic technologies and techniques are not widely used presently in gaming and is limited by the number of available technologies and techniques. The versatility exhibited in gaming provides for use and incorporation of a wide range and variety of techniques and technologies into the video gaming (Nielsen, p.25-40). The experiences of induction are the clearest and direct manner to get results and improve the future game experience since it directly works to affect both psychological and physiological states (Riemer, p. 77-111).
Work Cited
Cianfrone, Beth A., and James J. Zhang. "Sport Video Game Sponsorships and In-Game Advertising." Digital Sport for Performance Enhancement and Competitive Evolution Intelligent Gaming Technologies (2011): 286-98. Web.
Huang, Yu, and Hsuan-Yi Wu. "The Programmer and the Widow: Exploring the Effects of Total Immersion in Augmented Realities." Intelligent Environments (Workshops). (2013):274-283
Riemer, Douglas B. "Video-Game Technologies." Video Games and Interactive Media A Glimpse at New Digital Entertainment (2014): 77-121. Web.
Heim, Michael. The metaphysics of virtual reality. Oxford University Press, USA, (2013): 102-152.
Gino, Jeffery Y. "SHIFTING WORLDVIEW USING VIDEO GAME TECHNOLOGIES." 24.1 (2015): 1-13. Web.
Nielsen, Henrik Smed. "The computer game as a somatic experience." Eludamos. Journal for Computer Game Culture 4.1 (2010): 25-40.
