In terms of the title, this is literally me, a beginner, who has written a beginner guide to the technology. That said, this is rudimentary and mostly serves as a starting point for both myself and anyone else interested in it for future knowledge.
While interactive media is hardly a new concept — theater, literature, and non-digital games have been doing it for years — technology has drastically changed the way it is implemented. The most popular version of interactive media right now are games. In games, you interact with the world around you through the use of an avatar that you control, sometimes pre-determined, other times custom-made. The issue with games as they are right now, however, is that even at their very best they are not fully immersive. Playing a game on a PC or console, you the player are fully aware that you are simply playing a game on a device. There is a fourth wall that you know exists that actively blocks you from believing that you are an actual part of the game. This is where one of the proposed next-evolutions of interactive media comes in: virtual reality. No doubt you're familiar with the headsets that people wear that allow them to feel like they are a part of the experience. This article will be a brief examination of virtual reality as a medium, as well as its counterpart augmented reality, and its alleged final form of mixed reality.
Virtual Reality:
Virtual reality uses a headset with a screen, such as an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, to display images close-up to the user's face. This effectively removed (or drastically reduces) the 4th wall, allowing the player to feel like they are actually in the environment they see. Virtual reality really only effects one of the senses, sight, which on its own is not quite enough to create a compelling experience. Sound is usually considered equally as important in a VR experience. Making sure audio effects sound like they come from somewhere, volumetric sound, adds realism to the experience. Touch/feel is also considered important, but is far more challenging to do. Haptic feedback, such as provided by something like a Teslasuit, allows the player to feel input from the game. Of course, for most combat games you wouldn't want to actually feel pain when you are hit, but having some sort of input to let you know that you have taken damage helps the player feel more immersed. These are often quite clunky and really expensive, and most experiences can be enjoyed without having one. The last two senses, taste and smell, are really only relevant to simulations and not for entertainment experiences. If you were playing a game set in medieval times, for example, you probably wouldn't want to smell the city or taste the unfiltered water (the ale could be alright though).
Virtual reality as an interactive technology is still pretty early in development. Just by checking Steam or the Oculus Store, a lot of development has been done on this platform already. It still has a long way to go before being fully immersive, but it is making good strides.
Augmented Reality:
Augmented reality can be a bit more challenging to define, but it is effectively any device that allows computer-generated images to overlay over the world in real time. The main difference is in how confined the images are. With VR, the images are confined within the headset's screen, with the goal being to construct a new environment for you to experience. With AR, the images overlay the real world, making the environment you're already used to more interesting. Despite using relatively similar effects, the uses of two are almost worlds apart. Virtual Reality will most likely make its mark on entertainment. I believe that virtual reality will either be used to augment existing media such as games and film, or branch off to become its own medium optimized for interactive storytelling. Personally, my hopes are for the latter. Augmented Reality, however, will likely see its success in everyday use. Data visualization could certainly benefit from augmented reality to make the data appear more meaningful. Additionally, if new platforms are developed for it, such as smart contact lenses, Google Glass 2.0, or even embedded technology, augmented reality will be a natural first choice. Those, however, may be just one of many possible futures for AR tech.
Mixed Reality:
Both of these techs are often confused with another final one called mixed reality (MR). Mixed Reality is a sort of proposed combination of the two techs into a vastly superior 3rd. Back in 1994, Paul Milgrim proposed that reality, in regards to technology, lies on a spectrum. On one end is our real world, and on the other is a fully virtual environment (such as VR). In-between lies Mixed Reality. Augmented Reality is itself a mixed reality, where computer-generated images and the real world can co-exist in the real world. Augmented Reality's opposite is called Augmented Virtuality, commonly referred to as Mixed Reality. AV, MR, whatever you want to call it, occurs when real objects can also be brought into virtual worlds. At the moment, I've struggled to find solid examples of true augmented virtuality being used in games, instead existing examples are often mislabeled as augmented reality using a headset. If a Mixed Reality game were to exist, I would imagine it similarly to Toon Town from the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Computer-generated images (toons) would be able to function alongside real objects that would be scanned in to the headset, all existing in a digital environment that occupies real space.
Let me give an example: a warehouse could be dedicated to housing a small digital environment. The objects inside, such as a box, could be detected by the headset. If you picked up the box in real life, you would also see a box in your hands while wearing the headset. If you threw the box at some poor, unsuspecting toon (you monster), it would crush them. While the box itself may appear unaffected by the toon, the toon itself would be very much so affected by the box. The issue with this technology does become quite clear, however. It would be impossible for the images you see on the headset to genuinely interact with the objects in the room. Sure, a toon could sit on the aforementioned box, but if they picked it up and moved it, you would either see the same identical box sitting in its original spot, or the object would be hidden from your view, which could lead you to possibly trip over it. This leads to a number of design constraints that would have to be considered in the future when it comes to developing this kind of experience.
Conclusions:
Personally, I'm very invested in seeing virtual reality rise as a new media (emotionally, I don't have money to actually invest). I believe it could be used for a lot of good. Educational simulations, empathetic storytelling, and even just plain escapism would be some of the best of what VR has to offer. Of course, it can also be done in reverse for harm. Simulations that cause damage or torture, propaganda and indoctrination, addiction and entrapment are all very real dangers in terms of what the technology could be used for. I believe it lies on developers and societies to determine what is and isn't an acceptable use of virtual reality technology and strive to ensure it only be used benevolently. In later articles I intend to go more in-depth on individual topics on the matter, such as what a simulation is, why I believe VR should always have an interface, as well as its portrayal in media such as Ernst Cline's Ready Player One.
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