Reality Check: The rise and rise of VR

First in our takeover series, our developer Luke Gosling takes a quick look into the world of Virtual Reality.

Virtual Reality headsets are the next big thing in the tech scene. It’s not just Oculus Rift either, and all manner of companies are beginning to get in on the action. However, what really interests me, is all the new and exciting opportunities for this new media to be used in creative ways. Take Facebook, Samsung and even Google for example: all are rumored to have their own VR headsets in development, but the question is what are they planning to use them for?

For me, one of the most excited areas at the moment is the arrival of new VR gaming creations. It’s a particularly innovative field, especially after you see this early concepts for one from Zero Latency. For example:

But I don’t think it will stop at gaming. Film, TV and Social Media will all have methods of using VR. Indeed, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has bigger plans for the device, recently telling Wired that he envisions a version of new VR headsets so lightweight they allow the user to switch easily between the virtual and the real worlds.

The beautiful thing about this is that it would give friends the feeling they are in the same room when in fact they could be the opposite side of the country. Or the world. The multitude of possibilities is endless. If you think that Skype already has conference video chat, imagine a future where we could see virtual conference meetings with people sitting round one table, but in totally different countries?

In short, VR is going to be a revolutionary technology and it is one that our industry should get to grips with as soon as possible.