Prior to this collaboration, I had very little experience with VR. Apart from articles, videos and playing ‘Walk The Pank VR’ on brother’s Meta Quest last Christmas. At first, I found it very hard to settle into the experience, it was disorienting. Throughout conducting research for this project, I realised that VR has been a fundamental type of entertainment for years, from Sir Charles Wheatstone’s 1838 stereopsis invention to Ivan Sutherland’s 1968 The Sword of Damocles and now Lenovo’s Oculus Rift S – the idea has remained the same – to create a safe, controllable and highly realistic simulation. Even now, virtual reality has transcended its original purpose for entertainment and is now being used in the medical field and on the modern battleground.
The implications of virtual reality and the technology that accompanies it are totally metamorphic. The irony of a Russian soldier using Uruav FPV goggles to drop a grenade on a squad of soldiers in contrast to the same hardware being used to film a Casey Neistat vlog isn’t lost but widely ignored. I understand that modern engagements like this require modern solutions although I find the caustic irony unsettling.
I enjoyed working and creating in an environment that felt nearly physical but have been struggling to shake the fundamental insincerity that comes with Virtual Reality. I suppose that’s the point, but then what is the point?
My feelings on virtual reality are mixed. Technology and the rate at which it’s advancing has created a sink-or-swim society but I wonder if we’ll sink writing a Facebook status, wearing a Meta Quest 3.