Reality, Just Better

It’s been a goal for a long time: put a person in a totally immersive, highly interactive, and completely artificial environment. Today, thanks to many advancements in technology and boosted by articled in tech magazines proclaiming that virtual reality is on a course to change the world, VR is about to become a real reality for mainstream consumers. It’s no longer just for early adopters — it’s for everyone.

VR 2.0

You probably remember the first VR go-round back in the 1990s. It was hailed as the next big thing, but it turned out to be the next big flop. The concept was great, but the execution was underwhelming: graphics were lackluster, practical applications were scarce, and it was all prohibitively expensive. The feelings of immersion and interactivity were never really achieved, and hardly anyone was impressed. Perhaps virtual reality’s biggest hit of the’90s was that Jamiroquai song that you couldn’t get away from.

Now, however, VR is ready for a comeback — and this time, it’s serious. Major developments in both virtual and augmented reality, better applications, and lower price points all point to the dawn of a new VR age. And, with the ubiquity of mobile technology, VR and AR can be used pretty much anywhere.

There are the major players, of course: the highly promising Oculus Rift, the already available Samsung Gear VR and Zeiss VR One and then there’s the ultra low-tech Google Cardboard.