The Future of Virtual Reality?
The future is full of possibilities and that is also true for virtual reality. Everything from the advancement of technology we have now to future uses for different industries.
Many prototypes are in the works to make virtual reality more immersive to the player. Technology is advancing bringing more technology to give us ease while playing. It almost looks like the technology they have in the movie Ready Player One (Here’s What the Future of Haptic Technology Looks [Or Rather, Feel]) Like). Many companies are creating technology that has haptic capabilities. Multi directional treadmills, haptic gloves, and haptic vests all exist today, however there are more improvements that need to be done. In order to speak about this technology we need to know the 3 categories of haptic technology (Here’s What the Future of Haptic Technology Looks [Or Rather, Feel]) Like).
The first type of haptic technology is graspable haptics. Most of the time this is paired with joysticks. The haptics can be from a video game and you have some resistance on the joystick to allow for a little more realism or it can be used when controlling robots to feel how efficiently the robot is operating (Here’s What the Future of Haptic Technology Looks [Or Rather, Feel]) Like). This is used in virtual reality with the controllers that come standard with the system. They have buttons and joysticks to allow for the player to move around and feel around the world, but it isn’t as immersive as some other technology. The second type of haptics are wearable haptics (Here’s What the Future of Haptic Technology Looks [Or Rather, Feel]) Like). Wearable haptics take advantage of the nerves on our hands to immerse us into the reality we are participating in. The gloves try to make the person feel the pressure or heat or cold when in a virtual environment. Like the website says a person was able to “feel” the chalk in her hand as she was writing on a virtual chalkboard (Here’s What the Future of Haptic Technology Looks [Or Rather, Feel]) Like). However we may have prototypes of this technology, they are super expensive and only for commercial use. Lastly there is the touchable haptics. A good example of this would be the vibration when opening an app on a phone. Different bumps and buzzes that technology gives off helps to simulate texture that isn’t really there (Here’s What the Future of Haptic Technology Looks [Or Rather, Feel]) Like). Touchable technology would also include when typing and the vibrations or sounds give off the illusion of typing on a real keyboard. These different haptics help to further VR and AR and will be very relevant to virtual worlds in the future.
Haptic technology can go far and wide in the future. I think it will allow us to be fully immersed in the realities we are trying to. One way for that would be haptics, especially wearable haptics. We already have multiple prototypes, however they are only for commercial use or EXTREMELY expensive (Here’s What the Future of Haptic Technology Looks [Or Rather, Feel]) Like). I think in the future that these devices will become smaller and easier to use. As right now you have to have help to set up the devices, I think in the future it would be as simple as putting on gloves and a vest.
I imagine there are some changes in how technology would be used in the future. I know there has been loads of changes because of the pandemic. One thing that my mom (who is a teacher) has had to deal with is how to teach her kids in class and kids who want to stay home. I could imagine VR and AR could help in this aspect. It could allow for her kids to be able to seem like they are in class, but are still safe at home. It will also allow them to participate without having their whole home life on view for all to see. Students will be able to participate with haptics and seem like they are sitting at desks with their classmates. One article I read says that some teachers already like using VR to be able to maintain their students attention (The Future of VR and AR in Education). In the future I could see this happening possibly like a virtual zoom classroom. Another way to think about it could be an educational VR chat room. I know some teachers and professors are trying to adapt to the technology already (The Future of VR and AR in Education). However now and especially in the future there will be some limitations.
Limitations are a part of all technologies in our world. Most of the time price is a factor especially when it comes to newer technology. In the future I could see the prices go down, but with inflation there will still be financial problems (The Limitations of Virtual Reality). If VR and AR wanted to be used in the classroom that would be a pertinent limitation. There will economically be people who could not afford the technology that will be needed for a virtual classroom in VR (The Limitations of Virtual Reality). This means that either the district or school would have to be able to provide the technology. However, most of the time the educational districts and schools do not get enough money to be able to afford one for each of their students. I feel like these would still be problems and limitations in the future.
