Reflecting on the demos

HTC Vive

The HTC Vive, in my opinion, was the most memorable VR device of all the devices explored during class. But this is probably because of the games that are available for the HTC Vive, for the demo, we played NVIDIA’s Carnival Game pack. Surprisingly, the feel of playing the games was smooth and the coordination of the controls (your hands) was on point. Though the games were a lot of fun to play, even to the point of me wanting one for myself, there are a few limitations to the device. For one, it’s very pricey ($599 shipped on Amazon). There’s also the fact that in order to power it, as of right now or at least for the device that we used during class, the goggles had to be plugged in. For VR goggles in general, the user can’t see their actual physical surroundings. Though this device showed when the user was approaching an edge via a blue line, the user could still bump into things because vision is completely obscured. It’s also a little disorienting to take off the goggles after wearing them even for just a few minutes, and I could see how a person could feel dizzy or get motion sickness from using this device.

Cave2

Cave2 was a cool VR experience that only needed 3D glasses. We viewed 360 photos in a fully immersive way where we could physically turn around to see the photos. We also viewed the inside of chemical compounds, explored Mars, and played with a particle simulator. One of the limitations of Cave2, however, was the fact that the best and most immersive experience could only be viewed in the perspective of the person holding the remote. That person could move around the space provided by the Cave2 and the images projected onto the screens corresponded to that person’s movements. Last semester, I watched some students play a StarWars game created by a previous Game Design student. Cave2 has a lot of potential in regards to fully immersive gaming, but, like we saw, it could be very useful for learning and viewing very detailed 3D objects. Obviously, experiencing Cave2 is not available to everyone since you have to physically be inside the space, but spaces like Cave2 could show up in other universities or lab spaces.

Microsoft Hololens

I didn’t get a chance to actually try this device but from what I saw, this one was interesting because images are projected onto surfaces through its lense, so the user is able to see the physical space around them. But one disadvantage to this device was that the coordination between the goggles’ camera and the user’s hands didn’t always work. Some students had trouble starting the alien shooter simulation because they either couldn’t get their hands to register onto the screen or their hand movements weren’t exactly what they were supposed to do. But this device is really nifty because the user is allowed to move wherever they please and the device doesn’t obscure the physical space around them. There’s a lot of potential for gaming on a device like this, I can expect more fps games or possible eye-spy/treasure hunt games for the Hololens. But, a device like this could be useful for tours and museums, for example instead of having a podcast to listen to, you can see both a description and listen to a podcast with this device on while walking around a museum without a tour guide.

Quiver

One aspect that Quiver has over other VR devices is its availability. Anyone with a smartphone and printer can access Quiver and its functions. Quiver is a cute learning tool for kids, you can download and print coloring pages that can then be opened with Quiver to explore. Some pages allow you to access little quizzes, others are small interactive scenes. However, Quiver keeps the phone camera open and it drains battery life like Snapchat. Other apps like Quiver aren’t very practical for the audience they target. Little kids are kind of limited to playing with the apps on a smartphone and the content available on these apps (unlocked quizzes or scenes) are overall not very interesting. I ended up deleting the app after class.

NYTVR

NYTVR, like 360 Youtube, is simply a collection of 360 videos. Without a Google Cardboard viewer, the user can still move the smartphone around to view the space captured by the video. With a viewing device, these videos are much more immersive and fun to experience. NYTVR is also more readily available for smartphone users. One disadvantage is that viewing 360 videos isn’t interactive. It is still interesting and it offers a fun way to view places and events that one may otherwise not be able to attend.

#uic #cs491 #vr