This week, a major focus was placed on immersion and how different aspects of a game can impact its immersivity. For games like Bioshock, we saw how narrative, setting, and it being a First Person Shooter all increased one’s feeling of connection to the game and its environment and characters. However when we played Superhot, much of the immersion was rooted in the VR technology (and game mechanics) rather than the story or characters.
When discussing Superhot, the lab section took note that there isn’t an (easy to find / see) option to exit the game, and this is one way that distinguished VR’s immersivity from that of reading a novel. VR is so immersive because it relies on using one’s senses to disconnect them from the real / outside world. Rather than seeing images on an outside display or imagining them, with VR your eyesight is placed in the virtual setting. With a novel, if one wants to return from their imagined space, they could simply look up and see the real world. However when using VR, your vision is completely occupied by the virtual world of the game / software you’re using, adding to the immersiveness and realism. In a way, one can only truly leave the VR system by taking off the headset.
This form of immersivity has led to new theoretical and developed applications of VR, many of which focus more on the senses. When we played Superhot, we could still hear our classmates, but having noise cancelling headphones on would likely increase the immersivity of the game by giving it full control of what we can hear while playing. Similarly, if the handsets tracked our fingers such that rather than pressing the trigger to punch or grab, we gestured with our hands, that would also increase the immersivity of the game. We also discussed in lab how not having leg trackers / a full body tracking experience could decrease how immersed in the game we feel, especially if we could see our body in the game (which is not the case for Superhot).
With this being said, there has been quite a bit of speculation into how to make VR a more immersive experience. This includes theoretical designs such as in movies like “Ready Player One” or shows like Black Mirror (i.e. “Striking Vipers” episode). There have also been various studies and designs involving interacting with your senses in different ways while using VR such as smell (Feelreal VR), pain (bHaptics VR) and temperature (Thermoreal VR).
With this, I have two questions. First, what would your ideal VR experience be (in terms of technology and game mechanics). Second, is it possible for VR gaming to go too far or for it to take over your senses in a way that makes it inescapable?
I think VR gaming will almost certainly make people immersed in games for hours and hours. If you have seen Case Closed: The Phantom of Baker Street, you will know how they predict people in the future will sit in these machines which anesthetize them and take them to a virtual world and spend hours in them. In this virtual world, people participate in multi-player, detective games. Therefore, to answer your first question, I believe a perfect VR gaming experience is like dreaming. When you are in a dream, you don't know you are in it and believe it's the reality. Your brain can still generate senses---fear, pleasure, pain, etc. Although VR gaming still has a long way to go,…
I think it's interesting that you contrasted how games like Bioshock create immersivity through narrative and setting with how Superhot accomplishes the same goal using VR technology. When thinking about how to create a more ideal/immersive VR experience, it seems to me that bringing together elements of these two approaches is the key. Playing Superhot, I feel very physically immersed -- I'm anxious about the positioning of my body, what's happening behind my back, etc. but mentally, I'm very aware of being in a game since I have little motivation besides shooting faceless enemies so I can beat a game. Basically, there's no stakes, which takes me out of the game. Whereas in a game with a complex narrativ…
I think the question of the future of immersion in video games is an interesting issue. I found it especially interesting that you brought up Black Mirror's "Striking Vipers" episode and "Ready Player One" as examples of a more immersive VR experience. In these movies and shows a question arrises as to whether the VR experience becomes some what more real than reality, to the point where characters seek out the VR experience over real life experiences. I think it is very possible for VR technology to go too far. The more immersive and realistic a VR simulation becomes, the more possible it is that it could be used not only to lure people away from real face-to-face communication.
I liked how you compared the immersivity of VR to some of the games that we played in class (in doing so, it becomes clear what a unique experience that VR games offer us). In terms of an ideal VR experience, I agree that noise cancelling headphones and tracking handsets would bring the VR experience to a whole different level. Regarding the question on whether VR can go to far, I think so. The Black Mirror episode Striking Viper, showed a completely immersive VR experience and just how inescapable and addictive it can be. Also, it isn't hard to imagine how captivating a completely immersive VR experience would be and how one would easily prefer to stay in the game.
I think an interesting route for VR technology could be if it was used to simulate experiences such as surgery/used for training. Im not sure how it would actually work, but if there was a way to simulate something like surgery and the outcomes changed depending on what course of action you chose, this could be really useful for trainig the future generation of medical professionals, without putting as many lives at risk. By having the VR experience of a surgery, it could help with the stress and mistakes associated with stress of a future actual surgery. This could maybe also be applied to education in general, by mimicking a classroom without needing to go to a physical school/class. This…