Virtual Reality

2. Virtual Reality

  The Immersive Education Initiative has announced that the 2015 venue for the Immersive Education Summit as Paris. With the past 9 years of successful Immersive Education conferences, Immersive Education will continue on holding a summit that addresses the personal and cultural impact of immersive technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, holography, holograms, wearable computing devices, cybernetics, affective computing, neuro-gaming technology and many other forms of immersive experiences. More information on the Immersive Education summit can be access through the following link: (http://immersiveeducation.org/news/2015/02/09/paris-announced-site-immersion-2015).

In this report, I intend to introduce a form of immersion categorized as the virtual reality.

  Virtual reality is another form of immersion that can lead to enhancement of collaborative efforts in many different fields, such as gaming and education. The very basic idea of using virtual reality as a medium of immersive experience is the creation of virtual world and introducing the virtual selves of the users in that specific environment. The environment and virtual characters can be modified and manipulated to achieve different goals for the specific cases of immersive education, and even the entire immersive experience as a whole.

  This documentary introduces the virtual reality program called the SecondLife, and the modern society's use of this program. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUwD7u7wwcY) The overall quality of virtual reality has been continuously enhanced and improved. People are conducting commerce, expressing themselves artistically, hold “real-world” advertisements, and many other flexibly applicable fields. Whether consistent public (user) feedback will be given - that is the main sustainability question for this SecondLife and similar virtual reality platforms.

  The critical issue in regards to the usage of virtual reality is the addiction to the virtual reality. The real world personality and identity greatly differed in the virtual world for a high portion of the virtual world participants. On certain occasions, some players were more immersed with the virtual world; meaning that they were seriously considering themselves to be a part of the “fake” world. I acknowledge the great possibility of virtual worlds and its developments; it is a great invention that will critically enhance our entertainment experience. However, abusing the technology for individual addiction is not a right idea. Limitations and appropriate control should be imposed upon it.

  During the research for virtual reality, I spotted an article that deals with an individual who is a genuine virtual reality enthusiast. (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/virtual-worlds/second-lives/the-believer.html?play) Philip Rosedale believed in the idea of the “good matrix.” He is the founder and developer of the SecondLife, the virtual world program we have used throughout the semester. He wanted to convince the people that the matrix could be used as a “brighter,” rather than dark place. Thus, he developed the SecondLife. There were healthy skepticisms, as well. Some people scoffed at the fact that the idea of virtual reality was out there for a long time. Yet, Philip Rosedale is a true “believer” - that Rosedale believes a virtual reality has great possibility to be used in healthy and beneficial way. I personally believe Philip Rosedale’s vision can be ultimately accomplished when there is a huge public attention gathered at this notion of virtual life. Participation of the mass will be the fuel running these virtual worlds; if the virtual worlds end up obsolete without any users, it has a possibility of turning into a fiasco.

  In spite of these concerns, there are intellectuals and pioneers who strive to gear the popular audiences towards the stunning benefits of utilizing this form of immersion into our lives. It is the learners and the virtual realities' population who shape the positive trajectory of this industry, by benefitting from the vicarious yet highly realistic and interactive environment to reinforce the educational support that are originally provided.

This is an assignment from the Immersive Education course that I am taking at Boston College. The course is called Collaborative Computing. For details, visit the immersive BC portal at http://ImmersiveEducation.org/@/bc