The Evolution of virtual reality – future of social and communication platforms?

The technology of virtual reality (VR) also known as computer-simulated life or immersive multimedia, has a longer history as you may think. A first signs of VR can be traced back to a visual simulator, called View-Master, which was introduced in 1939. “Reels” that were be inserted into some kind of glasses contained seven stereoscopic 3D pairs of small color photographs. These two-dimensional images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3D depth, mostly showing tourist attractions or travel view. Today they are still available in different designs, mostly intended as a children toy.

Viewmaster, 1939

Since then the development of similar technologies proceeded slowly. A major contribution was the introduction of the flight simulator in 1966, for air force training purposes. It took some time until in the 1980s the first consumer VR devices were developed, by a company called VPL research. Their products, the “data glove” and the “eye phone”, laid the basis for modern VR technologies. The data glove was used as an input system for computers; 6502 Microcontrollers tracked the movements of the users hand and transmitted the data to the computer, so the hand could be duplicated virtually. While the eye phone was a head-mounted display that meant to immerse users into a computer simulation, further it could also track head movements. But even with sale of the patent to the famous video game company Mattel the breakthrough of this technology failed to appear.

Data Glove and Eye Phone, 1989

In the 1990s VR headsets were used mainly for arcade games, introduced by the video game developer and manufacturer Sega. Their device allowed users to track head movements and to feature 3D polygon graphics in stereoscopic 3D. Such games should not to be confused with video games that use 3D game graphics, which although they feature graphics on screen, do not give the illusion of depth beyond the screen.

Sega VR, 1994

Even though the technology was already in existence it took until 2012, when the company Oculus VR crowdfunded their VR Glasses Oculus Rift, to discover the potential of this technology for modern society. Facebook quickly saw this potential and acquired the company for over 2 billion dollars in 2014, justifying this decision by stating: Oculus is “a strong candidate to emerge as the next social and communication platform”. Further the well-known CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement, “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.” After this acquisition they also introduced a new type of input device called Oculus Touch, which basically fulfills the purpose of the previously mentioned data glove, so it is able to track specific hand movements and gestures. Upcoming technical developments can also be expected due to the recently new established cooperation with South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung. Soon we are going to see how successful this new technology is going to be, when the Rift is available in store, starting in the first quarter of 2016. Of course there are also other producers, which are trying to challenge the pioneer status of Oculus, but they all follow the same modern idea and concept of virtual reality devices.

Oculus Rift & Touch, 2015

As I described the current status of the VR technology, can this really determine our future type social interaction and communication? People always enjoyed creating avatars and having a secondary virtual life. This phenomenon can also be seen in the video game "Second Life", which has until today 36 million users and simply serves the purpose of creating your own virtual avatar. In this parallel world you are able to interact with other users and play out your pretended freedom. But VR is different, as you are completely taken out of your environment (visual vise) and transferred to the digital world. Through the new controllers even a third aesthesia (touching) besides seeing and hearing is added. Possibilities seem so be endless. This could lead to people being completely addicted to their second virtual life, where they can fulfill their fantasies. It could be also expected that we are moving to a status similar to the matrix, where you act in two separate worlds. But is communication enhanced or limited to the users of this technology? 

It may take some time but in the future this device can play the same connecting role as a smartphone. Just think back 20 years, nobody would have expected what the smartphone generation is able to do now and this could be the same for VR. Coming back to the possible threat of virtual reality addictions, I can say since the introduction of the first electronic medium there were always some users, who had the tendency to show an addictive behavior, so for VR it would be no different. Of course it is bringing social and communication platforms on a new level, so that you can basically enter or see the internet, which is at this moment hard to image to be a normal thing. For now this technology can definitely be seen as broadening the horizon of people’s interaction, but if people really will use this technology to its full potential and for what kinds of purposes remains unknown. 

One undiscussed purpose is definitely porn and you can image the possibilities virtual reality is offering to users, but it could also safe some long-distance relationship. To come to an end, as I said we will see in the future how quick this technology is evolving, but the potential for changing how people socially interact is definitely given.