One of the frontrunners in developing this technology for commercial use is Oculus, a company that was independently founded in 2012. After an incredibly successful kickstarter campaign in 2012($2.5 million raised), the Oculus Rift was prototyped and eventually rolled out for a price of $599 in early 2016. The Rift uses an OLED display and boasts an 1080x1200 per eye and uses infrared sensors to simulate the 3D environment, which can be explored at will by the user.
Of course, many are excited for the possibilities the Rift offers in the area of gaming. I myself was able to play a game developed by Valve where lottle men were storming your castle and you were an archer in a turret protecting your territory. However, another application of this technology is virtual tourism. People can explore anywhere in the world like never before without having to leave their homes. While this certainly does not equate with actually travilling to far off places in person, many people are prohibited from doing this due to financial, physical, or other limitations. Additionally, many courses are now being developed in an effort to continue to technologize education in the modern age. This technology has already proven to be very helpful for students who struggle with social anxiety in school.
Pictures and References:
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--duvjpI1R--/1292809145749560752.jpg
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculus_Rift
I thought it was was really interesting to hear about other applications of virtual reality as previously I had only considered its use in gaming. I wonder what other aspects of our lives we may see VR in as the technology is refined.
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