|
Description
|
Virtual Reality (VR) has advanced to incredible heights. For those who haven’t kept up with the gaming scene, the newest game renowned for impressive graphics is Fallout 3. Of course, graphics aren’t all that matters to gamers, which is why another one of the hottest games on the block right now is Spore, which looks very cartoonish.
Nevertheless, consistent advances in both graphics software and hardware have been propelling ever more realistic graphics into our homes. Movies and gaming were the vanguard for realistic graphics. In only a couple decades we went from Pong to Fallout 3. Yet, we still haven’t ditched the joystick, mouse, and keyboard.
Speech recognition was supposed to make keyboards obsolete, but it isn’t as practical as once thought and the technology has been surprisingly stagnant. Yet, more elegant interfaces have been creeping their way into the consumer marketplace; unfortunately, I think infrastructural inertia will prevent movies and gaming from becoming the vanguard for advancement of these technologies.
Porn will be the vanguard, and from there it will make its way into other markets. If you read Wired, you may have come across one of the weirder technological developments of the 21st century: Teledildonics. These machines are basically interactive sex toys which can be activated remotely by a partner over the Internet. Clearly, it is the porn industry which is the most creative and enthusiastic in embracing such new sensory technologies.
When it comes to immersion, the keyboard, mouse, and joystick simply do not cut it. Yet, why would the developers of Spore think it is worth the effort to, say, make an electronic glove that can allow users to feel virtual textures? There is only one industry which is enthusiastic enough to accomplish such a feat.
Before we talk about what’s possible, let’s take a look at some of the interfaces which are already on the market.
|
|
Virtual Reality (VR) has advanced to incredible heights. For those who haven’t kept up with the gaming scene, the newest game renowned for impressive graphics is Fallout 3. Of course, graphics aren’t all that matters to gamers, which is why another one of the hottest games on the block right now is Spore, which looks very cartoonish.
Nevertheless, consistent advances in both graphics software and hardware have been propelling ever more realistic graphics into our homes. Movies and gaming were the vanguard for realistic graphics. In only a couple decades we went from Pong to Fallout 3. Yet, we still haven’t ditched the joystick, mouse, and keyboard.
|
