Virtual reality is not new and it is not expensive.
The new and expensive: stereoscopic (VR) headsets.
They may be good for first person games.
What will they do for user-built virtual worlds?
Virtual reality has been available on computers for a long time. Stereo viewing equipment has been around for well over a hundred years. Stereo headsets, in place of monocular monitors, are a recent development. Here I consider whether I would have any activity that would benefit from a stereo view.
- Watch on YouTube
- A monocular view of comedy in a virtual world
- Would it be better in stereo?
What is VR?
- VR is a term applied to stereoscopic (VR) headsets headsets for computer games.
- Stereoscopic viewing equipment has been around since 1838: Stereoscope.
- Stereoscopy has been widely tested for entertainment use throughout the last century.
- 3D movies have been produced since 1915.
- Virtual reality produced by computers has been around as a concept since 1959.
- A computer produces virtual reality by keeping track of the shapes and locations of 3D objects in a scene.
- It displays the 3D scene on a screen by computing what the scene would look like from a specific position.
- With stereo headsets, it computes for 2 screens positioned apart like eyes.
- The headset displays one screen to each eye, thus producing Binocular vision.
- Binocular vision is strikingly realistic for nearby objects, especially those in arms length.
- It is less relevant at longer distances, because the image differences get smaller.
- And because more monocular cues become available.
What would stereo viewers do for user-built virtual worlds?
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What would stereo viewers do for user-built virtual worlds?
What are user-built virtual worlds?
- User-built worlds are made by people and made of people.
- User-built virtual worlds are much like the world we are accustomed to.
- And we do many of the things we are accustomed to doing.
- We talk with people, work with people, meet with people.
- We have an economy, we make, sell, and buy things.
- We have educators teaching classes and schools with virtual campuses.
- We have been displaying them on monitor screens, so getting a monocular view.
- 3D headsets would give us a stereo view.
What will 3D headsets do for virtual worlds?
- People use monocular cues for depth perception.
- The same cues they use to see a photograph or a movie as 3D.
- Depth perception (Wikipedia)
- Binocular vision is valuable for things a few feet away
- Binocular vision (Wikipedia)
- Stereopsis (Wikipedia)
- Scholarly articles for binocular stereo vision
- Some of us use other computer resources while in virtual worlds.
- We use a browser to get information or a word processor to write things.
- We would probably want to do that on the monitor.
- That means we take the headset off and put it somewhere.
- We might not want to do that often.
What activities would benefit from a 3D headset?
- A comedy performance? Watch the video.
- A class? Would the headset be convenient for taking notes?
- A project meeting?
- A dance or concert?
- Building, scripting, or terraforming?
- Making a video?
- I have done these things. I would take the headset off every few minutes.
- I would conclude that the headset was more trouble that it was worth.
- I have not thought of any of my frequent activities that would be compatible with a stereo headset.
- Until I think of a use case for a 3D headset, I don't think I will get one.
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