Virtual reality
You can already experience it all
Virtual reality headsets bring their users to other places.
© Joshua Resnick / Shutterstock.com
The age of virtual reality is here. The technology has not yet reached the masses – but these things are already possible.
Virtual Reality (VR) technology is on the advance, but at the same time it is still in the early stages. According to a Statista forecast However, the VR boom will only really start this year. By 2024, the number of devices sold worldwide is expected to increase more than tenfold, from 7 million devices sold today to 76.7 million units. The market potential is huge, with sales of up to three billion dollars in the VR segment alone. Users can already experience these cool things today.
Games
Still the most successful VR game is the lightsaber saber rattle called “Beatsaber” – and rightly so. Standing on a platform, blocks flying towards the player are to be broken up to the rhythm of the music. This happens with different colored lightsabers. The sweaty game has a training program ready that makes every gym superfluous.
Speaking of lightsabers: Anyone who has always wanted to cross the glowing blades with Darth Vader can experience it via Oculus or Playstation 4 glasses. In three episodes straight from the “Star Wars” universe, players from Padawan become the galaxy’s last hope.
One of the long-awaited games by PC gamers is the sequel to the 2006 hit “Half-Life 2”, which was released last year. Many fans were surprised that “Half-Life Alyx” by developer Valve was released exclusively for virtual reality. However, because Valve also offers its own glasses – the current model is the Valve Index – this step makes perfect sense.
In “No Man’s Sky” players can explore infinite expanses of space: Thanks to a random algorithm, no two solar systems are alike. Five billion years of playing time would therefore be necessary to fully develop the procedurally generated universe. “No Man’s Sky” is not tied to VR, but can also be played on the monitor. Waiting for a passing acid thunderstorm on a newly discovered planet is particularly impressive under VR glasses.
Movies and entertainment
In order to rebel against the dictatorship of the screen, filmmakers have been experimenting with the medium of virtual reality since the middle of the last decade. The movie experience goes deeper when viewers have to move their heads to see what’s going on. Studio Felix & Paul understood this early on, which has made 360-degree documentaries with Barack Obama and LeBron James, among other things, as well as an Oculus-exclusive “Jurassic World” spin-off, in which you go stalking a raptor . For a documentary, the team also sent a VR camera to the International Space Station ISS.
In 2018 Alejandro G. Iñárritu (58) received his fifth Oscar for the VR installation “Carne y Arena”. Fans can currently only experience the refugee drama in the contemporary museum Quebec, Canada. The The homepage of “Carne y Arena” has tour dates ready for this. It is currently not known when the installation will return to Europe.
The animated short film “Invasion!” of the Baobab studio, where players can watch a cute bunny fight off an alien invasion. Baobab also produced the star-studded film “Crow: The Legend” which starred John Legend (43), Oprah Winfrey (67), Tye Sheridan (24) and Diego Luna (41). The film is just as free for owners of popular VR glasses as the “Spotlight” series from Google.
On top of that, VR glasses owners can use their device to get the best seats in stadiums and arenas. Whether it’s basketball in the NBA, tennis in Wimbledon or the Russian State Theater in Moscow: Once a VR camera is in place, users from all over the world can take a seat in the audience.
Artistic freedom
If you want to let off steam creatively in virtual reality, you have plenty of options, not a few of which are free. For example, if you use an Oculus from Facebook, you can use it to access “Quill”. The program makes it possible to draw and animate in comic style, but it is somewhat difficult to learn.
“Tilt Brush” from Google is more intuitive. The painting program of the first VR lesson is still one of the most convincing experiences for VR newbies who want to try their hand at swinging a brush.
More special, but technically strong and very immersive, is the “Kingspray” program from the indie developer Infectous Ape, in which players – equipped with spray cans – can prettify subways and freight stations. Completely legal and environmentally friendly …
Lots of freeware
Because VR technology is still in its infancy, there are numerous applications that are free and intended for learning about the technology. From real, completely scanned and transferred into the VR Egyptian burial chambers (“Nefertari: Journey to Eternity”) to a journey into the interior of the human cell (“The Body VR: Journey Inside a Cell”) to “Google Earth VR”. Thanks to its integration of Google Street View, the latter is a particular highlight and also very technically mature. Many other free VR applications can be found using the search function of the respective glasses hub.