Some Surprising Facts about Virtual Reality

Introduction –

With all excitement and hype about Virtual Reality, it seems to be one of the most significant technology since the introduction of smartphones. As a matter of fact, it has been here for decades and the advancements has picked up recently because of improvements in both software and hardware.

Do you really think that you know all about Virtual Reality? No, we are not talking about definitions of virtual reality, working, applications, history and all other such basic information. But there is more to it.

Here, in this blog we will be taking look at some of the amazing and surprising facts about the Virtual Reality.

Amazing Facts about History of Virtual Reality

1. Stanley G. Weinbaum is a well-known science fiction writer from 1930’s told us about this technology in his short story named Pygmalion’s Spectacles. His work made him a true visionary in the field of Virtual Reality. The story shares the idea that the wearer of the goggles can experience fictional worlds, even before the official term was coined.
2. Sensorama was the first attempt at VR experience, this unique concept was developed by a cinematographer named by Morton Heilig. This VR device was aimed at stimulating a person’s senses.
3. To your great surprise, the concept of Head Mounted Display is also not a new idea. The first head-mounted display was developed around 1960’s. the Telesphere mask was the first example of a head-mounted display, which provided 3D stereoscopic and wide vision with sound.
4. The year 1990’s saw huge developments in the virtual reality technology with the rise of arcade games. The Virtuality Group was the cutting edge of virtual reality, and launched a wide variety of arcade games and machines that let the players immerse themselves into amazing 3D visual experiences.
5. The start-up company Oculus Rift kickstarted the industry of virtual reality again with the release of a Kickstarter project for their Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles, in the year 2010.

Surprising Facts about Virtual Reality –

1. All generations, whether Generation Z, Millennials or Baby Boomers everyone wants to get their hands-on VR devices and explore the virtual worlds.
2. As per the study conducted by Forbes on World’s Most Valuable Brands in October 2015, showed that 75% of these industries have created some form of virtual reality or augmented reality experience for customers or are the ones developing the technologies.
3. The VR Cardboard launched by Google was a Side Project developed by David Coz and Damien Henry. They created this project during the Google’s “Innovation Time Off” program in which developers were encouraged to spend 20 percent of their time on the things of their interest.
4. We cannot name the invention of Virtual Reality to a single person. Many people contributed for the growth of VR technology. The five people who played a significant role are Morton Heilig, Jaron Lanier, Douglas Engelbart, Ivan Sutherland, and Myron Krueger.
5. Tell you something interesting, U.S. government is in love with the VR Technology. NASA makes use of technology to connect engineers with the devices they send into space. Using Oculus and Xbox One gaming console, NASA engineers are developing ways to control a robotic arm with gestures made by operator on Earth.
6. U.S. military makes use of VR to train soldiers. The simulated Virtual world provide opportunities for teams to work together to prepare them for the chaos of combat.
7. Virtual Reality technology is widely accepted in the healthcare field. From diagnostics to treatment to practicing difficult surgical procedures, healthcare institutions are incorporating the technology in all the facets of the industry.

Virtual Reality doesn’t have to be Expensive

To all the people who think Virtual Reality is for the rich, as a matter of fact VR is affordable both for the people to use and for the businesses to develop. Like other technologies, the price of developing the virtual reality projects greatly depends on the scope of the project. For an example, YouVisit company can create the same experience in the lower cost range.

After the launch of Google Cardboard VR Headset, many other companies started to work on affordable VR headset.

D.  Though the thought Virtual Reality technology and experiencing it is quite fantasizing, but before you go on for experiencing it for the first time let us warn you the first experience could be disorienting. Headaches and sickness are some of the problems faced by the first-time users of VR headsets.

E.  Despite of the fact that pop culture was very popular during the 90’s decade, still Virtual Reality Headsets were not able to do much of the sale. VR headsets gained much attention of the people but factors like over pricing and media hype are the reasons for failure of virtual reality in the 90’s.

F.  Endless Possibilities with Virtual Reality –

Did you ever go into the fantasy world while watching Avengers movie that you are among the avengers and saving the world? VR Technology has made this impossible possible and let them experience stuff they could only dream of.

Addition of some more accessories with the VR headset to make your experience more interactive such as gloves with sensors or surround sound audio systems would enhance your visit to virtual world.

G.  Since the 80’s decade till now, the major developments in the VR Technology has been done on the software side. The hardware has been improved during the past few decades but it is the software in the VR is much more superior than it had been in the past. Though there are no major changes in the technology except one that is the portability factor of the headsets.

H.  If we talk about the interests of all the classes of people in the VR technology, a recent study shows that the liking of VR Technology is more among the men in comparison to women. On the contrary, the graph is exponentially tilted towards the men and women rather care less about VR and use the headsets to watch music and dance content.

It would not be at all surprising to see that the kids are more drawn into the world of technology and hence to the VR headsets.

I.  Whenever people Talk about VR, they always relate it to the entertainment and games apps. But the action-packed and fun-filled entertainments are just a small part of VR. The major successful VR apps are not connected to the Gaming industry. Developers are combining the VR with the software that would help the people in ways that was not imaginable 20 years before. Every industry is taking advantages of Virtual Reality be it real-estate, architecture firms, travel industry or healthcare.

In healthcare, VR has seen major contributions like curing phantom pain among amputee victims, therapy for soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, treating children with autism, and training and practice for surgical students.

The above listed points are just a few surprising and amazing facts about the Virtual Reality Technology. And if it continues to develop the hardware and software with the pace it is growing right now we can expect the VR technology to be raised to a whole new level benefitting every sector of the society.