Is it just for games?

I applied for a job using VR to help people train / control robots to go into a fusion reactor, (A complete no go zone for humans), or for space missions etc

There are LOADS of applications where this can be used.

Another job application was for a car company, where they would use it to sell cars in a showroom coupled with other tech. if you go to buy a car you want to know how it feels, sounds, looks, but you can't always get every spec of every car to every showroom.
 
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ZeroG said:
I would have thought it would be more like watching a huge cinema screen in front of you rather than you being "in the film". That kind of immersion is way beyond our technology yet. Although I look forward to the time when holodecks become real :)
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I'd expect VR Cinema to be literally a cinema view with your choice of seating.
VR Film is more where you're in it. As is, you can film something in 360º so people could look all around... we have this technology available to us for pipeline inspections right now.
But you're limited to one point of perspective. They could use multiple cameras, but that gets very expensive.

Zefan said:
Read "Ready Player One" !
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+1

ZeroG said:
VR potentially has unlimited uses, limited only by people's creativity.
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I think more limited by morality and common decency... I have a very dark imagination!! :D
 
I can see VR coverage of sport and events becoming a big thing. Just imagine being in the front row at Glastonbury without the mud, an Ashes Tour without the travel or seeing the RAC rally without getting blasted in the face with stones.

Actually imagine how cool it would be if they could put a VR camera on a moving F1 car.
 
K.C. Leblanc said:
I can see VR coverage of sport and events becoming a big thing. Just imagine being in the front row at Glastonbury without the mud, an Ashes Tour without the travel or seeing the RAC rally without getting blasted in the face with stones.

Actually imagine how cool it would be if they could put a VR camera on a moving F1 car.
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As much as I like technology I hope it never replaces the actual reality of being in each of those places. No matter how real it feels there's nothing like being there in person.
 
ZeroG said:
No matter how real it feels there's nothing like being there in person.
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Yeah, nothing like the thrill of an event... getting up early to drive miles and miles, paying a fortune for both parking and entry, while you queue up for ages, before enjoying the standing-room only in the freezing cold, surrounded by loud, smelly people, while getting fleeced for overpriced low quality food...

There's a reason I don't go out to things much any more. :p
 
robfosters said:
With 7.1 headphones that actually sound like 7.1.

Wouldn't it hurt the AV market though? Why spend thousands on projectors and screens when you can buy a £500 VR headset.
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Because otherwise you're stuck watching the movie on your own? Watching a movie with someone using VR would be a far, far worse experience than just using a screen and speakers.
 
I can imagine VR taking off quite well for movies in the medium to long term (say within 5-10 years) and for some CAD design work, but not much beyond that. The use of VR for internet video content will be limited to a large degree by the availability of 360 degree cameras, which I don't think are going to come into mainstream use any time soon.
 
I can see VR films being entirely CGI, like UP and other Pixar titles. Eventually, with real time rendering I can see it being a hybrid of how games on rails (HL2 etc) marry up with filmic story telling. With CGI getting to the point where a rendered human is getting close to being generally pretty close to the real thing it may be that it starts to get easier to believe they're real.

I reckon there will be some films that will have massive emotional impact in the future, almost being part of the film as a silent character or maybe even have some input with voice recognition to shape the story in small ways. Characters can react to you in small ways without derailing the overall experience, pulling you in further.

It's going to be cool though whatever happens :)

Further to entertainment, VR will be everywhere. Education especially, being able to teach kids about all sorts of things in an interactive and interesting way is going to accelerate learning immensely. Surgeons able to practice at home the night before a big operation in their living rooms with a VR patient is just one tiny example of the future.

Even just being able to have every toy in the world available to play with. Building the craziest scaletrix with every piece and custom pieces too will be fun. Then racing against a friend from overseas.

Learner drivers can practice at home with any car they wish in various scenarios. Along with being able to practice changing a tyre with instructions before doing it on your real car, having a virtual engine bay with highlighted parts to help you maintain your car with virtual oil to pour etc. The list is endless! :) A lot of these examples sound like the sort of ideas that seem nice enough but in practice aren't very helpful, VR changes that.
 
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robfosters said:
Is VR solely for games or will there be other applications as well? I'm thinking along the lines of films, virtual tourism or experiences and vistas like skydiving or tropical beaches.

I know it might sound boring, but it just seems to me there are so many possible avenues for it to take.

Could we one day see people donning their VR headsets and shopping in VR supermarkets?
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I imagine it would be so cool, in far future probably!
 
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