This assignment asked us : “Please get a cardboard VR viewer either locally from Bestbuy or the like or online (should be under $5) and find & watch 3 VR stories and compare them in a blog entry.”
I purchased a Utopia 360 VR viewer from Best Buy. It was only $10 and is nicely designed plastic viewer. I then downloaded the Google VR app and have been exploring Youtube.com to find some videos.
I will start by saying I do not like the 3D animated VR videos. The ones I have watch so far have been cartoonish and just do not do anything for me. It is possible that if I had a better set up like an oculus rift and a nice game to play I would enjoy it more. So The best videos I have seen so far have been live shot video.
The first video I watched and enjoyed was : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG4jSz_2HDY
It took you on an underwater dive to see some sharks. I feel that an underwater environment is a great setting for a VR experience, because it is taking you to a place that is not easily accessible to most of us.
Next I watched a rollercoaster video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lsB-P8nGSM
I was hopping to trick my body into thinking that I was actually on a roller coaster. I will say that I did not get the full body experience of a real coaster, however I definitely did feel a little dizzy watching and on the drops I could feel a slight displacement in my stomach.
The last video I have watched for the review was: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlOiXMvMaZo
In this video a camera is placed in a open filed and captures a heard of elephants investigating it. I enjoyed this because of the scale and size of the animals. Being able to look around 360 gives you a better sense of size.
So what do I think the future holds for VR? I think that the technology will continue to develop and become more and more apart of or lives. I just hope that the technology becomes smoother and easier to accesses. My biggest worry is that it will become like 3D, just a fad that makes people sick at the theater.
