Future of communication: mixed, not virtual reality. What future is waiting for the future PlayStation VR? Using a virtual reality helmet in the near future

Technological entrepreneur and publicist Sean Ronken (Shaun Roncken) wrote an article on how virtual reality will change our perception of technologies, space and communicating with other people. We chose the most interesting abstracts.

How do we interact with technology

On the screens of laptops and smartphones, we are accustomed to see what is called a graphical user interface (Graphical User Interface). Back in the 80s, companies as Xerox, Apple and Microsoft were popularized.

At first, the interaction with the computer was a complex process that requires special skills, and consisted in the manual set of teams on the ominous black screen.

Over time, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and other innovators made an interface simple and intuitive. Symbolic icons came to replace the instructions that could be activated and move using the mouse cursor. Now all this is granted things, but at one time they were breakthrough.

Today, graphic interfaces have become an almost natural continuation of ourselves.

Browsers predict the words we write. And mobile devices allow you to interact in every way with elements using presses and gestures. After 30-35 years of the existence of personal computers, we came to the time when the gadgets can master each, including your grandmother.

But barely we managed to comprehend one technological era, as she was already another on to shift. And the interfaces and others are familiar to modern developers and users will have to completely reconsider.

VR already changes our perception of space. What's next?

Take the simplest to use NetFlix video service. To turn on the series, it is enough to go to the site, run through the catalog and click on the desired video. But how will this process change if the interface does not be placed in the screen plane? Suddenly there are many nuances that should be considered.

First of all, the perception of space changes. As users, we did not even think about such things before, but virtual reality is a completely new experience. Imagine that you wear glasses, turn on netflix and detect yourself in a wooden house. You are sitting on a red sofa next to a huge 60-inch screen and begin to realize the entire potential VR. After that, the physical TV no longer seems such a necessity as before.

You are immersed in a new space before moving to the basic functions of the program. Already only this fact may cause a number of questions to Netflix and many other well-friendly digital platforms. Think about Google, YouTube, Facebook.

How will we control the menu items in the future that are now presented in 2D format?

You can understand what new ways to control we have to master. What previously worked on the principle of "Points and Click" is now different depending on the specific device. Some helmets display the goal before their eyes, which can be controlled by the head movements, instead of the mouse cursor. In this case, to highlight the text fragment, the icon or other object, we click on the button on the helmet.

In addition, special gloves can be used, allowing you to select menu items and manipulate other elements of the virtual space. And finally, many years later, voice control goes to the fore.

How we will interact with each other in virtual space

Despite the growing fear of insulation, many experts encourage faith in the fact that VR will actually make us closer to each other. Speaking at the Talks Conference, Virtual Designer and VR-Pioneer Chris Milk (Chris Milk) called the virtual reality of an empathy machine. After all, this technology is able to transfer us to the environment of other people and makes it possible to divide their personal experience.

Imagine that with the help of virtual reality you ended up on the removed beach. Where your friends are spent now. All their emotions are now in front of you. Instead of presenting someone else's experience in a verbal description, you can dive into it yourself.

These social and spatial innovations will not simply change the lives of individuals, they will have a huge impact on technological companies.

It is easy to guess that the offices like Spotify are already beginning to think about how to voice our virtual worlds. For example, a mix with air melancholic music is suitable for sunset on the beach. Another option is a dynamic playlist, which is synchronized with the emotions of most visitors to public space.

The influence of companies will spread to other aspects of virtual worlds. Now Google offers search options based on query history. For example, we can see spaces stylized in the spirit of your favorite movies taken from Netflix's views.

In the future, visiting places in VR will also adapt to our individual preferences.

Facebook makes the first steps towards virtual reality. Mark Zuckerberg has already discussed the possibility of this technology to maintain expensive moments of us, whether birthdays or suggestions of the hand and hearts. We will be able to invite friends and relatives to divide these events with us. And in the future, Facebook can be a time machine that will allow you to dive into virtual memories.

Of course, we needed several generations to implement less impressive opportunities for personal computers, in particular, interfaces. And to raise them to the expected level, it will be necessary not yet one year.

Photo: Mark Zuckerberg at MWC-2016 conference, author photo Nicolas Debock

Experts in the field of IT told how they see the development of VR technologies: what fundamental shifts are expected in the coming years and what changes they are waiting with the greatest impatience.

What to expect from VR in the coming years

"With the arrival of virtual reality, the tools of studying something are changed. Distance learning systems are not in place, in the near future we will already see completely different approaches to information transfer. A good example is the episode of the film "Matrix", where neo studies the various styles of martial arts. We are at the turn of such interaction and opportunities to know, feeling and attending.

Frame from the movie "Matrix", where neo learns martial arts due to VR

One of the most important aspects of the development of each person is timely and comfortable overcoming of fears. Fear of height, flight, turned off, speed can be overcome gradually and controlled. Excellent example of the development of virtual reality in this context presented The world of Samsung in the video "as a project # Yanebuchi helped get rid of height fear."

You can imagine a vertex, a view from Everest, a walk through the Great Wall of China, a trip along the desert. Already, we have such opportunities. For example, panoramic video travel under water or skating on a snowboard.

Do everyone remember the Wii console? We learned how to use space. Now everything runs in the direction of improving the quality, realism of the feeling of presence. There were many films where we were told that people get used to and could not leave the virtual world. I think this is the strongest dependence of the future.

Imagine that you can watch a movie from the face of different characters with different scenarios. Each picture is a separate world, where the movie ticket will be equated to buying the presence time in the plot. "

Evgeny Nesterovsky, Head of the Gaming Program Development Division in the Vikuium - Simulators for the Brain ":

"Virtual reality will burst into your life this year. Despite the growth of the popularity of VR solutions based on smartphones, all the most interesting will begin with the arrival of serious solutions from Oculus, HTC and Sony.

The game industry - in many respects it is precisely it stands for a new wave of technology development - already now actively experiments with VR. The presence of convenient tools for development (Unreal and Unity engines) is associated with the availability of technology. Healthy reduced the input barrier for developers and formed a large community of enthusiasts that find new ways to interact with virtuality.

The tourist industry already shows customers what their hotels will look like with virtual tours. But in the future, the decade of years may also appear full-fledged VR travels that will enable new impressions and experience without leaving one room. One glasses in such a journey are not limited to, but now there are many additional devices with which you can manipulate virtual objects and move. The smell generator is also not fantastic, but an existing device, even with a very limited spectrum. Align all this in the center of VR travel and allow you to visit new places (maybe not even existing) - the question of time.

Traveling to existing ever places and periods ask the educational sphere. Instead of lectures and pictures, you can immerse students in detailed simulations showing life, culture, language, architecture of any period. In the long term, such simulations can become truly interactive.

An interesting direction is to create cognitive simulators for training and development of attention, memory and thinking. At the moment, various techniques, programs and neurointerfaces are used for this. VR allows a new look at the implementation of software solutions and adapting existing scientific methods. The effect of complete immersion can not only increase the developing effect, but also further convey the importance and benefit of such workouts for people. We now take our first steps in this direction. "

The passage of the neurotransager using Oculus "a and neurointerface:

Pavel Lebedev, Head of the Web Design Department in Kaspersky Lab:

"Like most advanced technologies of BP begins primarily applied in the gaming industry, at exhibitions and in science. Already, you can manage drone and look at the world from a bird's-eye view, or to be in the game world as close as possible to reality. And the next 5-7 years will be a search for application of these technologies in practice, new devices and infrastructure will be created for the use of BP.

After a steady model is found to use BP, it will start becoming mainstream. It is possible that portable devices will be developed that create a feeling of reality not only for organs of vision and hearing, but also for tanging, smell, etc. It is possible that for some specialists, working in glasses BP will be the norm for less than 10 years. And what can be seen now when robotics technologies are growing, the management of various kinds of drones will become one of the main directions for the use of BP. "

"First, the market of" virtual fitting "is waiting for their jerk in technology. Today, buyers are increasingly picking up clothes in online stores. Already now there are good workers, allowing you to virtually "impose" a new thing to the buyer's figure, but they are not used widely, because On the one hand, it is not too smoothly smooth, but on the other - not many users have a VR device. However, as soon as cheap VR helmets go to the market, the developers will be able to actively develop and promote virtual fittings.

Secondly, if we overcome the main lack of virtual reality helmets - the tech and fatigancy of the eyes - people will be able to stay in the virtual world really long that in turn will be a push for the second birth of SECOND LIFE games: it will be possible to communicate with friends using 3D Avatars, meeting on the tropical islands and in medieval castles. However, this is fraught with a strong temptation to change everyday life on the beautiful, let the virtual world.

Thirdly, virtual prototyping for all: to evaluate the ergonomics of the car model, virtually walk and evaluate the design, say, the new kitchen after repair can be all. Now such technologies are used by professionals - these are expensive CAD-Walls and virtual reality rooms. Available helmets will give both consumers "play" with the model being created. "

Nikolai Kalmykov, Director of the Expert Analytical Center in the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Service under the President of the Russian Federation (Ranjigsis):

"Already now in the virtual space, a significant part of the economy is leaving, not even speaking about the same trading. There are examples of sharing virtual resources to other virtual resources, without transient conversion to the usual cash equivalents. This is to no less affects the issues of taxation. "

Alisa Lukonina, AdDreality Marketing Director:

"Virtual reality gradually becomes part of our common life: large brands have already begun to offer a unique experience in their customers. It is possible to wander through the virtual interior of the future at home, make a virtual test drive car, try on the selected clothing on a digital mannequin with individual parameters or virtually "visit" the hotel when planning travel. Analysts predict the rapid growth of virtual reality systems in the next 5 years.

Today, business is not yet ready to risk and considers virtual reality as experiment - technologies are expensive, and it is difficult to predict what difficulties companies will have to face. But the development of digital technologies is rapidly changes occur every day, and the direction of movement is one - only forward. "

Ruslan Akhmetshin, Chief Engineer-programmer MODULBANK:

"In the long run, VR will try to make part of life so that without this component it is almost impossible to do without this component. As, for example, now with a mobile phone - without it, what is called, you will not die, but from the information field will fall out. So with VR will be a similar picture, but for this you need, so that the larger number of people dive into it. "

The most promising VR applications

Bella Yuryev, Lead Engineer, VE Group:

"The most promising technology of virtual prototyping, allowing companies to reduce the cost of developing complex products, as well as to reduce the product creation cycle, educational institutions - conduct research in a virtual environment. Also, the VR technology is relevant to combine training and games - the so-called edutainment. "

Oleg Yusupov, CEO MAAS AGENCY:

"Increasing the capabilities of video cards and an increase in the accuracy of indoor positioning - just those necessary elements for the first breakthroughs in this market."

Roman Quarterrins, CEO & ART Director ZephyrLab:

"In my opinion, the scope of education should pick up VR in the first place, since the method of presenting information becomes rich and more interesting. The rate of assimilation of the material will increase, as more feelings will be involved. "

As can be seen, the future is not far off. Why do you expect from VR most?

Learn really, and not virtually - the profession "" from Geekbrains.

It is one of the outstanding speakers of the gaming industry. His company released a popular VR game I Expect You to Die, and Shell himself actively supports the development of virtual and augmented reality. However, to hopes for rapid growth and it refers to extremely skeptical.

At the beginning of the month, Shell spoke at the AUGMENTED WORLD EXPO conference in California and shared his fears about the future virtual and augmented reality.

Future VR for tactile sensations

During his speech, Shell said that by 2025 the market will grow from $ 7.5 billion to $ 22.5 billion. Despite such an optimistic forecast, Shell believes that other expectations do not justify themselves. For example, according to him, by 2025, the fraction of VR will be no more than 5-15% of the entire gaming industry.

Digi-Capital analysts predict that by 2020 the value of the VR market will be $ 30 billion, and AR is $ 90 billion. Shell believes that this is "extremely wrong forecast." Shell emphasizes that the market will develop very slowly. So the startups should take into account that harsh times will delay more than planned.

Shell predicts special popularity of controllers for virtual reality like touch or those used for HTC VIVE helmet. According to Shell, such controllers cause users a sense of tactile interaction and therefore show themselves much better than systems tracking movements with hands.

For AR need new technologies

Shell believes that by 2025 the share of profits will be 15% of the income of the VR market, that is, about $ 1,1- $ 3.3 billion. The market of augmented reality will still be small, and difficulties are waiting for it.

According to Shell, there will be many more years before the technology will develop so much to create supplemented reality glasses that would not differ from ordinary glasses. So far, all new AR devices will be "bulky", and all glasses augmented reality will "look silly." During the speech, Shell remembered. The appearance of the first glasses of augmented reality from Google too rushed into the eyes - in the corner of each lenses there was a large chamber, and the points themselves looked bulky. No one wants to put on the device that gives a stupid look. Shell believes that glasses augmented reality will look silly as long as several generations will not have a significant breakthrough in technologies.

"It was a huge mistake," Shell said. - It seems to me that this is one of the largest technological failures over the past ten years. No one liked this project. The product itself was good, and they were easy to use. But its use caused discomfort in society - and this is his and destroyed. "

Shell's similar problem also noted with Hololens points from Microsoft - their lenses are too dark, because of what the eyes of the owner of the glasses are not visible. Microsoft tried to make glasses that would look more acceptable in society, but she did not succeed, Shell believes, because in such glasses it was impossible to establish visual contact with other people.

"Many glasses [Augmented Reality] look too ridiculous to constantly wear them," Shell said. - We need to solve this problem. "

In addition, when people see glasses with a built-in camera, they feel that someone is watching them and scares them.

"Little black point on glasses (camera) is a huge problem," Shell added. "It is quite unpleasant to realize that someone is watching you."

Among other problems, Ar Shell noted the fact that the glasses of augmented reality limit the field of view of the owner. Virtual reality gives the immersion effect, and the supplemented shows only a small segment of the world. Of course, you can use holograms, but for them you need larger screens and appropriate equipment, which means the cost of AR devices will only increase. Therefore, Shell believes that it is necessary to somehow reduce holographic screens, only no one knows how to do it.

Finally, there is no revolutionary application of augmented reality. Perhaps an application that creates an imaginary friend in augmented reality will be an excellent gift for children, but adults need something more, says Shell. Just so far even he does not know what an AR application can really turn the world.

Shell looks at the future of VR and AR-technologies with a sober look and believes that the developers should not overestimate hopes, but also not to lower their hands.

"We create a" eyes "of the future generation," said Shell. "So I urge everyone to unite to make the best eyes that only seen this world."

We regularly tell about new releases of games. Many of them come out on exclusive rights for PlayStation VR on exclusive rights. And we often refer to limited tracking of PlayStation VR and PlayStation Move controllers, on non-ideal control. Tracking in 180 degrees makes moving within the virtual world much more limited than we would like. And the absence of analog joysticks on controllers makes it difficult to move. This is a sad reality with which many of us learned to live to enjoy such incredible games like Skyrim VR. At the same time, we are increasingly thinking. And what is the future of PlayStation VR will eventually see?

Each game of virtual reality requires sufficiently high technical characteristics. And soon will show us how to enjoy the same content with much more clear visual effects that will allow us to be better immersed in the worlds that we study.

But PlayStation VR is a special case, because it is this helmet that has a huge list of already vital improvements. And if they are so sharply needed now, what will happen to the device after three to five years? What is the future PlayStation VR we will see?

Suppose and imagine

Well, let's try to figure out. Presumably, PlayStation VR 2 will be a headset that works with PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro hypothetical consoles. The limited computing power of PlayStation 4 was a serious problem for developers who adapted already existing games previously appeared for more demanding Oculus Rift and HTC VIVE.

If PlayStation 5 will be more compatible with them, the commands easier would be to implement the conference of the versions for the computer. And all this thanks to the increased power. After all, even now PlayStation 4 Pro gives developers much more opportunities to work compared to PlayStation 4. There will be no more blurred textures in Arizona Sunshine, for example, or perhaps much less than grocery gradients in Apex Construct.

This means that the PlayStation VR 2 display should differ significantly from the original functionality. The more powerful headset, the more viable becomes the dream of obtaining 3K permission or maybe even 4k. Games such as Skyrim and Resident Evil 7 would allow you to feel much more immersed in terms of purely visual perspective.

Second problem

Nevertheless, no less than any other aspect, controllers and tracking remain problematic. They will most benefit from the PlayStation VR update. With some fine setting, you can get a good game when PlayStation VR right now. However, you still will not be able to be fully satisfied when using PlayStation Move controllers. Recall that the camera cannot track them if you cannot see them directly. What often threatens interrupts and signal loss.

Also too simple remains to move beyond the field of view of the camera or as a result, suffer from non-ideal location tracking. As new solutions approached the smallest costs and improved tracking SteamVR, PlayStation VR looks more and more retarded every day.

Dreams Dreams

Imagine PlayStation VR 2 with backward compatibility that corrects all this. The ability to rotate when the enemies surround you in Skyrim, quickly aiming the gun in Arizona Sunshine. And no confusion in tracking, movements and moving through your living room.

And, as for the PlayStation Move controllers, we pray that something from the recent Sony to improve the design will be true. The developers at one time squeezed everything possible with the archaic projects of the former controllers originally created for PlayStation 3. However, we will be satisfied only when we get tracking of 360 degrees and analog joystick or trackpad.

Simply put, if the backward compatibility of technical specifications with other top devices, the PlayStation VR 2 community, which already has an extensive library of excellent content, will receive even more steep releases. Patience, which many of us have demonstrated, will be rewarded with hours of immersion in improved virtual reality.

However, while developers do not speak a word about the planned improvement. It is not known how soon it will happen. At the same time, PlayStation VR continues to lose points compared to devices that appear on the market or are improved. And therefore the future PlayStation VR remains unclear.

VR becomes physical with innovations based on wind, unmanned aerial vehicles and rooms with details for several players.

Although Siggraph traditionally is a conference covering the animation and VFX, in recent years there has been increased attention to VR. Thus, along with new video cards, mobile workstations and applications for animators and performers, while on Siggraph this week we saw many new VR headsets and ways to make an environment more attractive.

Most of this seemed to be based on the idea that sitting or standing, playing in VR games or experience, it becomes a bit boring - especially for those who are trying to create impressions outside the house in thematic parks, etc. It may also be a bit Lonely, if you do not play a multiplayer game, where you are sitting like Mario Card VR.

A more active participant may prefer to try experience - with multiple friends - using a new virtual reality system (LBVR), based on the Vicon location. Vicon is most known in that he created the technology capture technology used in televisions and films, including Hollywood functions, and here it applied its technology to capture the entire body to experience the VR experience in which you are, knows where you are all, as well as any details that were integrated into the system.

The experience that I tried on the siggrance was founded in the "room" - well, in space, limited by rubber barriers, in case you entered them - it was about two times less than the tennis court. The tower over our heads is a bit more than the room, was covered by the Viper tracking cameras, following the Pulsar LED pads, which were tied to my hands and shoes.

Vicon Lighthouse Transmitter, Viper Camera and Multiple Pulsar Started Pads.

Inside the room, I and a few more people were put on a headset connected to Zotac Backpack PC - tied VR is impossible when you have three people who go independently from each other without tosing themselves in nodes.

We were in the desert next to the Bedouin tent with fire. Everything was displayed in detailed resolution and textures, as well as what we expect from VIVE Pro.

Looking down, I saw not only my hands, but the body and limb - plus avatars of the full body of my satellites. This is due to the Vicon Evoke software platform, which automatically combines information about the location from all pads and data from the headset to provide a game or obtain information about where all of your parts of the body are in three-dimensional space, including calculating the position of your body and the limbs based on the distance and moving pads on your limbs.

On the floor there was a short wooden pillar, which turned out to be a real support - a rubber shaft with Pulsar attached to it so that the Evoke system also knew about it.

We investigated our world, limited not so much borders as you could see, but even more lack of something far from our tent and shooting and memories of those physical barriers. Not knowing what to do, except for experienced puzzles, I lit a torch, and we were transferred to the next level.

From here, we were in the traditional game dungeon, having half the "room" by completing the puzzles that led us to the corridors, on which there were about a quarter of the space, where the doors opened and closed behind us to immerse us and make us feel that we move from new space in new space.

This is how the floating chamber will see us passing through the dungeon.

The further environment included a baseball game in which the pole became a volatile mouse, a collapsing spacecraft, where we had to find the buttons to save themselves, and ride a floating platform, where we had to throw a pole from a person to a person through hoops. It turned out to be a little complicated, but the tracking of the pole in VR on the physical pole seemed quite good, and we all put it on the lack of coordination after the day on the exhibition floor, and not in the technical release.

This is the appearance of our experience in baseball. We were players.

Again, look at our experience.

The experience developed by DreamScape was a demonstration and not only technology, but as a smart design of the game and experience is necessary when working with a relatively small physical space.

The size of the "Room" is intended to make it enough tolerant for its creation as a pop-up window at conferences, in cinemas, galleries, etc. The first settings that use Origin include a non-painted film of the film in the cinemas more than 200 AMC in The United States and possibly strange, the game Bandai Namco, coming to the Hollywood Bowl bowling club in Royal Tunbridge Wells.

Within the conference "New Technologies", which demonstrates research projects in universities and in other places, one would test the physical improvements of the VR, which were much earlier in their development. This included the binding of two turbines to your wrist, which could be involved in the prototype game FPS, providing the return when shooting weapons - be it a short shunt from the laser explosion to a prolonged push when creating a fiery ball.

An attempt, the return seemed a little weak, but her developers explained that it was due to customs restrictions on the strength of the prototype, which they can carry from their branch at Tokyo University.

In addition to the FPS game, Wind-Blaster seemed ineptly - if only the talented game developer could not do more. The same thing was for Levipoli - also the project of the University of Tokyo - a bar with a ruck from both ends, which seemed to the Nintendo controller, if he decided to add weight lift to Wii Sports.

Although they are truly technologically innovative, such technologies do not attach great gaming experience, but we will remind that if we can combine physical and digital impressions, we can become winners.

The key to this is AR, but we saw very little AR games, applications or events at my time on Siggraph (even a highly acquired headset Magic LEAP AR was only seen as a non-working headset - perhaps fictitious - on Starvr stand). Perhaps this is because when the AR is not synchronized with the narrative nature of most of the contents of the VR, even if this story "shoots these monsters"

The best AR applications are at least currently intended to be useful - will this sofa look good in my front room or not? One exciting AR experience, which I did, was uninstructive and included your head inside the giant bird's metal head with Microsoft Hololens inside. Designed by artists Sean Hunt and Microsoft Vancouver laboratories, you see the fire with a spiritual animal inside it (that, obviously, you can not see below, because in fact it is not so).

The transformational mask fits into the mythology and heritage of spiritual masks of one of the indigenous people of British Columbia, Hayletsuk (of which Sean is a member).

Restrictions around Ar and VR are mainly technological, not conceptual. Only the headsets provided only a graphics with medium quality, and you notice a lot of difference when you go from the headset only to the clarified settings (whether it is a full-size desktop / backpack or a MAGIC LEAP disk hanging from your belt).

Even the nearest HTC headset is an autonomous Focus headset, which is probably the most powerful headset of VR of this type on the market, felt a little embarrassing, spending some time with his own VIVE PRO company in the Origin Vicon system. I tried HTC Focus at a meeting of the company for developers of VR games and applications, and would be very impressed if I could not remember the difference in the chart.

The focus has the same resolution of 3K as Vive Pro, but not a graphic performance of a full PC - Snapdragon 835 chip, which it uses, the same as the Samsung Galaxy S8 phone, so the quality of textures and the level of detail is noticeably lower. Local VR is possible with Focus using the same sensors on the poles as the usual VIVE setting. However, you have only one controller.

Although some of them are already written off with VR as a dead environment, Siggraff showed that it is still possible to introduce know-how and amaze players. But it is also clear that technologically and conceptually, we still have to go through a long way to create an experience that is more than entertainment.