Reflection: VR/AR Experience

I want to start off by saying that I enjoyed my experience with VR and AR in the lab! I was able to try the Oculus, VIVE, and HoloLens. All three offered a different experience and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to try each on.

Personally, I liked the in-depth nature of the gaming experience offered by this form of gaming. When it comes to being immersed in the game world, I feel the VIVE offered the most psychologically engaging experience for me. I recall there being a moment, in my play through of Job Simulator, where I almost sat down thinking I was in an actual office with a chair! I didn’t break the barrier of thinking I was actually in the game world with the Oculus or the HoloLens.

While using the Oculus, I still felt like I was playing a video game. I wasn’t moving around with my own feet–I was teleporting. The experience was still great for me. I was able to enjoy the gaming experience in a more immersive way. But I didn’t feel that I was actually in the game world; it didn’t break that wall for me.

The last device I used was the HoloLens. I was interested in this one particularly because I’d seen Demetrius Johnson use it. The fact it maps of the room is amazing to me. Even now, I can think off all these applications for AR. Imagine it mapping objects in your room that become available to use in game! That’d be awesome! My main complaint with the HoloLens is the small field of vision it offers. We’ll have to see how the design is improved upon going forward.

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3 Responses to Reflection: VR/AR Experience

  1. msh5379 says:

    I’m interested to understand why you think the VIVE offered the most psychologically engaging experience. It terms of functionality, I feel like both the VIVE and Rift offer pretty much the same experience. They have their differences in the comfort levels, weightage of equipment, etc. But I’d like to argue that they’re mostly similar in functionality.

    Maybe it felt like you weren’t in the game because of certain gameplay elements. Like the teleport mechanic. It seems to take out from the ‘immersive’ experience but I personally think it didn’t botch the VR experience for me. For the type of game that we were playing for the VR demo, teleport mechanic just seemed to be the best fit for the type of mobility in the game. All in all, even though VR games are kind of supposed to immerse you and provide more ‘realism’ to gameplay, I feel like having some quirky mechanics is fine on order to match the gameplay style.

    @Reese, I believe the sensors are supposed to be arranged in such a manner where you’re always facing them (3-sensors, triangular arrangement).

  2. amm6946 says:

    I do recall that I would have to spin around it I was facing an enemy while teleporting. It’s good that the robots did give you a brief period to get oriented before attacking again to compensate for the issue.

  3. Reese Frederick Bittenmaster says:

    One of my biggest gripes with the Oculus was the teleport mechanic. You’re supposed to be looking one way at all times so the sensors can best track the headset, so when you go to teleport, you have to decide the direction you want to be facing too. Never mind that it’s finicky enough to be teleporting when you’re getting shot at in Robo Recall, you also get disoriented for a second or two – which can get you killed.

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