The Endgadget Expand NY event this weekend saw Ebbe Altberg going coast to coast as he participated in a panel discussion : Back To Reality VR Beyond Gaming. This panel discussion saw Ebbe joined by Matterport’s Matt Bell and BeAnotherLab’s Marte Roel and has been summarised on Endgadet itself in an article entitled : Virtual reality has a future beyond video games, and it’s already started.
The discussion has also been discussed, eloquently, in detail and with great analysis by Inara Pey in an article entitled : Beyond gaming: looking at VR with Ebbe Altberg and others.
The panel was hosted by Ben Gilbert of Endgadget who introduced Ebbe Altberg as “The CEO Of Linden Lab, who you might have heard of from Second Life and other fun products.” This sort of introduction is exactly why I thought Rod Humble was on the right track in terms of expanding Linden Lab’s portfolio. Second Life should really be a tag line of Linden Lab, not the other way round. However it does emphasise yet again the sway that Second Life has in terms of its name.
Host Ben Gilbert then earns cheers from the virtual world fanbase when he says that the people on the panel are not making video games. You see, some people do understand the difference between virtual worlds and games! Ben also earns some bonus points for realising it’s Linden Lab, not Linden Labs. However he only found that out on the same day of the discussion.
Ebbe indicates that beta testing of Linden Lab’s new virtual world may start around the middle of next year, so watch that space. Ebbe also talks up Second Life well discussing use cases such as education, art and entertainment as well as talking of the economic model and how Linden Lab allow users to create the content.
Ebbe makes a good point about lines between the virtual and real worlds when host Ben Gilbert brings up the issue of the lack of the sense of smell in virtual reality. Ebbe feels there are pro’s and cons and that it’s not about reaching equality between the two spaces. That’s a very important point because I feel some people feel virtual reality will lead to some people being lost in the machine but I really can’t see the feared level of immersion some have being an issue for eons, certainly not in this generation of VR.
Ebbe also talks briefly about an issue I’ve raised more than once, the problems of using the keyboard and mouse when you’re using a device such as the Oculus Rift. Ebbe believes technology is coming that will address this issue and that things are now moving quite fast in terms of development. I’m not convinced of that myself as I still fear people are going to find the use of headsets uncomfortable and host Ben Gilbert raises this issue himself when he says that even an ordinary headset makes him aware he’s wearing one.
Ebbe responds by saying that “For mass market appeal, ease of use and comfort is going to be critical to get right.” This really is critical because whereas some hardcore users will be able to fully immerse themselves in peripherals, many others simply won’t. I’m thinking here of parents in particular who simply won’t be able to shut themselves away in that manner on a regular basis.
However the panel is about Virtual Reality beyond video games, just what use cases are there for this technology? Lots is the answer from Ebbe :
When people ask what’s the killer app,well, there’s going to be lots of killer apps. I think of VR as a horizontal thing that you’ll be able to apply to almost anything.
So the next question is how soon will it be here? Ebbe feels a couple of years but he qualifies this by saying that more comfortable hardware and content may be a bit further away than that. I agree with Ebbe there, whereas there will be a lot of discussion and examples appearing in the near future, I feel will be a little while longer before people start feeling comfortable enough with the technology to adopt it in large numbers.
The discussion is an interesting one, coming it at around thirty four minutes it’s not too time consuming and if you have the time it’s worth watching, especially as the video gives more insight into the work of the other two participants on the panel.
Social Media, VR and computing technology (including portable media such as bluetooth phones) has seriously affected the brains of humans. It has affected the perceptions of humans. To what extend we don’t know yet.
But the warnings are there and getting worse. How often do you read books Ciaran? Do you read as many as you used to before computers? Do you find yourself processing book reading differently. In fact do you notice that you are reading slower or even experience slower comprehension? Be Honest! I was a big reader once, I read books all the time and finished a great deal week to week with many visits to the library. No more. Computer and VR tech has changed my brain and not for the best.
Also it has been seriously affecting our social cognition. And it doesn’t help that most people creating Tech are on the autistic spectrum. By side effect we are all picking up Autistic behavior coping mechanisms.
This is all broken behavior and I think it will weaken people in relation to the coming immersive VR. People who no longer can cope in the real world will want to hide in a false one.
Historically humans have experienced many changes in social activities. When cinema was on the rise, a study was produced in the UK by the National Council of Public Morals. Concerns included indecency and criminal behaviour due to the darkness in a cinema as well as concerns about eye strain, influence on children of painting unrealistic portrayals life and the nature of films in terms of criminal and sexual activity.
However Cinema undoubtedly changes people’s habits, as did sport, television and later the internet. There will have been changes going back further and they will all have changed how humans behave.
VR where it stands now, needs to be carefully cultivated. Human behaviour is undoubtedly in transition, you only need to witness how the youth of today are tied to mobile computing, to such a fashion that older people find the behaviour decidedly bad mannered.
We’re way too early in the current cycle to evaluate whether VR will be good or bad, there simply aren’t enough use cases or studies and there won’t be for some time.
However yes I read less books, I don’t read less overall, but I do read more articles and less books. Personally I aim to rectify that situation because I miss reading books and like you I enjoy reading books.
In terms of comprehension, I haven’t noticed a change there or in reading slower. However I do undoubtedly type sentences and then realise I’ve missed words out, typed the wrong word or left words in that I thought I’d deleted. Whether this is due to computers is open to debate, some of this is due to the natural process of growing older, my eyesight is certainly not as good as it once was and my reluctance to wear spectacles for reading, does not help me there either.
The computer and its variants (VR) are really nothing more than a glorified TV box. Cinema has changed people but it was confined to another location. At the beginning it wasn’t in people’s homes. Radio was, and there was some controversy about that fact. What Marshall McLuhan stated was that change was visual into audio. According to him reading and writing are visual but radio, TV and all its variants are audio. That is the biggest change and it has affected our brains.
I love games and the VR concept. But I have no illusions that it will be anything more than what we have now. Which is a glorified commercial. You see the tech industry is addicted to easy, advertising cash. They have no compunctions against human trafficking (selling us) to get that easy money. This is why they hated SL so much. Advertising did not work there was no way for it to take hold. But believe me, all new VRs will be built to satisfy advertisers not customers. SL will be the first and last of its kind.
“I haven’t noticed a change there or in reading slower. However I do undoubtedly type sentences and then realise I’ve missed words out, typed the wrong word or left words in that I thought I’d deleted.”
Reading and Writing are related. I have the same problems with writing on computers too. I leave out words, I type sentences in the wrong order and so on. Its disturbing. Its like a form of stroke. I feel something is changed or missing in my brain. And its all due to computers.
And if you find that change in yourself disturbing think about all the children now learning how to read and write via computers/laptops/tablets. Studies have already shown that learning to read/write on a device leads to different neural connections in the brain. We learned how to write by hand, our neural connections are different than children learning how to write on tablet. This leads to them being barely literate. Because if we can no longer write sentences via computer, I shudder to think of the children learning by computer.
I have the same issues , Claran and i do believe that the reason is that my brain is trying to process my reply faster then my fingers.
I also wonder if the ease of use of the delete key has something to do with it. Tippex looked so messy on a page that we probably took more care.
ow look new competition http://www.pcworld.com/article/2846431/mozillas-mozvr-brings-virtual-reality-to-the-web.html
http://www.elevr.com
dirt cheap oculusvr glasses, all people have a smartphone they will be able to click in their 20$ headset. Native browser based VR, any application possible dirt cheap by anyone in the world. We might see new ebay, google and amazon sites rise in the next 5 years. It is uncertain but it could become a new form of internet browsing.
I suspect very interesting applications and new virtual worlds will come.
Then there’s the Sony Headset to come. A lot of competitors will appear and I’m sure some of them will stick. The problems with adoption of new technology were highlighted recently in an interview with David Holz of Leap Motion. Technology may appear that we’re not ready for, much to the frustration of the developers.
These are indeed interesting times and interesting applications will appear.