I know virtual reality video games have existed in some form for a while now, but I can't wait to see what kind of games will come out in the future. I can see it now, a virtual reality gaming system with all games in 3D. An interesting idea from Larson is that, "The medium will make "time fly" because it captivates its interactants by involving all five sense allowing the audience to engage in "Virtual participation."' This will, in a sense, create an entire other life. By losing track of time in some kind of VR, it will be as if our real lives are put on pause for our virtual ones. The problem is though, you can't pause real life! If there were some kind of system that was similar to real life, I feel as if it would be much easier to get sucked in than the video games of today. VR also calls our concept of authenticity into question. With a life of fake decisions to make without any real consequences, I can't help to wonder what that would do to real life. In VR you are engaged in all five of the senses but with a computer. This must change the relationships you have with the people and objects in your actual life. Another issue with VR is that you could learn things that might be harmful to society. For example, if VR eventually became some kind of a video game system there would be shooting and killing games (like all systems). With the sense of such reality in VR, wouldn't this be like teaching someone how to kill? Maybe VR should stick to helping people to learn things, or games like flying a plane instead of replacing our face-to-face interactions with each other.
Part of learning in life is making decisions on your own and facing the consequences that comes with these decisions. It's part of growing up! By replacing these experiences with a computer screen it will be really hard to learn anything in life. While I do love video games, I enjoy the experiences of real life more and would not give them up for an illusion that could possibly take away my individuality.
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damn i can never play another video game again after reading this post...
ReplyDeleteI think this is very true! Virtual reality might be helpful with some things (like training to fly an airplane), but to incorporate it into certain video games might be an extreme. Using virtual reality in games that involve killing and other violent crimes would only lead to real violence and crimes. Video games have already led to horrible crimes and I don't think we need them to be anymore realistic.
ReplyDeleteYou always get the occasional individual who gets violent after a. playing videogames, b. listening to heavy metal, c. watching television, d. going to the movies, e. reading comic books, etc. The question is, would they have been violent anyway, even without that particular medium? A more important question would be, what are the effects, positive and negative, on people in general, on society and culture. By the way, virtual reality gaming does exist, the best is at DisneyQuest in DisneyWorld.
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