One very obvious benefit: Grossly over-compensated 'actors and actresses' will become things of the past. Acting will likely improve as well. And no more Oscars telecasts!
It is just another gimmick... No matter what the technology of mass entertainment, in the end the most successful examples of any medium, are when they are used to tell well written stories.
This is wonderful. Seeing panoramically through the eyes of other(s) what is called Virtual Reality may suspend disbelief if we could 'really' feel it in our gut, and soul. Sure hope this marvel is the beginning of a new way to 'experience' nature... and ourselves within, as an integral part of the whole.
Very interesting history and provocative suggestions -- this is why I read the NY Times and the Magazine.
Regarding the suggestion that VR will flourish as simply an immersive experience: well, yes, we buy the National Geographic and other magazines to see incredible pictures, and watch Nature and Nova in part for their incredible video. But people want stories -- stories are arguably fundamental to human consciousness. VR will be the next step in the IMAX / Nature / stereoscope lineage -- no small potatoes -- but unless it incorporates stories it will not have the emotional and commercial "monster" appeal of cinema.
Regarding the suggestion that VR will flourish as simply an immersive experience: well, yes, we buy the National Geographic and other magazines to see incredible pictures, and watch Nature and Nova in part for their incredible video. But people want stories -- stories are arguably fundamental to human consciousness. VR will be the next step in the IMAX / Nature / stereoscope lineage -- no small potatoes -- but unless it incorporates stories it will not have the emotional and commercial "monster" appeal of cinema.
VR is in the early days like moving pictures before edits were invented. A way to smoothly make scene transitions, possibly under user control, would be sufficient to enable story telling. Think of being in a vehicle or on a flying carpet and being presented with one or more choices. People will learn how to experience it.
An important challenge is just the ergonomics of how long one can wear eyephones.
The experience might be particularly worth it on an airplane.
An important challenge is just the ergonomics of how long one can wear eyephones.
The experience might be particularly worth it on an airplane.
And, finally, for those who missed it, Sandoz LSD-25 still is the most exciting and realistic Virtual Reality that there is! Really - no external equipment, only your own brain. Eating Peyote buttons is a close, but different, second.
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It is not hard to imagine a time in the future when we will visit glaciers, rain forests, and rhino preserves -- long since disappeared -- through the miraculous lens of virtual reality.
Thank you for adding relevant history to our perspective on this provocative medium.
Thank you for this interesting perspective on the creative overlap of optical science and visual arts, from the past to the present. Sometimes the cold internal rigor of science is opposed to the freedom and openness of the artist but I have always felt that the scientific and artistic endeavors share a lot in common. Both require generally good technical skills driven by inspiration, originality, and perseverance. They also are a reflection on the human place in the world and the universe; they push our boundaries. Scientists find beauty and elegance in abstract reasoning that is reminiscent of what many search in the arts. Optics has a special place in that regards, as it provides experimental science directly accessible to human experience through our senses.
I bet the sense of wonder will diminish as the technology becomes normal. Rolling around the forest floor looking at a team of artist's simulated dirt, pine needles, and acorns sounds like it would get old fast. When the novelty of the medium wears off is when creators will make work of lasting value.
VR will be a short term hit, just like 3D movies and 3D TV. I really don't even bother to pay more to see 3D movies any more because after the first 15 minutes, you hardly notice it, and the experience isn't really enhanced over a 2D film. 3D TV was supposed to take over the world, but who the heck thought that everyone in the country would want to sit around with 3D *glasses* on to watch a TV show or movie? Nobody does that. Do you really care whether your TV is 3D capable any more? Same thing will happen with VR… you will try it, be amazed for 30 minutes and then… ho hum.
A new artistic field to explore with artists producing 'spaces'. Just a spot somewhere in the world with manyfold exploration that VR would allow. You would not have to travel more than a metre and have multiple 'spaces' that you could spend actual days to exploring if you so wished.
The scientific knowledge that could be gained from such artistry would be hard to imagine. After all the 'tree top' exploration that started in the Amazon used a design from an artist that allowed scientists to discover what previously had been not acknowledged.
The scientific knowledge that could be gained from such artistry would be hard to imagine. After all the 'tree top' exploration that started in the Amazon used a design from an artist that allowed scientists to discover what previously had been not acknowledged.
I can see people interacting with loved ones interactively, after they're gone.
Fantastic article. One of the better that I've read on VR. I've been making the case in my graduate research on VR that it is a more natural evolution from Disney-esque showmanship than from cinema, and this article went into a deep and fascinating history of this. Also, the idea of user autonomy is paramount, and it isn't about storytelling, rather story enabling (I actually wrote about this in an article I published this week on Medium https://medium.cinematicvr.org/storytelling-vs-story-enabling-crafting-e.... Thanks for the great read, NYT Mag!
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The main thesis that immersion and narrative are opposed--whether intrinsically, or that they will be on this new medium-- may be a false dichotomy. think of "sandbox" video games, or the fictional experience depicted in "Westworld": witnessing and taking part in short- and long-term narratives are a major part of immersing in and exploring, of making a world seem real...
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What did you see? vs. What did you think you saw?
Eyes transport images to the brain, which translates that to pictures we can interpret ---The tree has brown bark and green leaves. But, I am getting the sense that the brain can be easily fooled into seeing what the Image producers want us to see. I'm having an uncomfortable memory of Jim Curry, aka The Riddler, stealing thoughts from the Human Race and manipulating them to his own purposes.
Can you imagine this election armed, for either good or evil, with that level of technology? In the 1930's, a nation was mesmerized into voting for a Meth-Head-Lunatic. What will happen in the 2030's?
Eyes transport images to the brain, which translates that to pictures we can interpret ---The tree has brown bark and green leaves. But, I am getting the sense that the brain can be easily fooled into seeing what the Image producers want us to see. I'm having an uncomfortable memory of Jim Curry, aka The Riddler, stealing thoughts from the Human Race and manipulating them to his own purposes.
Can you imagine this election armed, for either good or evil, with that level of technology? In the 1930's, a nation was mesmerized into voting for a Meth-Head-Lunatic. What will happen in the 2030's?
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Very interesting article. Thank you.
Highly ironic that we use high-tech to explore our past. If we can learn to not make the same mistakes of the past going forward, then I am all for it.
Perhaps we can build in a jolt of electricity to shock anyone that tries to initiate war. ( even if it is a game )
Highly ironic that we use high-tech to explore our past. If we can learn to not make the same mistakes of the past going forward, then I am all for it.
Perhaps we can build in a jolt of electricity to shock anyone that tries to initiate war. ( even if it is a game )
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Interesting take. Thank you.
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The item on the left is the better of the two.
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Virtual reality was anticipated and satirized in Shepherd Mead's mid-1950s paperback, "A Big Ball of Wax." Americans became so absorbed in 100% sens-surround virtual reality--nonstop banquets and orgies, danger-free mountain climbing and Grand Prix driving, you name it--that wholesale dereliction of responsibility threatened to bring society to a halt. I've been waiting decades for the real virtual thing to come along.
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"The idea of a true global economy was first visible in the market for entirely frivolous spices like cinnamon and nutmeg".
I thought Europeans wanted spices to conceal the bad taste of rancid meet in the eras before refrigeration. I always thought spices had been necessary to make bad meat edible. That would means that the hunt for spices wasn't frivolous. It was necessary and filled a role later indirectly usurped by refrigeration.
Virtual Reality will be a big part of the new porn industry. Gaming, porn, and military simulations/training.
I thought Europeans wanted spices to conceal the bad taste of rancid meet in the eras before refrigeration. I always thought spices had been necessary to make bad meat edible. That would means that the hunt for spices wasn't frivolous. It was necessary and filled a role later indirectly usurped by refrigeration.
Virtual Reality will be a big part of the new porn industry. Gaming, porn, and military simulations/training.
Sir Brian May, in addition to being one of the best rock guitarists ever, and a respected astrophysicist, and an animal rights activist, is a respected authority on stereo photography. He was awarded The Royal Photographic Society's Saxby Medal in 2012 for achievement in the field of three-dimensional imaging. He's published one book in the field and contributed significantly to two others.
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Think of an elderly person, confined to a wheelchair, weakened by age. How marvelous to be able to return to wander the streets of a favorite city, the galleries of a beloved museum, or even visit the peak of a mountain scaled long ago! What a refreshing relief from the cruel vagaries of Time.
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Exactly that is depicted in the series Black Mirror. Season 3, episode 4, San Junipero.
Or lying on a comfortable bed, listing to Beethoven's Pastoral symphony.
A wonderful, informative article. A parallel in musical creation is the pursuit of virtual instruments and orchestras, beginning with experiments in the first half of the twentieth century. For me, the question is: what it is about the human mind that seeks ever-more sophisticated illusions and simulations?
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