VR GAMING CENTRE COMING TO SWINDON

It has been a long time since VR first showed its promise in science fiction, and decades since the first major gaming implementation fell flat on its virtual head.

Far from the eye-straining, low definition and software limited offerings of yesteryear like Nintendo’s Virtual Boy, modern VR is impressive, viable, and gaining mainstream momentum.

As personal home-use still remains prohibitively expensive for many users, at least for now, dedicated VR gaming centres are quickly becoming the virtual avenue of choice. This is the case with VR Star, which opened its doors in the Brunel Shopping Centre on May 11, 2018.

One of five new centres from VR Star, these businesses cover a wide range of VR experiences, with patrons seated in specially designed feedback sensitive machinery. These are developed for all ages, covering films for those who wish to enter a world, and gaming for those who prefer to take an active part within.

With other entries from this company under the name of ImmotionVR earning perfect scores on major travel rating websites like Tripadvisor, VR Star has already proven exceptionally successful with its other locations. As both the technology for these systems and the involved software are only growing better over time, this is definitely one to watch.

Seeing the VR gaming market on its own gaining significant development over the last few years, centres like these could soon replicate the arcade craze that dominated the 80's and 90's.

IT'S NOT ALL VIRTUAL

While VR might have caught the majority of the attention when it comes to public visibility on the mass scale, it should also be noted that augmented and mixed reality have also made significant strides. Rather than creating an entirely new environment digitally, mixed and augmented reality incorporates real-life aspects and overlays this with digital information. This technology holds its promise from its flexibility, from the gaming world to far beyond.

In something like Minecraft, as in the tech demo above, this would give players not only a new perspective but also the ability to virtually decorate and explore their homes in an all-new way. Imagine Lego without the mess, and in a way which combined classic creative appeal with all the social benefits of direct social interaction

This doesn’t entirely rely on expensive or complicated equipment either, as other developments like those in the casino industry have already taken the first steps in this mixed reality integration in an entirely different way. Live casino games manage this by incorporating real dealers and digital displays.

This gives an experience that would never be possible through a more traditional technological basis, allowing users to play the likes of roulette, blackjack, and poker in a revolutionary new manner.

POTENTIAL AS A TOOL

Combining this with other forms of technology could also open up opportunities on a level not yet experienced.

Perhaps the biggest advantages here could be seen through the use of medical technology. The scanning systems which are employed today, for example, are incredibly complex, but our investigation of the captured data can be limited by our perspective. Translating this data into a virtual 3D space, however, would allow medical professionals to see issues in a way which they never could before.

The most obvious benefits here come on the diagnosis front but the reality is far from as limited. Real-time guiding of surgery, for example, could also prove immensely helpful, as could using gathered data to plan out a path of attack when it comes to treatment.

On a less urgent front, there is also an enormous level of potential when it comes to design. Architects could see their designs as represented through the end product, and the same could be said for people looking at building a new home. This is especially useful as blueprints can be difficult for us to relate to in a special sense but, by translating this into a traversable environment, this issue could be mitigated entirely.

Similar advantages could be seen in mixed reality when it comes to design. We’ve all had haircuts or colourings which didn’t quite go the way we had hoped, but developments like those in the video above could let us know exactly what we were in for before we committed to a course of action.

AWAITING THE NEXT GENERATION

While newer developments like the VR Star gaming centre give us the opportunity to experience a taste of what VR and mixed reality have to offer, it will still be some time before personal and professional use become ubiquitous.

Cost is one of the primary inhibiting factors here, as are the limitations of current hardware and software. With that in mind, anyone who has used a modern device will easily be able to relate just how realistic and impressive these devices can be, which leaves us extremely hopeful for the next generation.

The Virtual Boy, despite being released in 1995, is now effectively a hilarious relic of the past. Modern devices have far superior resolutions, frame-rates, and field of views, all while being backed by computers tens of thousands of times faster.

While it could be a couple of decades before these devices become omnipresent on the level of current software tools and gaming systems, recent improvements and the undeniable promise they hold mean this proliferation is just a matter of when, and not if.