Article doesn't have top notch articulation, but the ideas in it are pretty cool
I don't know... I'm still not convinced that VR will convey the same benefits for every field. For instance, it is obviously great for people who design stuff. Ever seen that gif of a guy making a lifelike 3d spider model in like 30 seconds? But for things like code... I think making that activity VR-oriented will constrain thinking more than let it free. Programming is the art of being able to tell what a piece of code will do, and being able to change that to your liking. And the thing is, everyone thinks about it differently. I always try to get a holistic feel for what I'm writing, and I know some people who try to imagine state machines in their heads. So, if you make programming languages these big webs of interconnections, well, it will make some people really damn confused, me among them. I'm sure there are other examples, but programming is one that I'm very familiar with.
I both agree and disagree with you. On the one hand - experienced coders will most likely not have any use for VR tech (except maybe the massive work space), but new coders on the other hand - there could be software that starts by giving "statement" modules, and instead of typing down the code and syntax, new coders could just grab statements, give them the needed conditions, then slap them on the workspace and link them as they need.
Maybe I am thinking more in terms of experienced coders, and there is a need there -- a good VR would be excellent for blocking out distractions for people who are easily distracted (myself), even if they don't use the fancy data visualization techniques the author imagines.
Also the barfing. There's a possible solution to disconnected feeling in haptic feedback, but I'm not going to start paying attention to VR hype again until someone says "we fixed the whole horrible motion sickness thing, we are not going to make a significant chunk of our users loose their lunches."
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-03-05-gabe-zero-per-cent-of-people-get-motion-sick-from-vive-hmd I'm not believing it's solved, but maybe it could happen one day. Gabe Newell has told press that Valve has solved the problem of motion-sickness for VR users, proclaiming that "zero per cent of people get motion sick" when using the company's Vive headset.
There was an implicit "and not in an interview as part of the GDC hypefest" in there. I grew up reading Mondo 2000. I still have a Power Glove kludged to talk to a serial port and an HMD made out of a portable TV, Fresnel lens and swim goggles I made back in middle school. I would love for VR to be something other than a novelty. Gabe Newell saying the fixed one of the bigger persistent problems with a box of LEDs and a couple of lasers does not smell plausible to me.
No no wait I mean Oh, wait - you saw me coming! Mmmmmmno. Throwing on an Oculus now is remarkably similar to throwing on a Virtual Boy in 1996. It's like wearing a video game on your face. But bonus points for dragging Csikszentmihalyi into it. Jane McGonigal would be so proud. (Everyone else is just confused) The guy who wrote this article graduated last year. It's entirely possible the Nintendo Virtual Boy is older than he is. So while I'm all for optimism, I'm afraid that it's a little more hyperbole than truth when he says "this time it's different." 'cuz those of us who were his age the last time this hype train left the station? Yeah... "flow" got nuthin' to do with it.Virtual reality technology had a highly visible false start in the early nineties, leading many to write the technology off as vaporware. However, even the doubters have had to take notice of the recent resurgence in VR started by the Oculus Rift. These doubters have frequently and loudly wondered what’s different between today’s virtual reality hardware and the machines that caused the failed takeoff in the early nineties.
The difference can be boiled down to a single word — presence.
Presence is the phenomenon that occurs when your brain believes, on a very fundamental level, that a virtual reality experience is really happening. This doesn’t mean that you forget about real life. Rather, it means that when a virtual Tyrannosaurus Rex attacks you, your brain feels an instant pang of terror. It means that your subconscious believes you are there.