Virtual reality experiences and immersive worlds

Virtual reality experiences are created with headsets that place a small screen before the eyes or in specially designed rooms with multiple large screens, often using sound and video feedback and sometimes other sensory or force feedback. What makes virtual worlds feel real, and how do immersion and sensory feedback shape that experience? The lessons consider how technology and perception draw people into virtual worlds.

2 articles, 1 video, 1 book · about 2 hr 2 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   virtual reality experiences · Wikipedia · 55 min read

   Desktop-based virtual reality can use modern first-person video games, with triggers, responsive characters, and other interactive devices, to make users feel as though they are in a virtual world. A common criticism of this form of immersion is that it lacks peripheral vision, limiting users' ability to know what is happening around them. For virtual reality experiences, Morton Heilig wrote in the 1950s of an "Experience Theatre" that could encompass all the senses, drawing viewers into onscreen activity. He built the Sensorama in 1962, with five short films engaging sight, sound, smell, and touch. Studies show that young children, compared to adults, may respond cognitively and behaviorally to immersive VR in ways that differ from adults. In a comparison of children 6 to 18 years of age and adults 19 to 65 years of age, children reported higher levels of presence and "realness" of a virtual environment.

2. Read
   

   Can Virtual Reality Emerge as a Tool for Conservation? - JSTOR Daily · JSTOR Daily · 7 min read

   A virtual reality experience at Stanford University uses a "haptic" floor that can move and vibrate, speakers that immerse the user in sound, and cameras that track movement and gaze. With the headset on, the user is suddenly on a jetty near the northern end of the Gulf of Naples.

3. Watch
   

   David Byrne: Visitor Experience & Immersive UX · YouTube · 1 hr watch

   Museum Deputy Director Karen Wong and David Byrne explore the changing nature of cultural experiences and the importance of immersion, from art installations and theatrical performances to virtual and augmented reality environments. Byrne shares highlights of the research, production and feedback on his project, "The Institute Presents: Neurosociety," an interactive performance.

4. Book
   

   Ready Player One · Bookshop.org

   Ready Player One by Ernest Cline follows Wade Watts as he searches for an Easter egg in a worldwide virtual reality game, where finding it would lead him to inherit the game creator's fortune and the game itself.

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