Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are two technologies that offer  significantly different ways to experience an activity. At the DigiPen Institute of Technology, several experts came together to discuss the future and impact of these two emerging technologies. The panelists consisted of Trond Nilsen, a research scientist at RATLab LLC, Chet Faliszek, writer at Valve Corporation, and Elbert Perez, senior prototyper for HTC’s virtual reality headset.

The Future of The Industry

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies are currently being developed by a number of different sources. Different ways of handling it are being tried and we can expect some form of standardization to occur once these technologies take off. Chet pointed out that game developers in this industry would want to work with a limited number of engines to run their games, so standardization will probably take place on the software side of things.

Many developers will want to publish on a wide variety of hardware platforms to minimize risk, so hardware is unlikely to be the source of standardization. Trond agreed, saying that there was room for multiple levels of VR or AR devices, much like how there are different levels of laptops, some high performance, and some minimalist. As such, he didn’t think it would end up as a field with only a couple of companies producing hardware.

The VR Experience

VR surrounds a person with a complete, created world, immersing them in a way console games can’t. “Standing up, knowing the game can come at you from anywhere, changes the whole experience,” said Chet. Trond pointed out that this immersion could also increase the empathy we feel towards characters in the game, making it easier for us to step into someone else’s shoes, Trond pointed out. Games could be used to “create sympathy, to understand different circumstances, understanding what it’s like to be in Somalia, or in Syria.”

The three panelists also pointed out that not everything makes a good VR game. For some, motion sickness limits the type of activity that can surround the user. For others, the user can be surrounded with. the continuous arm motions, standing, even looking around with the added weight of the headset can add up to a tiring experience when performed for hours on end. Therefore, games that involve an ongoing grind will probably stay with console systems, which they don’t expect to go away are expected to remain a mainstay in gaming.

“Rarely is a technology truly eliminated, they just become niche,” Trond observed. “Current game spaces, meaning gaming on the couch, will continue.”

The AR Experience

If the VR experience is a complete immersion in a virtual world, the AR experience is only one step away from the real world we live in. How? Since It layers additional data over the events around us, it tends to and can be used with tasks that we normally perform. For example, take games that need a critical mass of players, like the humans vs. zombies bouts on college campuses. With wearable AR, that critical mass would no longer be necessary because you could see at a glance if a person is playing or not.

In general, portable AR might lend itself to low intensity, continually active games, which is almost the opposite of what VR is best suited for. “[Imagine], say, an assassination game, where your friend is hunting you and wins if he sees you. With AR, you won’t have to check your phone to remember you’re playing, it’ll be a constant, present reminder” Elbert observed.

That ability to provide a continual stream of information could be the most concerning trait of AR. It could become possible to look at a person and immediately see what their job is, who their friends are, even what their heart rate is with the right technology. This could force us to reexamine our ideas about privacy and our assumptions about how other people interact with us.

Gaming as a Social Act

“People said the internet was antisocial. Then Facebook happened.” Gaming can be a way of avoiding unwanted social interactions, but it can also be a way of seeking them out. Cooperative or competitive games are a way of interacting with a community, and, therefore, give the player another set of opportunities for social interactions, both face-to-face and online. For example, a year ago, when my friends and I had trouble putting together a tabletop roleplaying group in person, we decided to form an online group made up of people we’ played with previously.

“I have friends I’ve never met [face to face] who I regularly play Battlefield 4 with,” Chet noted. “You don’t have to meet someone for coffee to be their friend.”As in any social interaction, conventions about body language, personal space, and other social cues are present, and, as VR develops, would easily be as present in the virtual world as in the real one.“A lot of societies rules will apply to VR pretty seamlessly,” Elbert suggested.

The Last Words

At the end of the day, panelists agreed that we don’t know what’s going to happen in this field. It’s an exciting time with lots of questions still being asked. VR and AR can change how we play games and how we socialize: The full development of these technologies is yet to be discovered.