As the digital age continues to progress, humankind only grows hungrier to attain that which they can not have. Technology has grown exponentially in the last twenty years and it is not showing any signs of stopping. One recent ongoing development is Virtual Reality. Virtual Reality is defined as “an artificial world that consists of images and sounds created by a computer and that is affected by the actions of a person who is experiencing it” by the Merriam Webster dictionary. Technology like this has been previously depicted in popular media but was never thought of as an actual possibility until very recently. Samsung, Google and Sony are only a few of the many companies working on VR projects.
The expanses of this concept and the potential for it are literally limitless. As of now, most virtual reality experiences consist of intense visual and auditory stimulation via a headset accompanied by a control pad or perhaps a few sensors on the hands so that the user can control their virtual avatar. Once this is expanded to full body sensors, all users will need to go into any type of reality is an open space and their VR kit.
Virtual Reality development has been powered mostly by its potential in entertainment. However, VR can also be used very practically: training activities for soldiers, athletes, and students of any kind. Though VR can be very beneficial to society, we must also think of any drawbacks it may have. As Lawrence Lessig points out in his book Remix: How Creativity is being Strangled by the Law, the generation growing up today is shying away from traditional methods of creativity such as writing, drawing, building etc, instead opting for digital alternatives. Children spend hours on end each day watching television as well as using tablets, phones, and computers. This has led to the neglect of physical activity, reading, and socializing from an early age which can lead to problems in later life when these skills become necessary.
Virtual Reality will only get more accessible as time goes by and the introduction of VR to future generations of children may cause skews in their moral and ethical upbringing leading them to make decisions in reality that are based off of their virtual experiences. An example is given in the article Virtual Reality: Ethics and Morality are just as Important as Technology, in which the user plays Hatred, a game centered around a criminal bent on revenge with no regard for human life. If children or even teenagers experience this in first person, it may encourage them to take actions that are otherwise unacceptable in society.
New technology is always expensive to develop and Virtual Reality is no exception. The Breathless Rhetoric and Prosaic Economics of Virtual Reality outlines the amount of money being in invested in VR world wide. In 2015, almost seven hundred million dollars was invested into VR companies, more than double the input in 2014. 2016 has already seen over one billion dollars in investments through the first quarter. With so much money involved, it is natural to see that the economies of certain nations are heavily affected by VR. The Taiwanese Stock Exchange recently held a seminar to discuss VR products, developments, and the future of the industry because so much of the nation’s capital is invested in it.
The Digital Age will see revolution once more at the hands of Virtual Reality. Endless potential is at the tip of our fingers, but it is up to society to stave off technological determinism and hold on to our humanity.