

An Oral History of Virtual Reality - markmassie
http://www.theverge.com/a/virtual-reality/oral_history

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pdkl95
VR? We call that "minecraft" these days. In all seriousness, the analogy

    
    
        netscape : 2D_text :: minecraft : 3D_voxels
    

is far more accurate than many people realize. Most importantly, minecraft
provides the same "easy, accessable editing" that netscape (via HTML)
provided. Just as anybody can learn some very basic HTML and _immediately see
successful results_ in the browser was a big reason the web took off, and
minecraft has added a similar ease-of-use to 3D/VR.

As cool as stereo rendering is (and oculous certainly raised the cool-factor
by an impressive amount), it's still just an effect that depends on what you
_do_ with it.

~~~
derefr
Virtual reality actually has nothing to do with stereo rendering. VR is the
perception of being “in” a space. Stereoscopic rendering is just one (very
difficult) way to trigger that perception by tricking your sense of vision.

It’s actually easier to get "VR immersion” from your ears: take a program that
lets you move around a 3D space and simulates audio depth-of-field for ambient
soundscapes (most modern games will do), then play it with a correctly-placed
surround-sound system.

(You’ll have to play it blindfolded, or in a lightless room, though, to stop
your eyes from telling you you’re still in a room playing a game. Any sense
which isn’t immersed tears the others down unless it’s “switched off” like
this. Trying an Oculus with plain stereo headphones has the same problem.)

Which is all to say, Minecraft has nothing whatsoever to do with VR, any more
than holofoil trading cards do. The MVP for VR immersion would look nothing
like Minecraft; it’d look more like a sensory depravation tank sitting on one
of those 4D film† tilt-rigs, such that you could pilot yourself over a cliff
and feel yourself plummet.

† [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4D_film](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4D_film)

~~~
pdkl95
I suspect you may not have played many of the recent adventure maps, or played
Minecraft for extended periods of time. It has been _incredibly_ successful -
despite the blocks, which you just accept after a while - at inducing a
suspension of disbelief.

I agree, VR is about the perception of being "in" a space, and the
_interactivity_ and _mutability_ of the space provided by Minecraft is
better[1] than basically everything that came before it. This interactivity
engages (and distracts) the player's attention, and because our focus is
limited[2], stuff like "graphics quality" can become less important. Better
tech can help, of course, but no matter how good the graphics and sound are,
finding that you can't open a door because it was only part of the "painted
on" scenery can rip you out of the illusion. This problem of having an
environment that "reacts properly" is exactly what Minecraft tries to
solve.[3]

Also, I fully agree sound is _very_ important, and watching people freak out
HARD (in ways similar to the way some people freak out when using the Oculus)
simply hearing a subtle sound effect. The "creeper" in Minecraft is well known
for this effect.

[1] "better" is subjective, of course, and Oculus is _very_ good at what it
does. It's too bad about the facebook acuisition, because Notch obvious
recognized the power that Minecraft _with_ Oculus would probably have.

[2] Simple demo of what I mean ( [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKCT-
simmBo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKCT-simmBo) ), and a better
explanation by Apollo Robins regarding how it is exploitable (
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0k2gja3ym4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0k2gja3ym4)
).

[3] The "blocks" are part of the way Minecraft tries to solve interactivity.
Violating your expectations breaks even the best illusion, and it's easier to
believe you're in a strange cube world because it simplifies the the problem
of making the environment self-consistent.

------
knope
boooo facebook... nvidia and others have been pioneering here long before
facebook bought out the rights to oculous.. and certainly facebook is NOT the
forefront of VR... unless you count virtual-friends.... ..in which case...
bravo facebook...

