Microsoft’s HoloLens Brings Virtual Reality A Step Closer

How will holographic computing change our lives?
Last week Microsoft announced their entry into the world of holographic computing with ‘HoloLens’. HoloLens is a self-contained headset unit which is part of “the world’s first holographic computing platform”. HoloLens is equipped with state of the art lenses and sensors, “that lets users see and manipulate three-dimensional computer-generated images.”
In a Microsoft promotional video we are shown how the digital world can be merged with the real world in a number of ways. Microsoft shows how virtual work designs can become three dimensional, how communication via Skype will be as if the person is in the room with you, how gaming will take on a whole new meaning by your surroundings being transformed into the game itself, and last but not least it goes into education, and new ways to teach and learn.
Microsoft is not the first tech giant to venture into virtual reality technology. Google and Facebook have both already invested in this field. 2016 is the year of Facebook’s Oculus Rift headset, Sony PlayStation VR and HTC’s Vive and HoloLens.
In order for virtual reality to be successful and become mainstream, we will all need high-end graphics cards in powerful computers as well as the cash to splash out on a headset. At the moment the Oculus VR retails at around $599. These prerequisites would have to become affordable and mainstream. At the moment “less than 1% of the 1.43bn PCs in use globally this year” have these requisites.
The other two markets where VR is expected to flourish is on game consoles and smartphones. However there are cheaper and more cheerful implementations such as Google Cardboard headset.
Mark Zuckerberg believes VR will not be limited to gaming, as many predict. He believes: “This is just the start. After games, we’re going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences,” he wrote. “Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face – just by putting on goggles in your home.”
The other large sector where virtual reality could have great potential is education. It would be a kind of virtual field trip for the kids inside the classroom. It would allow them to go far away to places they might otherwise never experience. This has already happened in the Google Expeditions program.
In addition, VR used in filmmaking will be very interesting. There are already some powerful documentaries which we become part of and therefore experience much more closely.
One question remains: will we be able to handle the motion sickness experienced during Virtual Reality movement? BBC reporter Zoe Kleinman had to remove her headset during the demonstration to stop herself from vomiting. So according to the Wall Street Journal, virtual reality enjoyment comes with a warning: “The experience can cause nausea, eyestrain and headaches. Headset makers don’t recommend their devices for children. Samsung and Oculus urge adults to take at least 10-minute breaks every half-hour, and they warn against driving, riding a bike or operating machinery if the user feels odd after a session.”
And what will Virtual Reality do to our minds? Will the experience cause neurological changes in the brain? At Stanford’s virtual human interaction laboratory, Professor Jeremy Bailenson runs psychological experiments in the context of virtual reality. He said in an interview: “VR experience changes the way you think of yourself and others and changes your behaviour and when it’s done well, it’s a proxy for natural experience, and we know experiences physically change us”. He adds that this will be true for positive as well as negative experiences. So a VR experience of a violent game could feel like murder, and pornography could feel like real sex. What will that do to a person’s psyche? The counter argument is that we already have violent and sexual games and it’s every person’s responsibility to choose for themselves. But is everyone capable of making healthy choices? We now enter into a new realm of awareness and unknown possible neural consequences.
What is your opinion? Will Virtual Reality be a step forward or will we eventually completely lose touch with reality?