Imagine a world where you can become the protagonist of your favorite movie or TV show instead of using streaming services to watch a movie or participate in the storyline and play the role of the main character.
Suppose technological growth continues at its current rate. In that case, it’s easy to imagine that one day not that far away to the future. We will fully immerse ourselves in just about any virtual world we would like.
In 2018 the global box office for the film industry was worth 41.7 billion dollars. In contrast, the gaming industry’s revenue in the US alone generated a record 43.4 billion in 2018. However, when including box office and home entertainment revenue, the global film industry was worth 136 billion dollars. Job security in acting has hit a whole new level of difficulty when CGI’s cost is lower than the cost of hiring professional actors.
Fortunately for actors, computer-generated imagery is still in the uncanny valley. Or does this technology advances with the integration of artificial intelligence, one of the first white-collar job casualties may be the profession of acting.
One might argue about the ethical implications of living in such a world of production companies will be financially incentivized to produce digital art without having their budget cut a massive paycheck to their human superstars. Instead, they will use AI that never needs a break, works 24 hours a day, and does all its stunts inside a computer simulation.
Arguing that this is far into the future is not as compelling as the growth of information technology continues. We are not hardwired to grasp exponential growth. Thus we tend to spend our time making non sequitur arguments about this issue. Still, we ought to spend our time trying to improve the system so for the economic repercussions are not grave for certain occupations like acting.
Enormous changes like this would not happen overnight, and indeed, actors are getting paid for their gigs in the gaming industry. It’s reasonable to expect that this will only increase as demand for a higher quality of gaming graphics fuels the industry’s growth.
In May 2020, the American videogame and software developer and publisher revealed the latest game engine called Unreal Engine 5, which supports all existing systems, including the next-gen consoles, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
The goal of Unreal Engine 5 was to make it as easy as possible for developers to create detailed game worlds without having to spend excessive time on creating new detailed assets allowing the engine to take care of these problems. It’s simply breathtaking when you realize the progression of in-game graphics. And it will get only better if technological growth and innovation continues.
It stands to reason the time it takes to go from the graphics shown on Unreal Engine 5 indistinguishable from reality graphics is far less than it took to go from the 1972 pong game to the Unreal Engine 5 demo. Of course, right now, video games have the edge over VR when it comes to graphics and market value. But as far as virtual reality is concerned, graphics are only one component to achieve a full in-depth, immersive experience, while it’s true that we are primarily visual creatures. Our other senses will have to be included to emulate just about any real experience we can have.
The next big thing in VR software and hardware developers need to concur besides audio-visual is the sense of touch. Countless virtual reality companies focus on developing sophisticated tactile technology with various solutions such as; Avatar VR, HI5 VR glove, VR free, HaptX Gloves, Dexta robotics, with their ex-mo haptic force feedback glove, etc. VR games like lone echoed 2, undead Citadel, Medal of Honor, Halflife Alex, etc., are expected to push the VR market forward.
When the official gameplay trailer for the Star Wars squadron came, people outside the VR community started to see the virtual world’s potential. But as good as these games may look today.
In 2025, we will most likely look back and wonder why we were impressed by them it’s fascinating how fast we adopt a dismissive attitude towards older technology once it gets replaced with a new, better one. However, being mindful of this bias, even if haptic feedback and VR graphics are polished by tomorrow, the VR experience still has a major obstacle to overcome. Locomotion.
Some people film motion sickness when using common locomotion methods, such as joystick walking or even teleportation, which is by far, According to most users of VR, the worst way to move around from place to place in virtual reality. To get closer to a place like the Oasis in the movie-ready player one. We need to solve this problem. One solution, just like in the movie, is to use omnidirectional treadmills.
Kat VR, the china-based VR tech company, came up with a customer-centered VR treadmill called Kat walk C. The $100,000 crowdfunding campaign goal was reached within three minutes and surpassed 1 million dollars in less than a day.
The personal VR treadmill offers a range of motions such as running, moving backward, strafing, crouching, etc.; who’d have thought that gameplay for once would help you fight obesity instead of intensifying it.
A 2025 version of VR graphics, haptic feedback gloves, full VR bodysuit, such as the Tesla suit, and an omnidirectional VR treadmill, like kat walk C, will make the virtual experience as close to a sci-fi movie as we can imagine. But first, the pricing of all these features has to go down. And that’s when VR will eventually become mainstream, which is to say owning a VR headset and all the rest becomes as casual as owning a cell phone.
By 2025 the virtual reality industry is predicted to reach close to eighty-eight billion dollars. Although the entertainment business, such as the gaming industry, is a major component driving the VR market and technology forward. It’s certainly not the only one.
Education will also play a key role in propelling virtual reality to its full potential. As VR tech improves, just like the gaming industry may substitute in the film industry, seemingly non-related fields may start to converge. Imagine for your school or university assignment you have to learn about ancient Egypt the pyramids were built.
You put your VR headset on, and you go back in time. You learn and entertain at the same time. Schoolwork may never feel boring ever again. You can learn about history, science, and even art through the virtual world.
Work officers may become obsolete. Working remotely is an ever-growing trend in the 21st-century global economy. In the distant future, even jobs that require physical presence may be performed through a VR gear operating a robot connected to the employer’s network. As AI self-driving vehicles start to become the norm. The time for a car or airplane can be used much more productively with VR. Basically, every relevant field in our lives will be improved and transformed through virtual reality technology.
Today, many tech giants are involved in VR, such as Sony, Facebook, Microsoft, Samsung, etc. The list is only expected to grow. Apple will also eventually leave its mark in the VR business literally. But today, Sony is still at the top with about 37 percent of the total shipments. In June 2020, they revealed the PlayStation 5 console. If they announce a PS VR 2 headset release, they are expected to remain the lead VR vendor.
As the competition between these companies fuels the VR industry, virtual reality headsets’ evolution will also accelerate. Today it might seem the future of VR will be shaped by standalone VR headsets, which are wireless virtual reality headsets that don’t require a PC or a smartphone to deliver a VR experience.
The headsets that are made popular by releases such as the oculus include built-in processors, GPU sensors, battery memory, and more. The improvement of 5g technology will enable data processing close to zero latency on a cloud-based system. Meaning the VR headset won’t need built-in processors to offer a virtual experience. A 5g fast internet connection will enable data processing on the cloud. Possibly morphing the VR headset’s shape ever so close to a lens.
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