VR gets 'real' with other technologies
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E-mail CNTV, November 4, 2016
Imagine being transported to a whole new universe. Experiencing things in a whole new way, with perhaps even a whole new body. Films like "The Matrix" and "Avatar" put the concept of virtual reality on steroids. And it doesn't stop there. Besides movies and gaming, VR is also shaping other industries in a big way - especially when combined with other technologies. One Chinese motion capture company is doing just that. Their latest VR and motion capture system is called "Project Alice", and it's giving users a true sense of just how real virtual reality can get, and just how controversial as well.
Luke, I am your father. These Darth Vader-looking ski goggles are what people in the VR industry call a head mounted display. And once I put them on, I can be in Star Wars, （or at a ski resort in the Swiss Alps. But that's nothing new. So what is? Get ready to enter TheMatrix as Project Alice takes us down the rabbit hole!
And from Qianmen in virtual reality, to Qianmen in real life. Leading motion capture company Noitom has decided to unleash their newest technology in one of Beijing's oldest consumer streets.
With "Project Alice", Noitom is applying what they do best (capturing real life objects like the basketball we saw earlier) and fusing it with virtual reality to create a multi-user and mixed reality experience.
"Incredible, especially when I was taken to the outer space. I felt weightlessness. Everyone stepped back when the opponents of the car separated."
"This is my first VR experiance. Very immersive. I enjoy the interaction with my friends. The most exciting thing is that you can also touch the real objects. "
"It's so real and suprising. It turns things in science fiction to be real. It seems that VR can take people to anywehre they can imagine and dream of. It's so cool.
Noitom's patented inertia sensor allows for movement tracking irrespective of camera signals. One of their earlier motion capture technology systems, Perception Neuron, was even purchased by hit HBO TV show "Game of Thrones". And it was used to create that epic battle scene in season six.
But winter's not the only thing that's coming.
So is VR, to China...The country owns the world's largest potential consumer group for VR. With the added advantages of manpower and capital, more and more startup companies are staking their domain in this industry.
And "Notiom" is one of the them. If the name of their company looks familiar, try reading it backwards.
Tristan Dai is the co-founder and Chief Technology officer of Noitom. A magician never reveals his secrets, but Dai doesn't mind showing us how the rabbit is pulled out of the hat.
Now that we know how motion capturing works with VR, what can we expect from this exciting combination?
For one thing, VR no longer has to be an isolating experience. Now, you can go on a mission in a different world with your friends. And because real life props are matched to their virtual reality counterparts, the gaming experience can feel more real than ever before in part because it's half real.
And Google's "Tilt Brush" is taking art to a new dimension. The air is your canvas and you can paint 3D life-sized brush strokes of almost anything!
Content production is still lacking in the VR industry, but already, it's going beyond just gaming and films.
Mind over matter. That's exactly what VR applications are helping people achieve. Whether it's a fear of heights...Or a desire to work on your balancing skills.
VR is also helping children overcome their fear of water. It has even been used in physical rehabilition, and has allowed parapalegics to regain some of their muscle memory.
As more research and development is being pumped into this industry, more applications are also being created in other fields.
However, despite all these new and exciting developments, the type of B2B VR technology we're seeing today, still has a long way to go.
For one thing, the freedom to roam around is limited - unless you want to piggy back a laptop and risk crashing into a wall.
And despite it's low latency, wearing the headset for more than 15 minutes can still cause dizziness.
But the biggest issue is still standardization.
"Right now there is still no industry standard for virtual reality. Companies like Oculus, HTC, Microsoft, Samsung, and Sony are all leaping ahead and releasing their own products to stake their claim of the market, but they aren't really considering the inter-operability of their products. It's very possible for developers and manufacturers to design a product with software and programs that are incompatible with other VR headsets. But lacking standardization will greatly limit the growth of the technology and discourage interested consumers because of the overwhelming variety that's out there. The standardization of VR should include both software and hardware. The software standard includes things such as the operating system, data interface, programming language, modelling format, etc. The hardware component mainly involves the technical parameters of VR display, and things like data gloves, headsets, force feedback devices and infrared sensors. The resolution, screen refresh rate, gyroscope refresh rate, also must be taken into account," said VR expert Gao Yujian.
Standardization might be the ultimate goal, but as with other things in life, moderation is also key.
Like a new video game, chocolate, or an iPhone - if VR technology can one day reach every household, it has an even greater potential of becoming addictive.
Its powers of creating a parallel virtual universe, can make us feel like anything is possible. The key is finding the right balance, and knowing what the real limits are.
