Withdraw From Reality

What do these advancements mean? What does virtual reality have to do with game theory? What effects does virtual reality have on society? Is it a positive or negative development? Curious? So am I.

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Second Life - Virtual Reality Art

“Portfolio-VB17a” by Vanessa Blaylock. Licensed under CC BY 2.0

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Second Life - Am I seeing doubles?

“Portfolio-VB16a” by Vanessa Blaylock. Licensed under CC BY 2.0

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Virtual reality has the potential to profoundly alter human society, not by altering our physical bodies (as genetic engineering or cyborgization might), but by altering our perceptions and interactions.

Koltko-Rivera, 2005

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Second Life environment where bunny rabbits are Goliath.

“login-screen-2009-03-midnight-3” by Torley. Licensed under CC BY 2.0

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An eye tracking system developed my SMI

“SMI Eye Tracking Glasses Virtual Reality” by SMI Eye Tracking. Licensed under CC BY 2.0

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5 | How Does Virtual Reality Socially Impact Us?

Although VR is an exciting concept it does have its disadvantages. The first impact is of a user’s private experience with VR, that is, their experience when they are alone. One concern that Koltvo-Rivera mentions are aggressive impulses, it questions whether violent or aggressive scenarios in VR affects a person in real life. According to Koltvo-Rivera and research, violence in entertainment media is associated with the increase in aggression and violent behaviour, both immediately and in long-term. Another concern involves sexual impulses. Just like people use the Internet to fulfil sexual needs, Koltvo-Rivera points out the use of VR as an alternative. He argues that it may deteriorate real life relationships as the person may expect higher standards from their partner. Subsequently, home and family is another impact. VR has the power to recreate human life without the responsibilities of commitment and real world problems. But then again it may be a solution to ‘letting off a little steam’. Finally, religion and spirituality, VR makes it possible to either engage in the act of worshipping or become the embodiment of a god. This poses a worry, will people try a different religion in VR? Will people convert more easily? If so, how does this affect religious traditions?

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Here is an example of a virtual world created in Second Life.

“Investigating Cosmique (excerpts)” by Sepp Schimmer. Licensed under CC BY 2.0

Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/seppel/5879974439/

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“The author [of the game] is like a choreographer who supplies…the context, and the set of steps that we be performed. The interactor [player], whether as a navigator, protagonist, explorer, or builder, makes use of this repertoire of possible steps and rhythms to improvise a particular dance among the many possible dances the author has enabled.

Murray 1998: 153

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4 | What Makes Virtual Reality Unique?

Despite a video games’ similarities to film and arcade games, video gaming has distinctive features that differentiates it from other forms of digital media, its agency and space. The term ‘agency’ is defined as the choice of a player, whereas, space can be understood as the player’s movement through space and the environment. In a video game, a player’s input is a crucial aspect to its purpose, to be played. As pointed by Murray (1998), agency is the “satisfying power to take a meaningful action and see the results of our decisions and choices”. Having said that, a player is given restricted freedom in doing whatever they may choose to do in a video game. Take the online virtual world of Second Life, for example. As an immersive medium, players are able to explore the virtual environment by means of their senses which, thus, creates a new form of communication and understanding. You may choose to perform a virtual operation, or go rock climbing or buy and sell goods. Although, there are aspects of “freedom” there is also authority. As argued by Murray (1998), the authors (game developers) shape the experience of the game and the interactors (the players) perform certain actions, however, their actions are restricted to the code the authors have put in place. On the contrary however, this claim is nearly outdated as virtual reality has almost endless possibilities as you would in real life. But just as laws apply in real life so does in virtual reality.

This, thus, ties with spatiality for a video game’s environment. It should be designed in a way in which it gives the player a sense of agency meaning it should be big enough and stealthily created so that the player, although still restricted in a programmed space, does not notice their freedom being constrained. Similar to IMVU and The Sims, Second Life achieves this by its large virtual world and its ability to replicate an experience to that in the real world. What sets VR apart from just a regular video game is the connection the player feels to their character.  It’s the belief that they are inside the game and it enables us to explore various options as a means of finding an answer to a problem.

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If I throw a ball at you, I don’t expect you to drop it and wait until it starts telling stories

Eskelinen, 2004

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How we understand video games will shape our expectations of how they should work and what they should do

Tulloch, 2015

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3 | How Should We Understand Virtual Reality?

In terms of games studies, there have been many debates as to whether storytelling or the mechanics in game-play plays a bigger role in the development of video games. To approach video games we use the two main modes of analysis they are Narratology and Ludology. Narratology focuses on looking at games using existing ideas from film and assessing how well they communicate a message. Ludology, on the other hand, looks at the mechanical aspects of the game and compares them to play or sport. Before the video game crash in 1984, during the arcade era, narratives played an insignificant role in video games and although it was implied it was not the main reason people interacted with this medium. Normally, people just wanted to beat theirs or someone else’s high-score.

Back in the 80s, pure mechanics were the key in keeping players captivated. After the game crash, however, advances in technology lead to the incorporation of more story elements in modern day video games. This created a new definition for video games whilst also creating a more immersive experience for players alike rather than watching a film or reading a book. Since the conception of virtual reality such as Second Life, what we know about ludology has drastically transformed. With three-dimensional images and the thriving nature of simulation through signs and behaviour it is possible for a player to almost loose themselves in their virtual world.  Consequently, it has taken the player to a whole new world where it’s more interactive and immersive. Some players will argue that the mechanics are the only part of a video game and the story is second nature. On the contrary, others will argue that interactivity is second nature and that the story provides an overall enjoyment in the experience.

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The Evolution of Gaming Consoles

“The evolution of game controllers – La Maison d’Ailleurs - Playtime” by Les Champs Libres. Licensed under CC BY 2.0

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Top: The Evolution of Donkey Kong

“Camiseta Donkey Kong” by RedBug Camisetas. Licensed under CC BY 2.0

Bottom: The Evolution of GameBoys

“Evolution of the GameBoy” by TevK. Licensed under CC BY 2.0

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2 | A History of Virtual Reality

Although virtual reality (VR) may seem a complex and advanced technology in this day and age, its roots can be traced back to the 1720s where the idea could change how people interacted with computers forever. Sadly, its origins are not quite clear, however, one of the earliest who envisioned the idea was English painter Robert Barker (Matthew & Harrison, 2004), who had an idea of panoramic murals shown in the inside of a cylindrical surface, with a person standing inside. The concept of virtual reality was not introduced before the 1950s, but can be seen as a concept fronted by several pioneers: Myron Krueger, Jaron Lanier, Morton Heilig, Ivan Sutherland and electrical engineer Douglas Engelbart, who by 1967, birthed the first interactive computer. This was a significant breakthrough as computers at that time were only used as “giant calculators”. Imagine how life back then with computers without their keyboards and mouse would have been like. But of course for us it is no big deal due to the development of touch screens.

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1 | A History of Video Games

Like all great things, video gaming started off as a simple tennis game created by scientist Willy Higinbotham on an analog computer in 1958 and although ‘Tennis for Two’ was non-influential it did lead to later games such as Spacewar, the first two-player, digital ‘Shoot ‘em Up’ game and Pong, one of the earliest arcade games which was released by Atari in 1972. In was not until 1978 the arcade game Space Invaders came into play, being the highest grossing entertainment of its time it became a dominant pop-cultural force.

As technology rapidly progresses, video games will continue to evolve.

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A virtually-made environment

“spring-2009-extra-16” by Torley. Licensed under CC BY 2.0