For those who don’t already know, Playstation is just about to release the first ever (quality) virtual reality gaming system in October of this year. Other anticipated VR systems are launching for consumers shortly as well, like Oculus and the HTC Vive.
Undoubtedly, VR will be the most awesome technological advancement of the video game industry this decade, and it will open up new realms of possibility for the next. Imagine being inside your game environment, able to manipulate it, and being able to interact with it in ways never before possible. It’s going to be incredible!
But VR’s application to the video game industry is just the start. Now, imagine all of the practical ways that this technology can be used for other industries and practices moving forward…
Military Training
For instance, think of how this technology could be applied to military training. The US has been employing virtual reality training for a short amount of time, but this new technology will be able to take their training modules to an entirely different plane when it comes to soldier readiness for real-world scenarios.
Educational Advancement
Or, try this one on for size…what if schools, especially elementary schools, began to implement virtual reality in small ways to teach important lessons.
I know that, personally, I never cared much for school growing up. It was impossible for any teacher to keep my attention without holding a cookie in front of my face to get me to focus. And I was just one of many other kids who were just like me. But what if we could use VR to game-ify the educational system and really make learning fun?
Furthermore, if this new virtual reality technology could be connected to wireless ports, imagine the implications that it could have for collegiate professors who want to be able to teach online classes in new and creative ways to their students.
Endless Possibilities
Truly, the possibilities are endless for virtual reality technology. Perhaps scientists, business people, NASA, and others could use it to construct formulas for possible outcomes of different planned scenarios (i.e. how a new spacecraft would make it through the stratosphere, whether sales could continue to grow, etc.) and use VR to watch their what-if analysis play out in real-time.
The potential impact is huge here. It may take time for the bugs and kinks to get worked out, but virtual reality is the way of the future. I know I’m excited. How about you?
