April 21, 2017
3449 words, 17 min read

Introduction

Virtual reality (VR), a reality altering mechanism that provides users with a new experience in an all familiar way. A virtual reality device consists of a headset or case that holds a smartphone that can be used to look inside a virtualized environment in first person. The more robust headsets will offer motion tracking for the use of controllers that act as an interface between the avatar and the user’s hands. My first experience with this technology came to me in a small university office when a coworker brought in his HTC Vive. In no time, it was set up in the backroom with people taking turns to become a part of the VR experience. Inside of Valve’s VR demo, The Lab, the user is placed into a white room while they wait for the next environment to be rendered, giving them just enough time to get familiar with the movement and controls. Once loaded, the user is shifted into a small factory reminiscent of something out of iRobot. A playful, robotic dog runs up to greet me, and I notice there’s a nearby table full of tools to experiment with. Within my first five minutes of this brand-new technology I have learned to teleport around a room, played fetch with a round, quadruped, robot companion, and have learned how to juggle sticks. Certainly, modern VR has become highly intuitive with a short enough learning curve that nearly anyone could latch onto it.

Everywhere people look, they can see more and more news reports and advertisements hyping up the potential of virtual reality, while promising deeper immersion, better learning, more convenience, and greater cost effective solutions. Skeptics believe that VR will phase out just the same as other promising technologies such as 3D television, but if one looks closer they could see that VR is more than just a gimmick, it’s a new medium of communication. The world has been transformed several times over just within the past century thanks in no small part to the many communication methods that have been invented, from radio to television to the internet to present-day smart phones; virtual reality is the next in line of these.

With all the changes to society that has been brought about by new technologies, in both every day communication and in what is deemed as general knowledge, one would be inclined to wonder how virtual reality will change things even further. VR will not likely turn mankind towards total individualized isolation as represented in movies such as Wall-E, but the deep bonds that many of today’s citizens struggle to form between each other may become an even greater struggle with the addition of newer, more immersive means of distraction. Contrary to this, people who don’t find themselves in an able position to communicate with others or visit new places due to disabilities, may find a greater connection to reality through this new medium. On another note, with this new ability to view environments in a first-person perspective, it can be expected that education will find great benefits, and perhaps grant more opportunities to students to pick up on new courses, and be given a more visual, hands-on learning experience.

Education

James Russell is the technology instructional specialist at Cape Central High School in Cape Girardeau, MO. He has had two years of experience in bringing virtual reality to the classroom. In an interview with him, Russell tells me that the students love getting to use virtual reality. The only downside is that after about thirty minutes some of the users will begin to experience motion sickness; this happens with people of all ages…middle school, high school students, and guys in their forties and fifties, but it happens to less than ten percent of the people that use it. When asked if VR has had any changes on the students’ learning experience Russell informs me that virtual reality enhances their experience, and makes it more engaging. Right now, VR is being used as a supplement to courses, with its most common use being in foreign language classes he says.

If students and other youth become too accustomed to learning in virtual reality, would the presence of VR become such a staple in their lives that their learning becomes hindered if the technology isn’t made available, essentially making VR become like a crutch? Russell tells me that while that’s a question that could go deeper than what’s seen at face value there is one thing he believes… “Good learning has three elements. It must be interesting, relatable, or engaging.” Essentially, as long as the student has the will to learn, they’ll find a way to learn.

With virtual reality offering the capability to interact with the digital environment with the use of both hands, some institutions may consider offering fully virtualized workshops. The cost of obtaining and maintaining new (and sometimes dangerous) equipment, renewing supplies, and the cost of building the room required for a workshop can be mitigated by providing a virtual workshop through a VR device. Russell tells me that he could see more virtualized workshops becoming a possibility if there is a trained facilitator for it. He discloses to me that an instructor is already experimenting with a networking course that has students working with their equipment through a virtual interface.

One institution that has already begun incorporating VR into their workshops is Ivy Tech, one of the most successful community colleges in the USA. In Sarah Evans’ article “Welding’s Ivy League”, she tells about Ivy Tech’s use of VR in the welding course. Ivy Tech uses Lincoln Electric’s VRTEX program for their VR environment in the welding courses. “You can try to explain the whip-and-pause technique to someone,” says Eaton, “but until they see it, or until they do it, they’re not going to fully understand what that is. If I do it live with real welding, they’re not going to be able to see the arc like they do on the simulator. It will show them how far to whip, how long to pause, etc.” (13). Not only does the virtual training offer the building of muscle memory, it is also safer, and allows the students to practice without the needless waste of materials. As Evans reports,

“In the past three years, we have seen a reduction of well over 20% of what our consumable fees have been budgeted for,” says Roberson. “We also know that the other values added are the recruitment, the students’ excitement of being able to work on the simulators and have competitions. Those types of things are values that we can’t put a price on.” (14).

As VR obtains a greater presence in the education sector, instructors will have to plan their VR sessions with the class in a careful fashion. With virtual reality having so many gamification elements, it could be easy to get lost in all the hype and novelty that it has to offer and get distracted from the main point of the course. In the article “Educators Share 10 Best Teaching, Technology Practices”, Molly Levitt, a former grade school teacher and a community manager for EdSurge, reports on some of the initiatives in education from the Southern California Tech for Schools Summit. In one of these initiatives, she talks about balancing novelty with academics where she reports that the Riverside Unified School District has recently tried using virtual reality. In their experience, VR was treat as a novelty upon introduction, which came as no surprise. “Teachers need to have some time to be excited, but quickly that novelty must also be tied to academics.” says Steven Dunlap, the director of innovation and learner engagement (58). Riverside is now focusing on building lessons, field trips, and college tours that incorporate VR (58).

Communication

VR shares many similarities to the technologies that have come before it. It can be used to browse the internet, watch movies, play video games, explore 3D environments, socialize with friends, and several other uses. While any of these things can be done using a computer, smartphone, television, or console, VR is all about how it presents this information. A user no longer has everything lying behind a flat or curved screen, just out of reach, but it is now brought forth into the user’s immediate surroundings. In recent technologies such as Xbox’s Kinect or Nintendo Wii’s bar sensor, the user has motion tracking and can directly dictate the actions of the in-game avatar, yet it is still all happening with a third person perspective. With VR headsets and motion tracking hand controllers, the user is no longer viewing their actions being enacted by an avatar, but they have now become the avatar. They see through the eyes of the avatar, are now moving their neck and body to look around, and are grabbing things with their own hands. It brings a whole new dimension to immersion. Unlike traditional first-person games, where the user would only have a third person perspective of the avatar’s first person view, VR introduces a true first person experience. With this technology, people can find themselves experiencing something brand new (a first person virtual environment) that is also completely familiar to them, because they’re now looking from a more natural angle. This familiarity results in users feeling encouraged to explore their virtual environment and thereby become more immersed within it.

In Marie-Laure Ryan’s book Narrative as Virtual Reality, Ryan defines the key differences between real life (RL), virtual reality, and textual environments (the desktop interface that the user interacts with).

“In a textual environment the user deals with signs, both as tools and as the target of the action, but in RL and VR all action passes through the body…The entities encountered in VR are ultimately digital signs, but if realized, the ideal of the disappearance of the medium means that the VR user experiences at least the sensation of a direct encounter with reality.” (Ryan 284).

In many cases people can become so entrenched within the virtual world that they are exploring they can forget, even if but for a short while, that they are in fact in a virtual world. Rarely do people receive that level of immersion within a computer application or video game.

“In immersive VR, navigation is made possible by tracking the position of the user’s head in three dimensions, such that when they move forward, they pass by objects that are no longer in front of them. And when they turn their head, they see those objects that were beyond their field of view. We take such phenomena for granted in the real world-it just happens naturally.”, says John Vince, a long-time author on the topic of computer graphics (13).

Everyone knows the value of being able to be in the presence of something, whether it be a building, car, or a sculpture as compared to just viewing a photo of it, or a looking at it from behind a computer monitor (Vince 10). If somebody sent a postcard to their friend starring the beach that they went to, the friend would probably not feel as thrilled as if they had gone to the beach themselves. In VR, the user can take advantage of the extra level of immersion to be able to feel as though they’re on a beach, even while they’re stuck between shifts at their job. And while VR is in the end just a bunch of code being written by programmers, if the human brain perceives it as real, then it becomes a reality to that user.

Several companies within the past year have already begun throwing their chips into the communicative potential of VR. Perhaps the most notable is Facebook’s acquirement of Oculus Rift, one of the three main competing VR headsets on the market alongside HTC Vive and Playstation VR. Ian Hamilton, an author for UploadVR, performed some coverage on Facebook’s 2016 F8 conference where they unveil their latest technology. Hamilton tells about Facebook’s demo for their new “Social VR” project where people can communicate within the same virtual space even when they’re miles apart. “The pair connected in VR as naturally as if they were standing together”, says Hamilton (uploadvr.com/you-facebooks-jaw-dropping-social-vr-demo). The demo displays many features including: a wide range of hand gestures, the ability to share 360 degree photos where the users can effectively teleport from one scene to another, the capability of physically handing a file to another user, and even the ability to take selfies. As of Facebook’s 2017 F8 conference, this program has been dubbed as Facebook Spaces and has gone on to include even more interactions between its users.

One startup that has also decided to hop onto the VR train is Bigscreen. Bigscreen envisions VR as being capable of not only entertainment but also for communicating information. With this program, users can now watch Netflix together or play their favorite online game in split screen mode just as they would have sitting side by side in their home, but without having to be inside the same building. They describe it as “a virtual living room to watch movies, play videogames, browse the web, and hang out with friends. It's also used for productivity as a tool for remote teams to collaborate together in virtual offices.” (bigscreenvr.com/about). Bigscreen gives each user a face that represents their avatar, and at times a pair of hands or a personal screen for communicating to one another. While the floating head may seem awkward to some users at first, the cartoonish appearance, and warm, soft atmosphere coupled with a giant, virtualized screen in the middle of the room will likely help offset any discomfort.

With companies like Bigscreen and Facebook making immersive applications for VR devices, people could well find themselves getting lost inside these virtual worlds, just the same as many people are sinking large amounts of time inside the world of social media. While people will hopefully not become too greatly disconnected from reality, there are even more features to VR that might make it become more of an issue.

Nearly everyone is familiar with going to a store; walking up and down aisles where everything is neatly categorized and cross-merchandised, maybe read a couple labels and compare prices, or perhaps find something you never knew you needed. 20|20 is developing a program that brings this experience of shopping to the virtual realm. 20|20 is an online company that provides products and services centered around research. On their website, 20|20 mentions that

“Innovative components of the tool include the ability to track the gaze paths of participants to see what packages or attract the most attention, an algorithm to trigger probing events based on the user’s path through virtual environments, and a unique “through the eyes” reporting experience that brings a whole new level of insight.” (2020research.com/virtual-reality).

With this new research technology, advertisers will be able to bombard consumers’ peripherals with even more eye-catching products and services as they learn more and more intimately the things that attract the user’s attention. Were people to make regular use of virtualized shopping, as many already do with online shopping, a user will be able to get a comparable visceral interaction with products but without the hassle of checkout lines and people. Bringing about an increase in efficiency with a further decrease in socializing. 20|20’s program is not limited to just shopping either, they claim that this product will be useful for virtually touring new homes, attending class, and more.

Anybody who has experience with social media would be aware that masking oneself online to produce what they want to be perceived as can be pretty easily done. An individual can be an average joe in reality, but a celebrity in the online realm. It’s safe to presume that a similar trend will follow as people move towards interacting between other users in VR. It has already been seen how players of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) take advantage of the plethora of customization options handed to them to create their ideal in-game avatar. An individual can be a high school student working their first job in retail, but be an elven dragon slayer that leads massive guilds of other players online, all while maintaining a positive attitude. The key difference in these interactions within VR is that the user may feel a more “real” connection with the other users as the interaction takes place in real-time, with users being able to express themselves in more ways not previously done online. “People are often able to present themselves in a more positive light via [computer-mediated communication] CMC than during a [face-to-face] FtF conversation” (Oh et al. 2).

In Let the Avatar Brighten Your Smile, a group of researchers take a look into the effects of what happens when users interact with each other in VR when given different sets of facial expressions for their avatar. Their goal was to see if an “enhanced smile” would have any greater effects than a normal smile. They conducted their experiment by using over one hundred university students that were unfamiliar with each other and had them play 20 questions inside a VR environment. Each student received an avatar that either had a smile modeled after the participant’s real smile, a simple open and close mouth, or the enhanced smile (larger than the normal). The results of this experiment showed that

“…participants who communicated with each other via avatars that exhibited enhanced smiles used more positive words to describe their interaction experience compared to those who communicated via avatars that displayed smiling behavior reflecting the participants’ actual smiles.” (Oh et al. 1).

Further into the article, the researchers report that the users experienced a “greater sense of presence” as well (Oh et al. 12), showing that this alteration in natural facial expressions could contribute to a deeper level of immersion.

“FTF [face-to-face] contact is the very first mode of interaction known to all humans.” (Palmer 282). Going back to the topic, this is precisely what makes virtual reality the new familiarity. Everyone, from the day of their conception, learns to recognize facial expressions and uses that knowledge in their interactions with other people. It makes VR much more intuitive for the average human being when an individual is now given the ability to communicate, not with emojis, text, or even voice, but with the use of actual facial expressions, and gestures. Whether those expressions are enhanced, or altered in some form could be viewed as deceiving, or they could be used to assist the user to convey their feelings in a more meaningful manner. Only time will tell.

Conclusion

Virtual reality has finally achieved its way onto the market, and will continue to grow as it has been predicted to for the past several years. Education will become more visual, and virtual workshops will become a more accepted means of training. And the greatest care should be taken with the new aspects of virtual communication. Socializing in VR could become a replacement for actual face-to-face conversations, and companies will begin feeling the need to collect more information on users through motion-tracking in the attempt to make their products more appealing. Motion sickness will likely effect a good proportion of people, and is sure to be smoothed out as some of the companies working with VR hardware have already begun making their headsets visuals more stable. It’s certainly an exciting time to be alive, and hopefully an easy transition with appropriate regulations can be made as the familiar reality as we know it becomes virtual.

Works Cited

Evans, Sarah. "Welding's Ivy League." Tech Directions, vol. 76, no. 6, Feb. 2017, pp. 12-15. EBSCOhost, library.semo.edu:2443/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=a9h&AN=121205207&site=ehost-live.

Levitt, Molly. "Educators Share 10 Best Teaching, Technology Practices." Education Digest, vol. 82, no. 8, Apr. 2017, pp. 56-59. EBSCOhost, library.semo.edu:2443/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=121665200&site=ehost-live.

Oh, Soo Youn, et al. "Let the Avatar Brighten Your Smile: Effects of Enhancing Facial Expressions in Virtual Environments." Plos ONE, vol. 11, no. 9, 07 Sept. 2016, pp. 1-18. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161794.

20|20 Research, Inc. Virtual Reality | 2020Research. 20|20 Research, Inc., n.d., http://www.2020research.com/virtual-reality/. Accessed 18 Apr. 2017.

Bigscreen, Inc. Bigscreen. Bigscreen, Inc., 2017, http://bigscreenvr.com/about/.

Hamilton, Ian. “Facebook’s Jaw-Dropping Social VR Demo Really is the Future.” UploadVR, 13 Apr. 2016, https://uploadvr.com/you-facebooks-jaw-dropping-social-vr-demo/.

Russell, James. Personal interview. 25 March 2017.

Vince, John. Essential Virtual Reality Fast. Springer-Verlag London Limited, 2001.

Palmer, Mark T. “Interpersonal Communication and Virtual Reality: Mediating Interpersonal Relationships.” Communication in the Age of Virtual Reality, edited by Frank Biocca and Mark R. Levy, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1995, pp. 277-299.

Ryan, Marie-Laure. Narrative as Virtual Reality. The John Hopkins University Press, 2001.