The other day, I used my VR headset to go hiking in the mountains. I live in a place literally surrounded by mountains and vegetation, but I chose to go hiking in VR instead. If I am making these small transitions to become more reliant on tech, are other people too?
Becoming more technologically dependent/adaptable
It’s undeniable that the world is becoming a technologically driven one every day. Developments like NFTs and Cryptocurrency are making us rethink how we create and use physical art and money. As work and school become more desk-oriented, people are neglecting essential time outdoors. As a result, creative thinkers are creating new innovations and technologies to move the outdoors inside. Could we apply philosophies of living in a digital world, as famously adopted by Mark Zuckerburg, to change the way we think about nature? Understanding these technologies may bring us closer to adopting them in our everyday lives. This is why I wanted to share how VR works to achieve things like nature simulators (at least in simple terms).
Basics of VR
VR functions similar to how we normally perceive images and the world around us. For example, in order to see, we process different images sent to our two eyes. From there, we combine the images and our eyes and brain work together to interpret the world around us. Seeing out of 2 eyes instead of 1 allows us to create a deeper, more accurate image of our surroundings. The same goes for VR headsets. This is why, VR nowadays has 2 lenses, each with their own image inside. They both work together so that when we interpret them, they feel like our surroundings in the normal world. Sensors are used to detect movement in the headsets, so the environment (images from the headset) changes as you move. Some headsets even have eye sensors to make this movement more realistic by changing depending on your eye movement. All of these factors allow users to experience a new reality with no trace of the actual world. With these factors and a ton of creativity, the possibilities are endless.
Realistic VR
In order to create realistic environments like those found in nature walks, developers use photos, similar to panoramas. You know how google maps have a car that drives around to capture images of streets and buildings? With that same information, Google Maps Street view to pretend like we are moving through streets. This same method can be used to recreate environments for realistic VR. Designers can also create environments from scratch. This requires lots of skill and attention, but the results are amazing.
Why does this matter?
No matter the specific method, the use of VR to bring nature indoors is an impactful development in tech. Utilizing VR to appreciate nature indoors is just the first step to how we’ll use this tech to enhance certain experiences that make the world so great.
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