It’s hard to believe it, but the world is already several years into the age of virtual reality. The Oculus Rift was released for public consumption in March of 2016, which means we’re nearing the three-year anniversary of what many people view as the flagship VR device hitting shelves. In that span, some things have changed with a number of virtual reality improvements and some have stayed the same. On one hand, the technology has improved and has become marginally more affordable. Also, we have gained a clearer idea of how many things VR can be used for besides video games. On the other hand, it still feels like we’re waiting for the many big
As far as our regular lives go through, these are a few of the real world activities we will be doing in VR eventually.
1. Touring Museums
London’s Natural History Museum
Virtual reality and travel have a lot to do with one another, and it’s certainly a pair worth watching. Real world activities we will be doing in VR includes Museum tours. There have already been some experiments with using VR in travel booking, such that prospective travelers can get a realistic, 3D feel for a possible destination before making plans. Diving a bit deeper into the idea of VR tourism though, the idea of using the technology to tour specific attractions is perhaps even more exciting. Amazing VR museum tours have already come about, helping people from all over the world to view incredible art and artifacts in museums from The Louvre to Washington D.C.’s National Museum Of Natural History. There’s still something special about visiting in person. But this is definitely one kind of tourism we may eventually engage in largely through VR.
2. Designing
Again though, if we dig a bit deeper we see more exciting potential for the future applications of VR. Because VR can basically let us create renderings in digital space, we’ll be designing our homes through VR apps in no time. That includes floor plans, decorating, arrangement, and almost certainly the ability to create entire models of homes, with every last detail figured out. Whether this becomes a regular activity for home buyers or architects and builders use this as a tool, remains to be seen. But it will likely be a mix of both.
3. Creating Art
As was just stated, Virtual reality technology allows us to create renderings in digital space, and this is already proving to be an incredibly exciting application for artists. Many of us realized this fairly early on when a few different painting simulators were among the earlier VR apps to gain traction. However, the truth is that this goes well beyond painting and creating art is one of the popular future applications of VR. It’s sculpting that may be the most interesting use, specifically because a VR headset can be hooked up to a 3D printer. That means, quite simply, that people can create digital structures through headsets and apps and then have those same structures printed in material form, as a real-world art. Many, many artists are going to start operating this way. Thus, art is also one of the upcoming
4. Playing Poker
Digital poker has already come a very long way over roughly two decades of mainstream popularity. It is also one of the popular
Even this kind of experience can’t quite match the full immersion of Virtual reality technology though. And given online casinos’ propensity for embracing modern tech, it’s a matter of time before the whole concept of online poker enters a 360-degree 3D casino environment. In a sense, the transition of the activity itself from the real world to the digital realm will be complete.
5. Exercising
Unfortunately, VR can’t quite exercise for us the same way it can deal us cards or move our furniture around. To an extent, exercise will always be a decidedly “real world” activity. In the sense that you have to do the physical work no matter what’s driving you to do it. Exercising is also one of the real world activities we will be doing in VR. Nevertheless, it is inevitable that virtual reality will become a sort of new form of a home gym for millions of people over time.
Instead of going to the gym or simply exercising at home, we’ll strap on headsets and use relevant equipment to engage in more immersive workouts. These workouts will keep us motivated, zoned in, and help us train effectively. Thus, exercising is also one of the future applications of virtual reality that we are looking forward to. Perfection in the field of VR will come with time, but it will definitely come.