Virtual Reality (VR) is a relatively new technology with an enormous amount of potential. There have been many failed variants of VR, but there’s a new model said to be “the one.”
The Oculus Rift is said to be the gamechanger in VR. Oculus was designed originally for the sole purpose of video games, and it did such well. All of its predecessors couldn't hold a candle next to Oculus.
In the '80s, '90s, and even most of the 2000s, the VRs that were available were only in arcades, too expensive for commercial use, or were just poor in quality. No one really thought they wanted to own a VR set at that time; it just wasn’t practical. With the new Oculus Rift, many consumers want to get on board with the cutting-edge device.
As of right now, the Oculus Rift costs $600. Expensive, yes, but this is comparably much better than it has been in the past. Also, the price is promised to drop according to the Oculus Rift creators. At that point, there’s no doubt the Oculus Rift will take off even more than it already has.
Aside from gaming, Oculus users have found other purposes for the device that were never originally intended. One of these uses is Virtual Tourism. Creators have made digital formats of museums, theaters, and virtual tours of cities. This is especially useful to those who may be handicapped and are unable to travel.
In addition, it can be used for patients who need to see a doctor or therapist regularly. Instead of having to go back and forth to the doctor the Oculus Rift can be used to have virtual sessions with them instead.
Furthermore, Oculus could be used in education. The Oculus Rift could be revolutionary for online classes. Instead of all the assignments being online, there could be an interactive classroom for students to utilize. Also, Oculus could be used to go on virtual field trips to any place one so chooses. This would be more efficient in both money and time for students.
Also, some schools have even adopted Oculus to help children with special needs and social anxiety. Oculus Rift has proven to help those children have better psychological health.
To continue, the Oculus Rift has been adopted to be used for training and simulation. Oculus has been used for medical students to simulate performs surgery on a patient. Doing this with the rift will almost definitely create an improvement in the skills surgeons learn in medical school.
Oculus has also been used for certain aspects of mental health. Anxiety and PTSD can be treated with the Oculus Rift by recreating an event which triggers the anxiety. This kind of therapy is a new approach they believe could start helping patients more effectively.
Oculus has been applied to architecture and modeling as well. The advantages of this are something can be built in the virtual realm, so all the mistakes and planning can be done at this stage.
To conclude, the future of VR is littered with potential other than video games. Only time will tell what uses the Oculus Rift has that will benefit the progress of technology.
