6 interesting developments that await us with virtual reality

What used to be considered just science fiction has become reality since 2015, but the majority have not yet really caught it: Virtual reality glasses, VR glasses or head mount displays are currently still in their starting blocks. 

Their potential is enormous, because whoever puts them on can dive straight into new worlds, experience exciting adventures or just learn something new. Which groundbreaking VR developments can we expect in the next few years and which technologies are already available on the market?

If you had told mankind a few decades ago that we would soon be able to connect to one another via the so-called “Internet” and that this would result in undreamt-of possibilities, you would certainly have been declared crazy. But it is precisely such “quantum leaps” that have shaped reality to this day and have become an indispensable part of our lives. Experts now suspect that virtual reality will also take us to the next stage of the future in the near future and will fundamentally change areas of our lives.

VR glasses are modern hardware consisting of a headset and two high-resolution displays that generate artificial images in the form of a virtual space. These are coupled with a modern sensor system that records the position and position of the head and displays it virtually and three-dimensionally in a few milliseconds. Thus, for example, visits to foreign planets or archaeological walks of cultures that have long since disappeared can be realistically experienced. 

The expert forecast for VR over the next five years is: VR glasses will become an integral part of our everyday lives and the virtual experience will be more realistic than ever.

What can we expect in the near future? 

Without a doubt, nobody can predict 100% whether VR glasses will storm the global market or be forgotten again. However, the future prospects are very promising, because in addition to a strong influence on the gaming industry, VR experiences can significantly influence areas of industry, science, education and medicine.

In the meantime, affordable, mass-produced and technically high-quality devices such as the Oculus Quest, HTC Vive or Pimax Vision have long been on the market and bring a lot of performance - provided you have a correspondingly powerful computer: 

• Resolution of up to 8K
• 110 to 200 degrees field of view
• Ever higher frame rates against motion sickness, comparable to movies
• Hand tracking on controllers for more precise hand control in the game
• and much more

But what can we expect in the near future, how will VR glasses change our everyday lives and which potential industries will they revolutionize?

1. Discover new gaming worlds

VR games like Half Life Alyx or Star Wars: Squadrons are currently inspiring the gamer community and offering their users immersive experiences that they have never experienced before. In addition, there are already numerous arcade centers that make it possible to fight epic battles against zombies or aliens together with friends. 

It gets really interesting when the performance of the PC is improved to such an extent that the graphics can hardly be distinguished from our reality. Attempts are currently being made to create the perfect multisensory immersion in order to really activate all of the senses during the VR experience.

• What will be integrated into every mask in the future is already with the Feelreal multisensory mask possible: cold, warmth, wind and vibration are generated underneath, even selected smells can be perceived with it. 
• With haptic VR, gloves should help to transfer movements better into the game. As a result, they give feedback back to the hand so that objects in the game can be felt. Tesla is currently researching one Haptic suit for the whole body.
• In order to guarantee free movement, a so-called Treadmill (a kind of VR treadmill) ensures that you can move back and forth in the game without having to devastate your own living space.

In order to be able to produce these technologies in a really mass-produced manner, the prices for the normal consumer must continue to fall. But as fast as the development of virtual reality is progressing, this could be as far as the year 2025. At the moment, start-ups such as Plate IT, VR games that inspire their players.

2. Social interactions on a new level

In order to be able to meet people in person, we will soon no longer even have to go out of our apartment. Freely configurable spaces will enable us in the future that people from all over the world can gather, communicate and interact with one another. Aspects such as skin color, age or origin will no longer play a role, because everyone decides for themselves what their avatar looks like. 

Sounds utopian, but potential dangers should not be completely ignored. Series such as Black Mirror are already addressing the problems of future technologies and make it clear that digitization is not always beneficial for humanity. Social isolation, loss of reality, danger of addiction and manipulation are already problems of the Internet, but in an online world that can hardly be distinguished from reality, they can be far more devastating for society.

3. New types of entertainment

Anyone who thought that 3D films were the entertainment ultimatum was mistaken. Well-known film giants such as Disney, Marvel and Warner Bros have already released various film projects that give viewers a 360-degree experience in gripping stories. It is only a matter of time before this experience becomes the new cinema standard.

Other areas of entertainment are also virtualized. Anyone who has always wanted to sit on one of the top seats in a football stadium may soon be able to see their team up close. And not only football seems to be a topic of the future: own memories can be captured three-dimensionally, so that they can then be experienced up close again in virtual reality. Crazy, right? 

4. Culture - When time travel suddenly becomes possible

Even if a Delorean a la “Back to the Future” will never take us through time, we can walk through Napoleon's deceptively real bedroom with the help of VR glasses, visit pyramids during the times of the Pharaohs and be there live at events steeped in history. If you want to take it a little easier, the museum brings you directly to your home to view breathtaking paintings from the past centuries.

5. A whole new shopping experience 

You can now see the latest cars inside and out in so-called showrooms. But if you want to test drive a futuristic Lamborghini or everyday VW Golf in the future, you will soon have a virtual opportunity to do so. A deceptively real driving experience makes the purchase decision much faster.

Would you like to know what your home might look like if you decide to buy new furniture? No problem because IKEA is already researching an interactive VR solution that enables customers to fill their own living space with life in order to come up with creative and innovative ideas. 

6. Science

In addition, virtual reality will not only make a major quantum leap in industries such as gaming, it will also significantly advance areas of science and education. According to experts, the following processes are virtually simplified: 

• Phantom pain can be treated in patients by exercising their virtual arm
• Surgical technique training
• Simulations for pilots, astronauts and military for training
• Students learn interactively by immersing themselves directly in the action

VR forecast - is virtual reality now the new future?

In summary, it can be said that virtual glasses have great potential for the future. Although the prices for the all-round package are not yet affordable for the average consumer, they will probably fall in the near future with increased demand. 

It remains exciting to see how VR experiences will innovatively change our society and how the next quantum leap will also take shape in reality.