The Future is Now: New and Developing Gaming Technologies: The future of gaming: VR/VR/ER

People have been talking about virtual reality forever. Dan Shefelman remembers a time when it was going to be huge in the ‘90s, but it never reached the heights people predicted it would at the time.
Maria Hwano details what virtual reality is and why, despite not taking over as people thought it would, it continues to capture the imagination:
“If I had one or two words that I have to explain it, it’s just the experiential aspect of virtual reality. You’re actually living it. You feel it. You’re experiencing something that actually isn’t real life in your world.”
The way Hwano sees it, people still love talking about it. There have been multiple booms that at times have even felt like fads. Virtual reality has even been talked about in education
“As a computer scientist, VR is brought up a lot,” explains Hwano. “People ask me about it. People love talking about it. People like to ask opinions about what’s going to happen with virtual reality. It’s a very interesting question.”
As exciting as VR technology is, Maria Hwano believes people need to understand where the technology is currently, and what its evolutionary process might look like.
“A long time ago, when the computer keyboard was not a thing, it used to be a one-to-one input. It was on a piano and a sticker was put on it. And a signal was given to do input. It wasn’t until 10 years later that somebody created the keyboard that we take for granted right now. That’s how long it takes to make a keyboard. So you can only imagine how much we don’t know about the potential VR might have.”
Still, the future of virtual reality is full of possibilities, especially when it comes to augmented reality.
“Augmented reality is basically taking what’s around you and – through a phone or some device – and placing something there virtually so you can see it on the phone,” Dan Shefelman says. “It’s an illusion, obviously, but it’s using the environment around you and putting assets in it. . .You’re using the space that you’re in.”