oculus-rift-dev-kit-2

~Claudia Dolph

When I was a teenager I used to watch this show called “VR.5”. It’s about a girl who’s actions in the virtual world effects the real world. That doesn’t really matter, but if you can find it you should watch it!  The important thing is that my own personal VR.5 happened this summer. I got to spend my summer with Oculus. In my very own house.

I will give credit where credit is due. It was actually my sister’s boyfriend who was in possession of the Oculus. He stayed with us while interning with a gaming company and was gracious enough to let us use this magical toy!

I’m sure you’ve heard of it by now, but to be clear it is a virtual reality headset for 3D gaming and it is awesome! It’s one more step towards a holodeck! At least that’s what I choose to believe.

With this headset we were able to walk around different settings, my favorite of course being the Star Trek Enterprise. It was so realistic, I could imagine getting lost in it. Kind of like Lt Reginald Barclay in Star Trek TNG when his mind merges with the ships computer…you know what I’m talking about, or in that Jennifer Jason Leigh movie “eXistenZ ” where where you get a plug-in drilled into you lumbar spine so you can experience a deeper level of gaming. As much as I loved using this first version of whatever it may become, I wonder what the effects are on our health, in our daily lives and as a society as a whole.

Will it be used for good or for evil? I can see it going both ways. One positive is that virtual therapy is being used to treat PTSD which is fantastic but how long until it becomes a virtual reality sex toy aka Holodeck? No, I’m really asking so I can get my Commander William Riker fantasy on. Oh yea…

Oh and be careful of dizzy spells, nausea, and headaches, basically everything that happens to me when I play Halo. Some people have experienced these fun little side effects after prolonged usage.

If you have a chance, while its in it’s innocent, newborn stage go for it. Oculus is a blast, one of the coolest things to happen to gaming since vibrating controllers.

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