Virtual reality offers tantalising taste of brave new world

[Asid]

Virtual reality offers tantalising taste of brave new world



Whether they're battling zombies in dark alleyways, leading classroom excursions around the globe or offering virtual front-row seats at the footy, Australians are forging the way in the brave new world of virtual reality.

The idea of donning a headset and diving into a virtual realm is no longer the stuff of science fiction. Anyone can get their first taste of virtual reality today, thanks to Google Cardboard – a cheap viewer which holds a smartphone up to your face as a window into a virtual world. Like that first glimpse of television in department store windows of the 1950s, Google Cardboard offers Australians a tantalising taste of what's to come.

A range of more advanced virtual reality headsets are due to arrive over the next year, including Facebook's highly anticipated Oculus Rift which is already available as a "developer kit" for early adopters. Like the birth of television, the technology is finally within our reach but we're still deciding how to put it to good use.


Published on August 23, 2015
By Adam Turner

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/m22cover-head-here-20150813-giyhv3.html#ixzz3kmR0iFkD