AR & VR

AR and VR are often referred to as trends in HCI, they have a lot of potential and you can see some great progress in the development of these technologies. Unfortunately, the examples given in the lecture were already known to me.

Assignments

After the lecture we were told to look up the assignments on Blackboard. I had to come up with three AR or VR concepts and draw a sketch of it.

VR Car concept

Imagine sitting in a self-driving car with a headset on and controlling a virtual car. While the car itself is driving along the highway obeying the law. You can use the driver inputs to have fun racing in a virtual world. In car entertainment is going to be very important in the future. Instead of just getting bored behind the wheel or even start driving the car yourself again. You can have heaps of fun while driving/getting driven long distances. This would only be possible with level 5 autonomy of course.

VR Therapy concept

People with Acrophobia (The Fear of Heights) could benefit from training with walking on heights in VR. That way they know that they can't fall or jump in the deep. To help them cross the narrow bridge we incentivize them with achievements and some kind of gamification element. This way they have a fun way to reduce stress at heights. After doing the experiment in VR they may be less afraid in real life. Or you could guide them in a dark room where they can't see that they are actually walking at height. However, I think that would result in some insurance claims.
(After I made this sketch one of the groups at the lab weeks made this concept in VR and they let me walk over the narrow bridge.)

AR Public transport concept

Wouldn't it be nice if you could see where the doors of the train would stop when a train arrives? Trains already have pre-defined spots where they come to a stop. So, it wouldn't be that hard to make a virtual train in AR on your phone in the NS Reisplanner app. When you're waiting on the platform and you hold your phone up, it would show you where the train stops with a virtual representation. It could also show how crowded the train cars are before it arrives.

Unreal Engine

We also got the assignment to expand the scene we build during the VR environment workshop in Unreal Engine. I already added extra interactions in that scene and explained them on this page.

Research

I found a VR project that intrigued me. It was a VR shooter called Boneworks. It’s a physics based shooter that utilizes the full potential for a immersive experience. If you turn your hand slightly too much you’ll mis the target. Having tried some VR experiences now that didn’t have perfect working physics made me want to try this VR game very much. The main benefit of VR is that you can control our arms separately and the guys a Stress Level 0 utilized that perfectly. Make sure you follow their progress.

Source: Boneworks

Reflection

I had fun coming up with concepts and the enfaces on new ideas made me come up with original ideas. I liked the AR Train app the most and would really make good use of it if the NS would implement it. The lecture of this topic gave me a new look on AR and VR. I originally was skeptical about their usefulness, but I have tried VR for the first time and I was impressed. The AR applications are also becoming way more useful.