Review
Back in 2016 I wrote an article about how we are merely visitors in VR, not users. After owning an Oculus Rift and thoroughly enjoying the experience, my position hasn’t changed much, but it has evolved.
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One of the key benefits of AR headsets and VR passthrough technology is that it lets users maintain a sense of presence and awareness in their physical environment while also experiencing virtual content. This ability to exit at command helps reduce feelings of disorientation and disassociation, which can be common in fully immersive VR experiences. In the case of VR it restores autonomy: when an experience becomes uncomfortable, the visitor can exit, provided either the visitor or the system can recognise the signs early enough and leave the virtual space.
Additionally, passthrough can help reduce feelings of anxiety and isolation by letting users see and interact with their physical surroundings rather than feeling completely cut off from the real world. This improves the user’s sense of psychological safety and comfort, making it a useful technology for a variety of applications such as therapy, training, and education.
Human-interface devices (HID) in AR experiences
I spent several months playing Pokémon Go to comprehend the appeal of the multi-billion dollar industry. The level of immersion is limited by the device’s form factor and the small 6-inch display screen. Users have to suspend disbelief to “catch” a “Pokémon” in the parking lot through the device’s screen. The user’s autonomy, however, is always maintained: the connection to reality is never broken, at least not to the level of a head-mounted display that takes over central and peripheral vision.
Finally…
There exists a spectrum of experiences in the XR HMD (Head-Mounted Display) with HID Controllers space where freedom and connection to reality remain under the user’s control. I aim to investigate various AR headsets to understand the intersection of AR’s enhancement of reality and VR’s immersion. Understanding that intersection will give insight into how to create immersive experiences while preserving user autonomy.