FEATURE
DIGITAL
Virtual Reality or VR is now accessible and in the hands of many talented developers , who fearlessly exploit its potentials .
21 words CHARO NUGUID
Mention “ virtual reality ” and the first thing that comes to mind is being in a computergenerated world where everything feels real . We ’ ve had movies and science fiction novels about this for years . Not long ago , Google released I am Cardboard which is a pair of goggles made out of , you guessed it — cardboard , and uses your phone as the screen . You run a Cardboard-compatible app ( like YouTube ), insert it in Cardboard , and wear it . You turn around , look up , look down , and you get to see what ’ s around the virtual world . This was back in 2014 .
Fast forward to 2016 and you have better , higher-end virtual reality devices like the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift . The new VR devices connect to your computer instead of inserting your phone into it which allows the devices to have more horsepower . You really feel like you ’ re inside whatever world you booted into . Reality is gone . Instead , you ’ re on a golf course trying to get that hole in one . Or you ’ re in a forest aiming your bow and arrow at an enemy . Or you ’ re in a boxing ring trying to bring down Muhammad Ali . All these devices have controllers that would allow you to interact with the virtual world . You can walk forward , backward , sideways , and the virtual world changes as if you ’ re actually there . And it gets better . Right now Microsoft is continuing development on the HoloLens where you finally get to merge virtual with reality . Imagine people walking around with their laptops in their backpacks wearing a HoloLens and playing Pokemon Go .
Speaking of apps , if you have the HTC Vive , you can go with the familiar and get Fruit Ninja VR . Imagine being able to play your favorite hack-and-slash game with your limbs instead of your fingers . Do you like to draw stuff ? Tiltbrush turns your room into a canvas where your can draw and paint from tiny portraits to larger than life sized artwork . These two apps can be found on Steam . When you do a search for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive , there are more than 200 apps you can use with those two devices .
There is also a growing number of home-grown apps . A local user group called VR Philippines held the Philippine Mobile VR Jam last June 10-12 , 2016 . It was a hackathon where people got together and collaborate in teams to create apps for the Samsung Gear VR within 42 hours . The event produced 12 new applications which they presented at the Philippine Virtual Reality Conference last June 25 . Here are a few that caught my eye .
Diwata VR - A virtual reality simulator that teaches students how to program the Diwata-1 microsatellite by connecting to an Arduino or Raspberry pi via bluetooth .
Nayong Pilipino VR - An educational virtual tour of Nayong Pilipino , complete with a shuttle ride and a tour guide .
Sky ’ s The Limit - Climb up and reach for the sky , gathering coins and avoiding killer ducks as you go .
Space Ninja - This is a twophone app . You ’ re an astronaut stuck in outer space trying to get back to earth while avoiding asteroids from hitting you . Good thing you ’ re wielding the legendary sword Excalibur .
Leaning Tower of Piza - Your aim is to defend your tower and prevent the enemy from taking a bit out of your pizza .
Re-Pair - A two-player game where one player uses the Gear VR to look at the broken robot and describe the piece to their partner . The other controls the virtual drone using another phone and scavenges the virtual area for the missing part . Good communication is the key to repairing and winning the game .
The Philippine VR community is steadily growing as people realize that there are a lot of great apps already available to use . The technology is still pretty young so there ’ s lots of room for innovation . Virtual reality is here to stay .
July - August 2016 | adobo magazine