The State of Immersion

I'm feeling kind of mopey. 

Burning Man has happened online. Second Life has had a camp up for a number of years. This year, the even also took place in AltspaceVR. What's the difference? Second Life is computer monitor 3D. Altspace is HMD (head mounted device) VR.

Normally I don't get excited for Burning Man. Living in a desert for 5 odd days to experience art isn't my cup of tea. But it's occasionally fun to visit the SL sim to experience the next best thing. And I popped in quick to see the displays as always.

So imagine my enthusiasm when I learned that Altspace was hosting it as well. All fine and dandy. But there have been a number of tweets, podcasts, and blog posts all extolling the richness of the Altspace experience. Without the mention of Second Life. So I'm a bit dismayed with it all.

I get it that you feel like you're once again on the playa when you're in an HMD. I, for one, have championed HMDs for a number of years. But have we really moved beyond the use of screens and monitors that far?

There would be no VR, were it not for the pioneers of 3D. The whole concept of 'immersion' is the suspension of the surrounding environment. I proudly anchor my 3D experiences in the early days of VRML. I cut my eye teeth in a world called Colony City, put out by a long forgotten company called Blaxxun Technologies. I was able to lose myself in a 13" monitor on a 16 bit 386 machine with a 2400 baud landline modem for 3 hours while I explored a wondrous location that was then 'cutting edge'.

And, I strongly point out, it was web based. No apps. No app stores. No 30% cut of anything. Keep that in mind.

An Oculus Quest, which is 'state of the art' now, will soon be rendered obsolete when Facebook follows Apple's path in upgrading hardware every few years, and the old stuff quits. No other company will be able to match their prices without being inside an ecosystem. Valve will come close. Don't try to deny it. You know in your own heart I'm right.

Which leaves us with 'fall back' tech. Screens.

Developers need to stop drinking the Kool Aid. There is another platform that exists. It's called the World Wide Web. And there are open standards that are ridiculously easy to code in. Are you going to keep your heads buried in the sand forever, thinking that your work needs to be 'VR immersive'? I challenge you to investigate a standard called X3D. It's XML based. And specs are expanding to include HMDs. But the best part about X3D? It's viewable on older machines. And on phones.

That's right. Screens. Because not everyone will own an HMD.