I really enjoyed watching VR stories last week. I did not get a chance to try all of the VR types but of the ones I tried, the Oculus Rift felt most realistic to me. Being able to see my hands changed the experience for me from just viewing to truly being present. And any of the stories where I could step made it feel more realistic as well. Also I found that the clearer the image was in a story the more real it felt whether it was a cartoon or not. If the image were blurry that is when I felt a little motion sick after (or at least I think that was why). Sound was another big factor in what felt realistic and what didn’t. Hearing the sounds of what I saw added to the experience, especially when there was headphones because then I felt almost as if I left the class when I couldn’t hear what was going on where I physically was.

Additionally I attempted to shoot 360 video at the Women’s March in Seneca Falls. It was really exciting getting to try this out and fun to figure how to film it and where to be. I ended up basically setting up, running away from the camera and trying to blend into the crowd. I was also interesting to figure out how to use the files from the camera and get them to play back as 360 videos on the computer. Knowing what makes an interesting video though and how to edit the video was challenging. I think I need to watch a lot more VR stories to get a better understanding of this and how long people want to be in one place or another.

Also this experience was very strange as well, seeing myself in a 360 video was weird.