The word VR is not new for me since there are companies promoting VR products constantly through different platforms, but I never get the chance to actually experience it. Last Wednesday was the first time I actually experience VR and finally understand why people would wait in line for two hours just for one game. It was fascinating to watch performance in the front line and to walk among my own artwork.

I watched a YouTube music video with the Oculus on. The 360 video showed up in front of me as I was one meter away from the artists. I felt special because they were performing to me and only me. It was amazing to feel physically present even though the room setting and characters were changing along as the song plays. But I still can immerse into the scene and enjoy the performance. I would say the headphone plays an essential role here. The background music (not only the music in the music video) isolate the outside world from me and dragged me into this specific setting no matter what shows up. The music defines the tone of the scene and also gets your attention about what’s going on in front of your eyes. As I was watching, I overheard others’ voice which easily pulled me back to the reality that I realized I might act weird because I was standing and keep turning 360 degrees. It was interesting to turn and explore different scenes in the video but having the idea of others might watching you act would affect the experience. Moreover, as I turned with the Oculus, the wire was interfering with me plenty of times that I have to turn back, which distracted me from the performance.

The screen resolution is important for Oculus. The Oculus that undergoes developing phase has a relatively bad screen resolution that I felt nauseas when I turned my head to see the other part of the room. The device took a much longer to settle the motion.

Oculus is definitely a device that use to consume information or knowledge but not interact. I can still remember the video are not real or remember there is a distance between me and the characters in the video. However, the HTC vive is much more exciting because I can actually interact with the device.

I tried HTC Vive with Tilt Brush app. It was a really awesome experience that I can change brushes, colors with my handles and walk in my own artwork. I painted in the air and it shows up as 3-dimensions. I tried several different colors and watched them in different angle. It was pretty awesome to look at my own work from bottom and from the inside as I stand in the middle and surrounded by different lines. The screen resolution was really great as clear enough to be real. I walked around and even bend down because I thought I was going to hit on one of the lines. Also the grids set a safe space for us to walk around. The music did not affect much for HTC vive because the interaction takes most of the attention. I was able to hear others talking but I can still focus on my painting. The device is also wired that I cannot move too far or the wire would be a mess. The quality of 3D graphics is significant for devices like HTC Vive, it defines whether the experience is good or bad.

Overall, the first time VR experience was fascinating and definitely triggered my interest to explore more in the VR world. It would contain IT work but it would be even better that I get the the chance to learn more things in one class.