Bored of the Rings wrote: "Yes, I don't have any VR kit, not likely to either. VR been around for a long time and always loved playing VR COP and other VR coin-op games in the arcades. It's nothing new, but a lot of fun."
The
concept of VR has been around for a long time, yes. As far back as 1935, a short story called
Pygmalions Spectacles described it like this:
Quote: ""Listen! I'm Albert Ludwig—Professor Ludwig." As Dan was silent, he continued, "It means nothing to you, eh? But listen—a movie that gives one sight and sound. Suppose now I add taste, smell, even touch, if your interest is taken by the story. Suppose I make it so that you are in the story, you speak to the shadows, and the shadows reply, and instead of being on a screen, the story is all about you, and you are in it. Would that be to make real a dream?""
If I should define VR, I would say it's when the artificial sensations take precedence: You turn your head down, and you can look at your (virtual) hands. You take a step forward, and you move accordingly in the (virtual) reality.
There has been a lot of amusements that exploited the vision of VR. Like those 4D cinemas where they splashed water on your face as part of the show.
However, actual functional VR has only been possible recently, since it requires some rather extreme tech to work.
Virtua Cop simply lets you shoot at a monitor with a light gun. But, it all happens on the screen. You're not inside the game. You're inside an arcade.
But suppose that the arcade was, in itself, a simulation? THEN it would be VR:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD5C1Pk4qu0
Of course, you're only seeing this video on a monitor. You don't get the sensation of actually being there. That's the trouble with VR. To understand it, you have to try it.
I think that this post was made without any irony says a lot:
Did you ever experience de-realization in real life?