Virtually Here: 14 Ways VR Will Change Gaming Forever
A new NetEnt Stalker guide to the latest in VR technology shows just how reactive grips, foveated rendering, seated rudder steering and object trackers – among others – are going to turn high-end VR from a dream into reality.
Virtual reality used to be a technology confined to sci-fi, like Star Trek’s Holodeck or the illusory arenas in The Hunger Games – but in recent times it’s become a platform accessible by anyone with a headset and some games.
The technology still has a long way to go before it reaches the levels of those films, but it’s starting to make steps in the right direction. And in a new graphic from NetEnt Stalker, you can see how you can access some of the VR peripherals that’ll take you from virtually there to living in the Matrix.
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Covering a number of different genres which have already been transposed into VR, the graphic takes a quick look at where they’ve been – and identifies where they’re going and how to get there. Consider topping up your gaming experience with the following accessories:
The KOR-FX Haptic Gaming Vest simulates being shot and gives a sense of the direction of nearby sounds. Accordingly, it pairs excellently with the First Person Shooter genre to make you feel like you’re in the middle of a firefight.
Leap Motion is a tracker that identifies your hands without the need for gloves – which allows for greater freedom of movement. Accordingly, more intricate Puzzle games can be played, like the 2016 co-op Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes.
The Virtuix Omni and its kin will redefine all first and third person games, as they allow freedom of movement with walking, running – even sprinting – and jumping. But Interactive Fiction and Exploration games will see the most improvement as it’s the immersion that really sells the game.
The Icaros flight system is a very niche piece of equipment. Users lie on it almost like a massage bed – but what it simulates is a sense of flying, hang-gliding, and wingsuits. It even works your core, so you get fitter by playing Flight Simulation games.
The 7invensun aGlass Eye Tracking system is more subtle than some of the other options. What it will offer is foveated rendering – that is, rendering only what you’re looking at. Everything else is blurred and unfocused, just as if you were looking at it with your real eyes. For Simulator games, that extra sense of immersion is invaluable.
There’s more to the future than just these – for the rest of the best VR peripherals on the market, make sure to check out the full infographic on the NetEnt Stalker website here.
