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I’ve observed simulations in VR that were compelling–I still remember parts of them well even now. However, these simulations were pre-recorded or preset and my range of inputs were limited to a set of menus from which I could select different options to simulate. When I played various games with a wider range of input options, there was a noticeable latency, and the virtual environment did not fully capture my real or intended motions very well. I think there are possibilities for VR in certain fields, but when it comes to arts and sciences like cooking and music, there are some aspects of the physical world that, to be captured in a compelling and useful way, will require significant progress or significant modification to extant VR hardware and software. In cooking, there is a tangible, tactile difference in using a cleaver versus a pairing knife, and there is a tangible, tactile difference between cutting a head of kale, versus a large tuna. Likewise, there is a tangible, tactile component to interacting with instruments, and a large part of learning an instrument is developing not just the muscle memory of interacting with it, but developing the fine muscles involved as well. In both cases, the learning requires the use of the specific instrument, and there is a genuine limitation in practical learning when the medium of instruction and the instrument of instruction is generalized to a set of what are essentially game controllers. It seems to me the virtualization of physical interactions, without proper and necessary modifications to hardware and software, will leave VR bereft of the instructive capability it is relying on in order to be useful in this business/enterprise context in which it would like to be considered. |