Oculus Rift Is Too Cool to Ignore | #VirtualReality #VR | 21st Century Learning and Teaching | Scoop.it

Oculus Rift Is Too Cool to Ignore

Now that virtual reality has arrived (again), it’s here to stay—even if it’s not clear exactly how we will end up using it.

Virtual field trips

In addition to traveling to the moon, you can use Rift to kayak down the Colorado River while checking out the Grand Canyon, tossing tiny pellets to lure passing fish. You can dive with sharks, sea turtles, and other creatures, watching exhalation bubbles seep from the spot where your face mask should be and feeling that prickly sense you get when you’re actually underwater, wondering if something is creeping up behind you.

Over the next three years, such virtual field trips will become a lot more common, says Jeremy Bailenson, founding director of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab. His lab built one such experience, called The Crystal Reef, which lets you swim through areas of varying acidity in the ocean to explore the effects of carbon dioxide on underwater habitats. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, and Bailenson expects it to be available for Rift and HTC’s Vive headset in a few months.

 

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