Virtual Reality hits Politics directly

It is true that when Sony showed up on the VR scene, the notion was that VR 'may finally become mainstream." Which I always thought was peculiar considering more people own mobile phones than a PlayStation; thus Mobile VR should possibly be given the most credit here.

Yet I rarely see such credit given to anyone other than Sony. And that is only "if" someone decides to openly consider VR to be a mainstream technology. Hell, I'd even go against my better judgement and credit Steam for making VR mainstream, due to its public Categorization and Advertisements on the Steam store.

Nonetheless, when I come across the more popular eNews columns and YouTubers, the general sentiment still seems to involve this waiting period for VR to hit mainstream.

What I liked about the link I shared is that it gives specific credit to the PC-based VR industry.

weasel47 said:

Is VR mentioned in the John Oliver clip or only in the blog post?

No, the clip is just the authors inspiration for article. However, for anyone who does watch it, Oliver does point his finger at both sides of the political spectrum; because both sides have most certainly supported some form of physical border over the course of many decades. And I'm not saying that to open up a can of worms, I just want to be clear that while the subject matter may dance around partisan finger pointing... it is neutral enough to (hopefully) allow those of us with opposing viewpoints to discuss the more relevant - and fun - topic of VR as a truly mainstream technology.

To spare you the difficulty of watching it, I will summarize the Oliver clip: the wall will never work.

Of course, this is a lot like saying that virtual reality would never work, because computers will never be powerful enough, it would make people sick, it's too hard to create games for it , etc. etc. 

kevinw729 said:

Is VR mainstream:

- PC VR?
- Console VR?
- MobileVR?

Which one of these has gained greater penetration in the market and which one is less like 360' or just "good" VR (let alone "amazing VR"!)

 I would say mobile VR has definitely gained the greatest penetration in the market simply due to its low cost of entry. And if it's your first introduction to VR, I would even call it "amazing", especially since the gold standard for "VR" for decades was…the GAF Viewmaster. 

http://hubpages.com/games-hobbies/Remembering-the-View-Master

I agree that mobileVR (that "muddy water" that was once called) has proven the mainstream - when I am standing in the middle of an educational show and come across a vending machine disgorging Google Cardboards for classrooms - I know we are close to mainstream, (but remember fads can go mainstream for a time!)

Woke up.
Had a shower.
Opened the forum.
Saw a thread by zenbane with "politics" in the title.
"Sigh, this will go well"
Almost got back in bed.

But so far the thread is ok. VR in politics should be ok as a topic if it isn't about the politics itself and doesn't descend into fighting and insults.

I don't think the linked website is a good example though. The author of the article is a self described "virtual reality thought leader" who works in a university VR lab. The fact that he talks about a VR application of a political concept doesn't really make VR mainstream, it's just one guy focusing on his interests (Maybe he's got millions of followers, I don't know, never heard of him).

A better example would be the national park or white house tours. This is a president taking part in VR. The topics themselves aren't really political though. Yosemite looks like a great place regardless of political alliance and both ends of the political spectrum have inhabited the white house.

I think that is showing VR getting more mainstream.

Well, VR has been mainstream in awareness for a long time. Everybody knows of VR, it's used all throughout pop culture (such as The Simpsons having Bart want to play the vr yard work simulator). But VR understanding and experience definitely isn't mainstream yet. People know VR is "put on funny goggles and other peripherals and you are magically inside of a computer and can do anything!", but relatively few actually comprehend what the VR experience is and what it's current limitations are.


But maybe none of this makes sense, as I said I just woke up (after only 2.5 hours sleep) and need to get ready for work.

For some reason my brain only registered these words,

Had a shower.
Saw zenbane.
got back in bed.

This my very well be my new favorite thread <3

I would quote your reply to my previous message, Zenbane, but it'll get funny if I do it from my phone. 
I do share your enthusiasm about VR getting mainstream attention. In this case, it looks like the blog you linked has a VR focus anyway...
All three contributor profiles mention VR specifically. 

Zenbane said:

For some reason my brain only registered these words,

Had a shower.
Saw zenbane.
got back in bed.

This my very well be my new favorite thread <3

Now all I can think about is the end of the Gorillaz music video Dare. :)

Hmm. I've never seen it. I'm compelled to YouTube lookup this video. But I'm also kinda scuurrreed :o