Baby Steps into Virtual Reality

Last night I attended the first Virtual Reality (VR) meetup in Brisbane, rounding out what has been an extremely nerdy week for me! But what an inspirational couple of hours trialing the Oculus Rift (awesome hover board game paired with a Wii Balance Board) and the soon to be released Samsung Gear VR. My interest is definitely coming from the angle of a designer, and what possibilities there may be to improve both the design of a 3D product within a VR environment, and then sharing this with a client or student. The digital revolution encompasses almost every possible industry from business and law to design and technology, and VR seems like another area similar to 3D printing that is growing exponentially across all these disciplines.

So, on a high (or maybe just still dizzy from the hover board!) I’ve taken a tiny little step into this world by purchasing some lenses so I can make my own Google Cardboard device that pairs with my phone (lenses cost $3.75 on Ebay, the cardboard and other bits I already have lying around). Sure it’s not perfect, but there’s nothing wrong with baby steps! And the idea of ‘making’ my own hardware is definitely interesting as I sit next to a 3D printer…. So many ideas!!!

Thanks Lex Van Cooten for organising the event and opening this new world to me. If anyone has their own experiences or tips I’d love to hear them, just leave me a comment 🙂

– Posted by James Novak