This is just a beginning

Three years ago when I decided to study in Malaysia, Frankly speaking I’d not heard anything about Virtual reality at that time. I just wanted to join Game companies as a designer; therefore I thought that my best choice would be Animation. However, after I talked with one of my new friend at that time (Kourosh), and did a research, he gave me some new information about Virtual reality and the advantages of it in games also. Now I should be thankful because of him, since I really feel that I’m in a right way in these days. Moreover, I realized that Virtual Reality is not just about the game and it give us an opportunity to use it everywhere anytime in our real life. It’s just like a science that I can apply it everywhere and make the crowd to wonder.

Finally I should say something about experiential studies class. I know we need to make something since we are in creative multimedia faculty but I feel it would be much better if we could have some courses like experiential studies more even for other majors too. Since it gave us some information and experience that we did not have before and push us to think what Virtual Reality is…

Augmented City

Recently one of the video that I could found in Vimeo’s website is about Augmented Reality which I should admit that I am much more interested on it sometimes even more than Virtual Reality. Anyway in this video which is for Keiichi Matsuda (freelance designer and film-maker), we’ll see a small part of benefit of Augmented Reality which is really remarkable. According to his website "Keiichi's research examines the implications of emerging technologies for human perception and the built environment, focusing on the integration of media into everyday life. He has a multi-disciplinary approach to his work, using a mixture of video, motion graphics, interaction design, and architecture to create vibrant "hyper-real" environments where the distinctions between physical and virtual start to dissolve."

(http://www.keiichimatsuda.com/)

Moreover, here is the 3d link with much better quality.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TL80ScTLlM)

The Experience Society

Once open a time as I remember people would like to talk about 2dimensional stuff and then after that it comes to 3D and even 4D, but now I would like to say that era has been passed now it’s a time of a 5D evolution. We are all living in this world which is updating itself every moment. We as a human can’t stop the technology which is moving forward so fast every single moment just because of the time and I do believe that because of ourselves. So, everything will be much more in advanced and one of the sciences which is still new and has a long way to go is Virtual reality. Since technology improve and can offer new stuff to VR, Virtual reality will be performing much and more enhanced and innovative. So, day by day it will become more common than the past and people can use it, maybe in every single work that they are going to do. Education is a good example for that, moreover experts believe that with VR students will have different types of experience from study for sure since they can interact. Now imagine that what if the computer interacts with them too. The result will be really a big success for us and it will help human in a far far away future. Even there are lots of other examples too like using Virtual Reality in medical which is truly is one of the best benefit of using VR for human. I think the world that we live in right now will defiantly change, and I should add here Virtual Reality is the future of our world with all the advantages and disadvantages. Thus, it’ll be much enhanced to work on it and improve it as much as all of us can, since each of us is part of that virtual world.

Exploring Second Life(International Spaceflight Museum)

Well International Spaceflight Museum has many parts. Since I teleported there I found myself into some sort of dome shape which was like a atmosphere and I could choose different planet and go there, even in some of them I had a 360 degree view like Mars. To me the museum is good enough I mean base on the design, modeling, texturing and even in some part lighting. Everything was very well organized and everybody could have a chance to move around and see most of the stuff about spaceflight. Moreover we could have different types of interactions about that, but there is only a problem. I felt that interactions could not really satisfied visitors because they were simple, however I should say that for those kinds of interactions we should use from the technology of virtual reality in a real life to give a user a real feeling. I mean it is fine to go to spaceflight museum and have look around and get some information about different types of shuttles, new rockets and a full-size version of the Vehicle Assembly Building and also other things, but since it comes to interactions, it can’t really satisfy the user because user have to feel it in a real life to get the real experience.

Totally the museum was good enough based on the information that gave to the user which was useful enough. And one thing that I really liked about that museum was the tour guide machine. I could get a free ride and moved around the museum and visited some parts of it which was inimitable by itself rather than other museums.

Exploring Second Life(SS Galaxy Cruise Ship)

Here at the beginning I have to say SS Galaxy Cruise Ship is a phenomena. I should say that it was really huge and since just go in there can find thousands of interesting interactions. As I just teleported there I found myself in front of the entrance of the ship, and I noticed a board which was writing on it this message “Weapons of any kind prohibited”. Well I did not know that before which everybody can have a gun in Second Life and I was thinking why they need that since it’s a virtual world. To be frank I do not have any idea but it was grabbing my attention and forced me to think about Second Life in a different way.

After that I moved into the ship and I witnessed a very well design and good-looking lobby. Moreover, the good point there was the secretaries. I could get every types of information about the ship or even events from them. I should admit that everything in SS Galaxy was different than other places which I’ve visited before. To be honest that ship was more than a Virtual place. It was really cool because whoever has not tried some sort of ship like that before can go there and take a true understanding about it.

Everybody could go there and rent a room or suit and even they could rent a suit for honeymoon which was interesting for me and after a while that I moved around I found out that even we can rent a special atrium or hall for wedding ceremony. I should say that I could not believe that first. How come people would like to marry with each other in a VIRTUAL world? And that’s why I felt that we are going to a new era which is a Virtual era.

In SS Galaxy people can do everything. They can go to gym, have look at the art museum, go to the dance hall and have fun there or try different types of interactions like the skydiving pod which was really unbelievable for me and gave me different experience.

AT the end I would like to give a comment about the way that design the ship and I must say that SS Galaxy is a great work in Second Life, Even the lighting and texturing are great enough and there is no doubt on that. Moreover the interactions are so unique by themselves. Totally the atmosphere of the ship is really nice and exclusive and it will give an incredible experience to the user which is the main point and the aim of VR designers.

Exploring Second Life(Tropical Island Surfing)

The first thing which was obviouse during visiting is that the Tropical Island is much smaller than the other places that I’ve been visited. It’s a very small place that we can try surfing there. Well the atmosphere was good enough I mean I could really feel that I am in that place for surfing and fun. One of the thing that I really liked there were the sea waves. They were really nice designed and orgenized, and gave me a feeling like a real wave of course in Virtual World. So, everyone which was interested enough could try and enjoy from the surfing. Even I think that maybe for those who have not tried it or affraied of it can go there and try, it may help them in the future since they have already some expirences from Virtual world.

Tropical Island had some other activities too like sitting next to the big fire in a night with friends and enjoy the night and few other things too.

Exploring Second Life(Kowloon Walled City)

Kowloon is Weird; there is no doubt on that. I have never seen such a city or much better to say neighborhood like that before. As soon as I entered I tried to find someone which was old enough there, and I found one. According to my Japanese friend Kowloon is part of Hong Kong and it is an urban area, she gave me some useful information that I will share here with all of you. In Kowloon as I noticed it’s very easy to lose my way out since there are lots of old building there and most of them were similar ,even streets.

So at that time my friends helped me to showed me around and also read the note cards for me since most of them were in Japanese language. Kowloon is really great for those who like to have an experience just like a Midian City. Moreover, the atmosphere in Kowloon showed that it’s a really crowed and cramped city. We could realize that by looking at houses, shops and all other things.

In Kowloon you might find lots of activities and interactions which for most of them you need to pay the use them, and some of them were on Japanese language so we might not understand. Well According to my Japanese friend, we need to walk inside of each street and even houses, not just fly, to see what’s going on there and also find interesting places.