You *have* to try this ASAP: Virtual Reality Headset!

Ok, so yesterday I had some extra time and was just browsing around in a Best Buy store as I sometimes like to do. With the pace of change in technology, even if I’m not actively looking to get something, I still like to see what all the latest stuff is and try things out.

So they had this Gear VR headset demo on the table with the Samsung phones and I tried it for the first time ever. OMFG! It is really amazing! If you’ve never tried a headset like the Gear VR before, I highly recommend that you do so. You won’t be disappointed!

Ok so the Gear VR is made by Oculus who also make the Rift headset which I haven’t tried yet but, given the ultra-high minimum hardware requirements to run it, I can only guess that its beyond mind-blowing.

Sadly, it looks like by the time I will be able to afford a laptop that meets the minimum hardware requirements to power the Rift, it will be many years from now. Also, Lenovo seems to only have one laptop that can handle it, and that model is not in their Thinkpad line and doesn’t have a Trackpoint so I would never get it. But one day I’m sure that there will be Thinkpad models with the power to support the Rift or whatever comes next. I am looking forward to that day!

In the meantime, a realistic goal over the next couple years will be to get one of the Samsung phone models which support the Gear VR and get the Gear VR headset because even that is amazing.


UPDATE: There is also another virtual reality headset that is out and receiving a lot of attention: the HTC Vive. In one review I read it got a higher rating than the Rift. But it also is very expensive.

One other thing I will mention is that these virtual reality headsets, as far as I can tell, are at the moment aimed for gaming. While it certainly is an amazing experience to just be in any type of virtual reality world, including a pure fantasy one such as with a game, think of the possibilities beyond gaming: Having meetings with people, flying around Earth and checking things out, walking through a library or some kind of VR reference space, being in some kind of VR control room, VR design or creative spaces.

I even thought of another idea: Imagine if you wanted to have some kind of dating app where you could actually meet and see what people fully look like in VR. But then, you might worry that someone could be using a fake body or a body that has been altered or enhanced. Perhaps there could be some type of way to verify each person’s identity in the same way that an ID card is created, where you would step naked into some kind of machine and it would take an accurate, 3-D scan of your body which would then be somehow digitally locked.

Perhaps there could be public booths where you could pay a few dollars and have your 3D VR body scan generated and output onto an SD card or USB flash drive.

Then you could take your “self” into your VR world and do things like change your wardrobe or your makeup, but would not be able to change your actual body which would be digitally locked.

Then if you met people in a VR meeting place you would know what they really look like and decide whether you’re interested in them or not.

Maybe you could even “get physical” with other people in VR spaces which might help people who are timid or shy. It might be therapeutic to be able to go into some place in VR and meet and touch people freely just to experience it.


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