BY MICAH REINKE
On the evening of December 2nd, located at The Venue in Hays, Science Cafe presented “A Range of Realities: VR, AR, MR, XR and Beyond”, a talk by Gordon S. Carlson, PhD, an Associate Professor of Communication Studies and the Institute for New Media Studies at Fort Hays State University.
Carlson described the differences between virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) and explained how a virtual world is not always digital.
“If you’ve ever read a book and imagined the people or places within that book you have made a virtual reality. Transportation is leaving the real world and making a new one, even if it is imaginary,” Carlson said.
He expanded on that topic telling the audience that a storyteller creates a VR world for those listening to the story, and how the storyteller themselves is a VR author. Furthermore, he explained how mixed reality (MR) is when an individual loses track of what is real and what is not real.
A key aspect that Carlson described the use of VR for is training of individuals in combat situations.
“VR can be used in video game-like scenarios where individuals must solve problems and overcome obstacles in military or combat situations that may become a real situation in the future,” Carlson said. “This is useful to select people that are highly skilled in these areas, even if they have no military training.”
One very useful example of how VR is used to help keep people safe is a VR ship that was created in Norway, this ship was made to create emergency scenarios that teach people how to escape from the ship unharmed, this is extremely useful in testing the design of the ship and training individuals that will be on that ship out on the water.
Some of Carlson’s own work includes a VR test that makes small areas seem large by altering the virtual world an individual is in, this can also be used to create a mock-emergency such as a fire, training first responders to act quickly as it aids in a realistic emergency situation.
“VR can also be used to test fire suits while using realistic materials that would be used to keep firefighters safe, but utilizing virtual fire so no one is harmed in the testing of these suits,” Carlson said.
Virtual reality among other realities can be very useful and helpful for society in today’s day and age and on into the future.