It's All Fun in Virtual Reality

By Amanda Stone

If you look at the news, social media platforms, and YouTube channels, you’ll know that one thing is taking over our generation. And no, it’s not those creepy clowns. I’m talking about virtual reality (or VR for short). From Samsung to ViewMaster and Oculus, these companies are changing the way we look at the world forever. Some of the most popular models of VR tech include the Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and the updated ViewMaster.  These devices may be different in appearance, but they are bring a whole new way to see things.
           
You may be asking: “how do I use one of these virtual reality thingys?” Well, it’s quite simple.  Simply add your phone into the device and let the experience begin. The problem at hand is for iPhone users as the VR headsets are mainly for Android phones, and some IPhone users aren’t happy. But social media platform Facebook is trying to bring the experience to both iPhone and Android users.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called VR the next frontier for “great software experiences.” “More than a million people actively use virtual reality products every month,” Zuckerberg said.  “The first step is getting the basic hardware out there.”

“This is happening at a faster rate than any of us had expected. The next phase of virtual reality is building great software.”

The latest major use of VR equipment is at Six Flags parks (United States) that have transformed their most famous coasters such as Skull Mountain and SUPERMAN: Ultimate Flight into the first-ever VR coaster experiences. Fans of the park have called the experiences “truly stunning” and “a work of technological art.”

An employee of Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, said that “this is bringing a whole new way to ride Skull Mountain, and I think that shouldn’t be only a seasonal thing, but a year round attraction because the amount of people we have gotten on the ride has been truly remarkable.”  

Now we wonder how will virtual reality impact our future lives, but only time tells.

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