The Oculus Rift and Wearable Technologies
The Oculus Rift is a wearable virtual reality (VR) technology. This technology has three main components: a headset which provides the sound and the visuals for complete immersion into the virtual world; touch controllers to track hand movements and to recreate these movements in the virtual reality, in real-time; and two sensors to read the body’s movements and to translate them into VR.
Human factors determine the direction of new technologies. Equipment and devices have to be designed to fit the human form, and to complement the body’s cognitive abilities as much as possible. This is especially true in wearable technologies, where comfort and improved user experience (UX) is the priority for any design team. The implication for designers is to reassess their priorities, and to begin shifting from human-screen interfaces and to concentrate on full-body immersive UX.
The current ideas of UX design concentrate on immersive user interfaces. Recent technologies like the oculus rift transport the user into a VR environment to recreate as much of the real world and some real-world laws – but without the real-world limitations, into the VR world. As a user interaction designer in this new technological environment, I am challenged to move away from the human-screen interfaces that I grew up with and have become accustomed to.
To create a completely immersive experience, I am challenged to think outside the box and develop a UX system that stimulates not just the visual and audio senses, but other sensory organs as well. I can design a wearable accessory that vibrates at specific areas when these parts interact with the physical components of the virtual reality. Smell and taste are challenging to replicate. But with the current trends in technology, it is only a matter of time before wearable technology can activate all body senses.
Works Cited
“Oculus Rift | Oculus”. Oculus.Com, 2020, https://www.oculus.com/rift/. Accessed 4 Aug 2020.