But is it possible that everything is part of the world of virtual reality?

WORLD VIRTUAL REALITY - But Is it possible that we use the term virtual so much and we still don’t know what is really virtual? The world of virtual reality has started to push forward in our lives for years now. However, the final launch was given by the restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic. For over a year we have been forced to carry on our activities at home. The web has allowed us to stay in touch and to reach spaces and places otherwise precluded to us, even before Covid. However, what we found online is a wide range of diversified products, wrongly defined by the same name: Virtual Reality. But is it appropriate to define anything replacing the reality online as virtual? My name is Rossano Tiezzi, and this is my opinion, as Advepa Communication’s commercial manager and responsible for their InSYNX Virtual Fairs, Events and Showrooms products.

What is virtual reality?

If nowadays you type on any search engine “virtual reality”, the results that appear in front of you are thousands. This is because many people peddle their offers for virtual reality, but they actually do something else. Perhaps we should shed light on what actually is virtual reality. Not everything you find online is virtual. Virtual is not offered by people who propose websites, interactive maps or a particular zoom. Virtual reality concerns only those technologies that can transpose the real world into virtual and make you interact with it.

What is the issue then?

A neophyte, approaching this world for the first time, is not able to make distinctions. He could purchase a product that is not what he was looking for, if the price seems affordable. Obviously the price of a product that does not belong to virtual reality is lower than an actual virtual reality product. Its affordable price is the first expedient to make you fall into the trap.

How can you distinguish between the world of virtual reality and what is not? 

When you know the truth, it is easy to make this distinction. Virtual reality is everything that transposes reality into a three-dimensional space, and allows you to interact with it. Inside of a virtual space you can move through an avatar, and arbitrarily choose what to see and where to go. For instance, it is possible to speak to the other avatars we meet, or to open interactive menu bars. In some well-created spaces it is also possible to change TV channels, to light a fire, to change the pictures on the walls and to turn the lights on and off. In cases where you make use of oculus viewers, everything becomes even more interactive.

If the product we receive does not allow us to do so, then it is not actual virtual reality. In fact, there are some technologies that can simulate virtual reality, but they are not. For instance, the technique of photographs and 360° virtual tours. In this case, the user is immersed in a virtual reality, but can only look at the surrounding environment, without the possibility of interaction. Direction in space is not chosen by the user, but by the space itself. Therefore, you go from being an active user to being passive.

How can you overcome this issue?

Unfortunately the virtual market is not very clear at the moment. There are too many crafty people, who peddle as virtual things that are not, in order to be successful. I ask you: how can someone who truly deals with virtual reality impose himself on others?

To read more about virtual reality and augmented reality, click here