October 07, 2024
You’d have to define what “totally immersive” means to be able to answer even remotely accurately.
Are you talking about full 6 degrees of freedom? (it already exists commonly) Are you talking about “untethered” headsets? (Oculus is coming out with one this year)
Are you talking about virtual experiences where whatever you physically do correlates directly to what you do in the virtual world? (it already exists in a rough state)
Are you talking about haptics, like when you can physically feel resistance and possibly “weight” of objects that are in the virtual world, but not the real world? (it already exists in a rough state, although it is cost prohibitive)
Are you talking about advanced haptics, like when you can feel the texture of an object, or the change in temperature of objects or the air around you?
Are you talking about olfactory (smell) aspects to virtual experiences? (it already exists in a limited number of experiences)
Are you talking about digital avatars that perfectly map to your most detailed movements? (ie. micro facial expressions, flexed muscles, etc - rather than gross movements like joint bends)
Are you talking about virtual experiences that look as real as real life? (it already exists, although it’s pre-recorded content)
Are you talking about completely nixing digital avatars, and somehow (essentially) projecting your real body into the virtual world?
Are you talking about not requiring a headset at all, and simply interacting with holographic projections, like Star Trek?
Are you talking about communicating with digitally crafted stories using deep learning and/or artificial intelligence?
If you are, do you interact with those elements with both verbal and non-verbal communication? How detailed does that need to be?
The list of questions goes on and on, and some rely on others, while some conflict with others. In essence, virtual reality technology will continue to progress to make things feel more and more real. Each of these steps will require new technology, new hardware, new software, advanced processing power, and a lot of money. So it’s really a question of how much people want to go from where we are now to the next level.
