Virtual Reality & DIVE

After hearing the lecture in class and going to the DIVE I realized how many different kinds of (important) real world applications virtual worlds have. The way in which immersive virtual environments work and make the user solely interactive is something that simpler virtual, 2-D worlds have not acheieved. At the DIVE, being able to BE the avatar and interact with things/people as if it is real life and we were actually the avatars is something that is not possible in 2-D virtual worlds where we just instruct our avatars to do these things. This different representation allows us to understand the information in a new way that is more comprehensive because it is right there for us to see, be, etc., as well as understand different ways/processes in which these things work. Everything feels very real and natural although it is just a simulation. 

These virtual environments therefore could be very useful and important to many real life applications, especially in the sciences and with medicine and education. Being able to physically go through molecules, experience things in history, explore viruses and body parts, etc. is something that you cannot do by just look at a 3-D image on a screen, and could help us to find out much more through exploring different views. This is also especially helpful for students who are learning these things and can have a range of motion that will help them interact more thoroughly. 

I think that one of the downfalls of these virtual environments is that they have to be in confined spaces, so it is not as smooth as if we were in the real world where we can avert walls and immobile objects to get around, which was the case in the DIVE. Also, creating these spaces and the money it takes up may not be practical. However, while there are these "kinks" to work out I think that in the future these environments will definitely become more widespread and incorporate more 3-D aspects to improve the ways in which they are used and the ways in which virtual worlds that already exist operate.