I downloaded Vrse at the recommendation of my friend. He told me it was snippets of random stuff, and that it is.
First Impressions When you open it, you scroll down and it a series of banners that are like movie posters. The first one I see at the top is called, "The Source" from charity:water. I was in an area without wifi and attempted to stream this because downloading wasn't an option. I discourage this method, at least in a place with conditions like mine. The picture quality was awful and intermittent. When I'm finally back at wifi, I reopen the app and keep scrolling until something interests me, and finally stop at at NYTVr's "Take Flight" it the cover photo looks creepy enough, with a girl suspended in the air in the classic horror movie garb of a white nightgown. She's contorted into an pseudo Exorcist style position. Naturally I gravitate toward this one. Download. Experience Wow. You start on the ground of what I think is New York City (the fact I can't tell immediately says a something of both me and the app, I suppose), then slowly but briskly, you start to levitate! It REALLY FEELS as if you are ascending. It's wild. Within a few seconds you're in space. Creepy factor also ascends to another level, as people start appearing. Celebrities. Stationary. Why aren't they moving? I think to myself. They're just suspended there all around you as you look around. Then, without warning, in the distance someone comes running toward you and shards of glass fly in your face as if he has broken glass to run toward you. He's not in love with you ladies, I'm not sure what the point is, but it looks cool AF. I'm not sure who put shards of glass on the drawing board, but I got goosebumps because I knew my face should be getting cut up and it wasn't. Lots of conflicting emotions here, as you can see. Pain, wonder, pleasure, awe, fear... it's like really nothing that I know to describe or have an imagination wild enough to make an accurate analogy. Then all of a sudden, you begin to fall, it's sudden. Then you're on the ground. The End. ... Some of the other titles include: A History of Cuban Dance The Displaced (NYT) My Mother's Wing Virtual Giving Trip brought to you by Toms Walking New York (NYT Magazine) As you may deduce from the titles, these are largely videos that will take you to difference places and or experiences. Very serious ones, in fact. They are cool, interesting topics from a educational perspective, not really for getaway entertainment. Last Word: Would download it, but not sure how often content will be refreshed for me to keep it on as a stationary app. Content seems to be quality. Nicely curated list of videos. Update as of 5/11/16- never actually opened it again after this experience. Nothing compelling to bring it back. Deleted the app to free up storage. Nice to try it once.
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My brother got this birthday present that he couldn't figure out so I decided I would tinker with it. I've worked in tech in the past in non-technical positions but anyone not in tech in SV will assume that you are great with computers or anything related, and throw hardware problems with you as if you're a doctor and they handed you a stethoscope, with eyes that say, "do something, fix it now."
This present was Cardboard, as pictured above. (www.imcardboard.com). As you can see from the photos, the packaging is pretty, but not friendly to anyone that isn't familiar with VR. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person and had some challenges figuring it out, so did my brother, who was better in school, so even better at following instructions than me. First Impressions: Looks Initial impressions: wtf is this? Looks super cool, but wtf is this? I must investigate. "On-Boarding": Personality Let's analyze the instructions: There are three basic steps. Super easy to follow because they are physical actions with the headset. The only instruction beyond that is to Scan your QR Code. There's a QR code on the side. I was like, ok, I will download a QR reader. Downloaded. I try to scan it. It comes up blank. Hmmm what now? I'll go to the website. Website tries to sell me more stuff. No salvation of any kind. Proceed to inspect packaging further, thinking, this shouldn't be that hard! There's a symbol on the back that says "Compatible with Google Cardboard." I thought to myself, ok, so it works with it, but that doesn't mean I need it right? Whatever, I'll just download it anyway. So I downloaded Google Cardboard App from the iOs App Store, insert the phone in the headset as instructed, and was on my way to the awesome demo that Google put together. What the Real Instructions Should Have Read: How to Use the DSCVR Cardboard: Step 1: Download Google Cardboard or any of the VR Apps listed on our Website (list some apps on the homepage of your site) Step 2-4: Current steps 1-3 on the box Step 5: Hold up the viewfinder and make sure the images are in focus. Enjoy! Experience: How Was It? It was amazing. I felt like I saw a new color. I felt like I saw the future. I felt like I was in the Matrix. I felt like I was 9 and it was 1997 and I was running out of websites to go to but wanted to go to more. That's what started the love. I truly believe VR and AR are the future. The demo was simple, you can choose from a tutorial, explorer, exhibit, urban hike, kaleidoscope, and arctic journey. The best way I can describe it is that you hold up these glasses and look around and everything is exactly as it would appear as if you were there. Let's say we took an Urban Hike in Paris. Look to your left, some guard rails and tourists. Look up, it's the Effiel Tower, look to your right, trees, pavement and a walking path. Look behind you? Some people cuddling on a blanket (not really, but if they wanted to make it more real, then yes). Or what if we were in the Artic? A bird pops up. You wanna know more about the bird. Why wonder when you can find out?! Move your eyesight next to the bird, press the button on the googles and violia! Instant info. The point is, all the things we yearn for, to discover, to be, to learn, to experience, to feel, etc etc are possible. It's early. The graphics are okay. But the point is, in the future, we don't have to wait. The future is now. Time is the only thing we can't get back; make the most of it. Possible / Actual Cons: Kind of a pain to hold up, but you shouldn't be on there for long, which btw, I was informed after I was using it long enough to get a headache, that you're NOT SUPPOSED TO USE IT MORE THAN 15 MINUTES. Yes, that key info was also omitted from the packaging. Investment: The price is right. I saw it's 2 USD to 30 USD! Can get up and running in minutes. Final Say: Yes, it's a nice entry level headset that got my interest piqued! Would happily give it to friend to try out. |
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