Topic: What would be great VR games and dangers of VR.

What will make great VR games and what will be the dangers from VR

I think it may cause permanent eye damage.

Pretty sure they made sure it doesn't do that. Otherwise there would be a bunch of lawsuits.

@Tasuki: The can put a warning notice on it.

Yeah that will make it a huge seller. Remember what happened to the Virtual Boy and the 3DS when they had all those warnings?

I think House of the Dead could be huge on VR I would be working on that if I was SEGA

From the NHS website.

What causes short-sightedness?

Short-sightedness usually occurs when the eyes grow slightly too long.

This means that light doesn't focus on the light-sensitive tissue (retina) at the back of the eye properly. Instead, the light rays focus just in front of the retina, resulting in distant objects appearing blurred.

It's not clear exactly why this happens, but it often runs in families and has been linked to focusing on nearby objects, such as books and computers, for long periods during childhood.

Ensuring your child regularly spends time playing outside may help to reduce their risk of becoming short-sighted

Short sightedness is becoming more prevalent, I read an article a few months ago were leading scientists have warned that by 2050 50% of the population will be short sighted. VR will definitely have an effect on your eyesight.

In terms of what can make a great VR game, well I think that there is no specific genre that will benefit more from VR than others. I think any game that can give you the first person perspective will benefit more. Therefore most genres and game-play elements can work - shooters, hack and slash, racing/driving/flying, RPG's, linear stories etc. I can't see anything like CoD/BF, Fallout (in 1st person) etc being available in VR for at least a generation or two. The extra frame rates and the 'motion controls' take up a lot of processing meaning the hardware has a lot less power available for running the games.

The dangers of VR are of course damage to the eyes and maybe even psychological damage too. Spending hours in VR on a very regular basis could alter the way the body senses the real world. There is also the physical dangers of the real world around you. Not being able to see your actual surroundings could result in injury to you (or others) as well as potential damage to property - especially if you are swinging your arms around 'hacking and slashing'. I can see it being 'easy' to forget that real objects, such as walls or even another person, could be very close and as you duck and dodge something in game, collide into these. In the VR Playroom video, this nearly happens on a couple of occasions too!.

Blindfolding (as this essentially is) and wearing a headset is an accident waiting to happen. I know a lot will be 'sensible', play in a safe area and use it sparingly but you know others won't. It does come with an 'age' rating - for over 12's I believe - probably because of the growth and development of childrens eyes/brain.

I am sure Sony will have a set of guidelines, like play in a clear space of at least 3m x 3m, take 15min breaks in every hour etc so that IF anyone does have an injury or issue, they can absolve themselves of any blame.

Well the first buyers are the ones who are the test subject.

I think the best game could be tearaway VR.

Some games will cause motion sickness for sure.

I am guessing there will be warnings do not wear for under x age and do not use for more than 2 hours without break etc. But honestly if it was a risk to damaging eyesight then it would not be coming on the market. If you have pre-existing conditions which are caused worse by use then thats the uers fault. Equally if the user ignores the warning then cause damage I have no symathy. The biggest risk for me is getting lost in the world of VR and not going to work.

I like the idea I want to keep on the side on this

I don't imagine there will be any long term physical effects from the VR - though it wouldn't surprise me. To me, the dangers are more existential -not to sound pretentious, but having an extensive background in philosophy it's impossible for me not to apply it to technology. VR represents the single most immersive technology of a persons subjectivity. I don't want to rant to long about this, but the implications of people essentially spending far too much time in an alternate reality could be seriously damaging not only to a persons self, but also to basic social interaction - just look at all the teenagers on their cell phones when they don't have an idea on how to reach in new and different social situations.

Then, taking into account that a person's brain reacts to video game stimuli AS IF IT IS REALITY, producing the same hormones and physiological responses of fight or flight as it would in a real situation (remember that time your blood pressure and heart rate was through the roof when exploring a haunted cave in Skyrim). This will clearly be amplified with VR. Your conscious self awareness will inform you that it's a game, but your body reacts as if it's reality. But then, lets say you spend 8 hours a day in the device (which is not inconceivable, who hasn't done an 8 hr run on a game?) - then there will be serious discussions about the risks, no doubt.

All that being said, I really want to try it and see what it is like. It will probably be seriously nuts when they release a Call of Duty, or Fallout type game for it.

@BodyW-outOrgans: Well thought out point there, pity I missed it when you originally posted. I read a review, the reviewer actually stated once he took the headset off after testing 16 games on the spin he didn't feel like himself anymore, he couldn't shake that feeling. He was looking in the mirror and he knew something was different about himself but he didn't understand what it was.

@andrew20: I would love to see tour de France in vr with a bike accessory.

You never know, you could get trapped inside a game.
.Hack and Sword Art Online humour aside, as others have said eye issues would be the most likely side effect.

A big problem with VR is you forget where you are in relation to your surroundings. Any stand up and walk slightly games will leave you slamming into furniture.

Does anyone know if there is a means to communicate with someone immersed in PSVR other than tapping them on the shoulder and giving them a heart attack?

Will PSN messages and notifications work?