In light of the recent pandemic, stay at home orders are causing people to feel confined, isolated, and anxious. For WIRED’s Chelsea Leah, VR (Virtual Reality) became an unexpected tool for staying active and relieving stress during this period. Through meditation, exploration, socializing, and movement, she describes how she overcame her initial skepticism to make VR part of her regular routine. Here are some of the applications she discovered:
Meditation: Reef migration, as the name suggests, is an underwater VR environment in which one can explore a coral reef and interact with marine life.
“The graphics are wonderful, the sounds are peaceful, and there’s enough passive action to keep my brain entertained. The best part? I’m not wet or cold, and I don’t need to go up for air”
Exploration: Google’s VR version of Google Earth allows anyone who may feel homesick to revisit places from their childhood through their VR headsets.
“Simply being able to see these places in VR helped me cope with the nostalgia and longing to go somewhere”.
Socializing: Rec Room is a social space where people from all over the world can play games and do other activities together.
“I recognize the subtle head and arm movements of my individual friends, making it feel as though we truly are in the same room together.”
Movement: Beat Saber challenges players to physically slash through rapidly approaching music blocks with a virtual lightsaber.
“anything that mixes pop music with light sabers is destined for success.”
The Foretell Reality platform leverages the strengths of VR for professional use cases including tools and environments for therapy and support, soft skills training, and business collaboration.
