Video Gaming AFTER PS4 & Xbox One

Share on Facebook:
The PS4 and Xbox One have arrived! But what does the future of video games look like? Are virtual reality devices like the Oculus Rift the next, NEXT generation? What would a PS5 look like? New depths of sensory immersion could radically enhance the future of video games, so maybe we will just bring the game inside our head!
If you could turn any video game in all of history into a virtual reality immersive experience, what would it be? Let us know in the comments below!
--------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to Fw:Thinking:
For the audio podcast, blog and more, visit the Fw:Thinking website:
Fw:Thinking on Twitter:
Jonathan Stickland on Twitter:
Fw:Thinking on Facebook:
Fw:Thinking on Google+: /
[TRANSCRIPT]:
What if the next big video game took place inside your head?
Virtual reality is back, and new depths of sensory immersion could radically enhance the future of video games. But before we get into that, lets talk about getting in the zone. Like you're just able to sink shot after shot in that basketball game, or you're improvising a wicked riff on a guitar. Maybe you're finally writing that eleven-thousand-word long rant about the Star Wars prequels.
Being in the zone, or on a roll, is something psychologists call "flow." And it really is talking about a challenging and rewarding task. You know, when you hit the peak of difficulty and skill. Now we can engage flow through a variety of tasks, like creative works or athletic competition. But these days, one way we can often engage flow is through video games! In fact, video games have been stimulating flow for decades, from Galaga to Grand Theft Auto 5.
Now, making a game to simulate flow is a tricky business. It's actually quite delicate. If you make the game too difficult, it's frustrating. If you make it too easy, it's boring. But lets look at two other crucial factors. Number one, maximizing focussed attention, and number two, merging action and awareness. Now, can you think of any way video game hardware could help us further these two goals?
Bingo! Virtual reality! And ok, if you lived through the 90's like I did, virtual reality might make you cringe a little bit. Now no doubt it debuted well before it was ready. But it's ready now.
Look at the hardware like the Oculus Rift, which is just begging to be strapped to your skull. This is going to give you a sense of immersion like no other, and partially because of its low latency. That means that the in-game 3D tracking software tracks your gaze with no noticeable delay. It's like you are actually in the game.
But the level of immersion in video game control doesn't have to stop there. Lets get inside your head. Literally.
Early experiments have already shown that wired up monkeys can control cursor movement through thought. That's a precedent for a direct brain to video game interface! Now granted, I don't know who would undergo elective surgery just so that they could control a video game. Maybe for the next Half Life.
Or how about this? A little bit of research even shows that games might be able to induce lucid dreaming. That's the state you are in when you actually are aware that you're in a dream and you can control everything that happens. Right now this mostly happens by accident. But if we could design games to induce this state, every time you go to sleep you would be in the most immersive video game in the world. You'd be both the designer and the player controlling everything!