And of course some prototypes merely seek to increase the resolution of the screens; all current VR systems fall far short of the level of detail needed to achieve 20/20 vision on a standard eye test. The current prototype only covers part of our range of vision and obviously needs to be connected to a powerful computer to generate complex enough images.
A collection of Meta’s current prototype headsets.
“If we can make enough progress on retinal resolution, if we can build proper systems for focal depth and if we can reduce optical distortion and dramatically increase vividness, then, we have a real shot overall at creating displays that can do justice to all the beauty and complexity of physical environments,” Zuckerberg said.
“And at the same time we’re working on how to package all these different technologies into smaller, lighter, and ultimately affordable headsets.”
Yet while visual realism seems to be where the industry is focusing much of its efforts, it’s only one small part of making systems that can truly trick you into thinking you’ve been transported somewhere else.
“The real challenge lies in the fact that we humans integrate our senses together. Yes, your visual system is being stimulated, but your other senses don’t accord with what you’re seeing,” said Professor Spike Barlow of UNSW Canberra.
An artist’s rendering of a potential Apple headset.Credit:Ian Zelbo
In fact having perfectly realistic visuals and no tactile sensory data to match could increase so called VR sickness, or the dislocation and nausea you can feel when there’s a mismatch between senses, which is the exact kind of thing innovations like Meta’s varifocal lenses are trying to circumvent.
“We can get higher visual acuity, but it’s insufficient. It will not convince you that you are there. Getting to a full immersive virtual or simulated environment is going to require a much more invasive connection to the human body,” Barlow said.
Truly tricking a mind into believing it’s somewhere else would require stimulation of all five senses, plus internal faculties such as our visceral senses and inner ear. This could be done with full body suits, invasive machines and rigs that moved a human body around, or it could be done with brain implants. But all this is a long time away, if it ever eventuates at all. For now, experiences will rely on sights and sounds.
“The best VR applications at the moment pay attention to and create experiences where the other senses are not as important,” Barlow said. “So you might be floating in a balloon above a field of flowers, but you’re not going to be able to get out and touch them or smell them.”
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So what kinds of new headsets are we expecting to see in the future? Meta has been open about its work on a device it calls Project Cambria, which may be close to market. It’s reportedly a slimmer and lighter, but also more powerful, version of its popular Quest 2 which can pass through a full colour high resolution view of the real world. This would mean it could handle all the VR tasks the current headset can, as well as augmented reality.
And Apple has been rumoured for a long time to be working on a “mixed reality” headset, which like Cambria would allow both VR and AR. Recent copyrights and Apple software have made reference to RealityOS, which indicates the headset and its operating system may not be far away. When asked last week by Chinese media what Apple thought about the future of AR and VR, chief executive Tim Cook said “I could not be more excited about the opportunities in the space. Stay tuned and you will see what we have to offer.”
But while next year could finally be a watershed year for consumer VR and AR, led by Apple and Meta, we could be waiting a lot later for the true promise of perfect virtual worlds to be realised.
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