Virtual reality is a computer-generated 3D environment that can be interacted with by the user. It aims to fully immerse the user by engaging multiple senses. The document discusses both benefits and drawbacks of VR, including its potential to treat mental health issues, foster relationships, provide escapism, and influence various industries like marketing, journalism, and social media. However, it may also cause issues like developing false realities and addictions. The document also outlines both expensive and inexpensive ways for users to experience VR.

1. VIRTUAL REALITY
Cullen Ormond

2. WHAT IS VIRTUAL REALITY //
■ Virtual Reality Society claims that virtual reality is, “a three-dimensional,
computer generated environment which can be explored and interacted
with by a person. That person becomes part of this virtual world or is
immersed within this environment and whilst there, is able to manipulate
objects or perform a series of actions.”
■ “Virtual reality is the creation of a virtual environment presented to our
senses in such a way that we experience it as if we were really there,”
(Virtual Reality Society, 2015).
■ Therefore, Virtual Reality is a way to force the senses to believe and interact
with a world that is not there – but feels as though it is.

3. WHAT IS VIRTUAL REALITY
(continued) //
■ The YouTube channel, Mashable explains what virtual reality actually is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBNH8tzsfVM
■ Morgan Spurlock, from Inside Man shows what virtual reality could feel like to
some users: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-TYDQa7Oo0
■ Some virtual realities are more immersive than others. Some are played on the
computer like the program, Second Life that allow you to disengage easier.While some
are more overwhelming.A study at the University of Stanford created a simulation
that convinced its users that they were cutting down a tree.

4. BENEFITS OF VIRTUAL REALITY //
■ FORMATION OF RELATIONSHIPS
■ PROVIDES AN ESCAPE
■ SOMETIMES SERVES AS A SOURCE OF INCOME
■ INFLUENCES NETIQUETTE
■ BUSINESSES HAVE BEEN DRAWN TO IT
■ SOURCE OF IMMORTALITY
■ BENEFITS WAR VETERANS PTSD/OTHER
■ SERVES AS A CREATIVE OUTLET

5. FORMATION OF RELATIONSHIPS //
■ In the documentary, Life 2.0 created by Jason Spingarn-Koff, two people, who
were both married at the time, found each other and became ’soul-mates’
through the virtual reality computer game Second Life. Their love was strong
enough to leave their partners and start a life together.
■ In an article written by Max of Appcessories, he quotes an interesting statement,
“The way people find love will completely revolutionalise and more than 70% of
all couples will owe their relationships to virtual reality, according to Romain
Bertrand, UK Manager, eHarmony,” (2015).
■ Dr. James D. Ivory states in his book, Virtual Lives: A Reference Handbook, “In
Fact, some researchers have concluded that rather than being addicted, heavy
players of MMPORGs are simply people who choose pursue socialization online
rather than offline,” (Ivory, 2012).

6. ALLOWS FOR AN ESCAPE //
■ James Paul Gee, professor at the Arizona State University, states in the
documentary Digital Nation, “When you think about it, for most of human time on
earth, you couldn't be any different then you were born. If you were born a peasant,
that was it. If I came along to that guy and said, you know, "You're going to be a
peasant for all your life, but I've got this world you can enter where you can be a
king," who wouldn't have played it?”
■ Virtual reality allows people who are not fully satisfied with their lives, the ability to
become someone else – even if just for a little bit.
■ Ray Kurzweil predicts, “By the 2030s, virtual reality will be totally realistic and
compelling and we will spend most of our time in virtual environments ... We will all
become virtual humans.” This is the ultimate form of escapism.
■ Monica Kim, of the Atlantic, states, “virtual reality is a game changer. With VR, it is
possible that instead of simply escaping reality by focusing on a TV show, for
example, people may choose to replace an unhappy reality with a better, virtual one.

7. SERVES AS AN INCOME //
■ In the documentary, Life 2.0 one of the main characters used the game Second
Life as her vital, only source of income. In the documentary, she claims to be
making a six figure income from her work on Second Life.
■ The woman in the film is so dedicated to her work that when her work becomes
stolen she hires a lawyer in reality to solve the problem in her virtual reality.
Steve Thomas comments on this by saying, “It takes this woman a year to
redesign and protect her intellectual property.”
■ From a marketing stance, virtual reality allows its users to preform the word-of-
mouth way of advertising. With virtual reality you interact with strangers that live
around the world, it is the perfect place to share product information.

8. INFLUENCES NETIQUETTE //
■ In the documentary, Digital Nation, Philp Rosedale who is the creator of the
virtual reality, Second Life stated, “I think that our society today, you know, we
are alienated from each other and from the world around us…I think that when
people go into virtual worlds, the sense of being physically near each other
causes them to behave much better than they do, say, in email or instant
messaging.”
■ Jeremy Bailenson, founding director of Stanford University’s Virtual Human
Interaction lab, credits virtual reality for making people more understanding. He
states, “Anything is possible in VR. You can become 70 years old, a different
race, or a different gender, and have to walk a mile in that person’s shoes and
experience discrimination against that person.”
■ E-mail, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter are all impersonal ways of
communicating with people. With virtual reality, you are able to hear the person’s
voice and tone – therefore, allowing you to be more sympathetic and understand
of the things they say.

9. BUSINESSES ARE INTERESTED //
■ The virtual reality, Second Life has several companies that believed they could
sell and advertise products through this mechanism. Companies such as
American Apparel, Coca-Cola, and even Nissan all took part in creating entities
in this world.
■ Mbryonic states four reasons why virtual reality campaigns are better: 1)
Immersive 2) Impactful 3) Memorable 4) Novel. The article also provides a
couple of brands who are beginning to use virtual reality as a means to
campaign. Some companies are, McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Merrell, Top-Shop and
the list goes on and on.
■ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efd6WhPmTyU Here is an example of
Merrell’s campaign and how it was effective with their audience.
■ All companies want to be the first to do something major and leave a mark on
the way humans experience their product – this explains why companies are
gravitating towards virtual reality, because it is new and immersive.

10. SOURCE OF IMMORTALITY //
■ Obtaining an avatar through virtual reality has been rumored to boost or
influence immortality. For instance, once you pass away, your loved ones could
still communicate with you through your avatar.
■ Jon Austin of Express, explains a crazy phenomenon of the future, “Dr. Michio
Kaku says technology will be available for people to download their personality
to computer to create an avatar of themselves before they die. The theory is the
avatar will include that person's memories and personality, and through artificial
intelligence people will be able to continue to communicate as they would have
done in real-life.”
■ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvyxW_ff45Y This is a clip about Morgan
Spurlock’s quest to live forever and how he obtained his own avatar/hologram.

11. HELPS
PEOPLES’
MENTAL
HEALTH //
■ In the documentary, Digital Nation virtual reality
was used to help war veterans suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr.
Michael Kramer helps with this type of testing.
He explains how this kind of testing is beneficial
because, “Over time, their brain is able to say,
"OK, this is uncomfortable, this is unpleasant,
but it's not a life-threatening situation. I can tone
down the level of anxiety and stress.”
■ In an article written by Lindsey Hoshaw for
KQED Future of You she explains how Danny
Kurtzman, who has muscular dystrophy, used
virtual reality to surf. In the article, Kurtzman
states, “It gave me that awesome feeling —that
butterfly happiness feeling,” he says. “It allowed
me to experience something I thought I never
could experience.”
■ The two examples listed above provide insight
on how virtual reality can make people get over
their mental hurdles and embrace their lives to
the fullest.Danny Kurtzman

12. SECOND LIFE BENEFITS MENTAL
HEALTH OF USERS //
■ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDuq3vVuCeA

13. CREATIVE OUTLET //
■ Users of the Internet and social media, use these platforms to feel connected,
accepted and understood by the world around them. People love to share
creativity and virtual reality takes it a step further than traditional social media.
■ In an article written by Jason Ganz for the Singularity Hub, he states, “The artist,
for example, who can create his sculptures with no regard to the laws of
physics, or the genetic researcher who can fly over her datasets viewing big
data expressed in such a way as to drastically improve her insight. Virtual reality
has near limitless potential for creation.”
■ In virtual reality, the possibilities are endless – you are the creator and inventor
of your own world. This could inspire people to invent similar creations for
reality.

14. BENEFITS OF VIRTUAL REALITY //
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3EIpAcGWZA

15. DETRIMENTS OF VIRTUAL
REALITY //■ DEVELOPMENT OF A FALSE SENSE OF SELF
■ RELATIONSHIPS CAN BE BROKEN
■ PEOPLE FORGET THEIR REALITY
■ VIRTUAL REALITY ADDICTION

16. FALSE SENSE OF SELF //
■ In the documentary, Digital Nation tests were run at Stanford University where
children were told to believe they had once swam with whales. Jeremy Bailenson
reports how fifty percent of these children will state that they have swam with whales
in a physical state, “when they see themselves swimming around with whales in
virtual reality, a week later, half of them will believe that they swam with whales.”
■ Also in the documentary, Digital Nation, Bailenson ran a test showing how if a
subject believes they are eating chocolate rather than carrots they will report feeling
sick and full. Douglass Rushkoff states how, “His research shows how the
distinctions between real and virtual are becoming blurred, even interchangeable.”
■ This relates to social media platforms but on a larger scale. Social media platforms
allow for other users to understand a false sense of self about the person who is
posting. Typically, on social media – people post the best of our lives, people post
extravagant, adventurous, fun things that are not necessarily things we do on an
everyday basis.

17. BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS //
■ In his book, Virtual Reality: A Reference Handbook, Dr. James D. Ivory talks about the
negative effects of virtual reality on relationships. He states, “Perhaps the most
prominent example of virtual social relationships damaging offline relationships is
instances of virtual affairs (Kalning, 2007), where a partner in a romantic relationship
engages in virtual infidelity via avatars in a virtual world,” (Ivory, 2012).
■ In the documentary, Life 2.0 two main characters fell in love and would engage in
adulterous behavior with their avatars. For example, the avatars would participate in
sexual intercourse.
■ With the use of virtual reality, it is hard to figure out how to feel about these kind of
infidelities, especially how in some instances like with the Oculus Rift for example,
they’re not happening. Robert Weiss, therapist and expert on the relationship between
digital technology and human sexuality states, “It makes no difference if the cheating
occurred in person or online through the use of porn, webcams, social media, or some
other digital technology…A ‘virtual world’ affair is every bit as painful to a betrayed
spouse as an in-the-flesh affair.”

18. FORGETTING REALITY //
■ With the immersive nature and stimulation that virtual reality brings, constant
users of it could develop a false sense of reality and forget the real, human parts
of their lives.
■ Dr. Richard DeGrandpre, states, “The ultimate reason we're apt to be taking
flight from material reality,” he writes, “is to escape the expanding
unpleasantness of our inner and outer lives—a melange [mixture] of boredom,
restlessness, . . . anxiety, and depression.”
■ It is imperative when partaking in virtual reality to have a balance between one’s
literal, physical, real lives and the online world. With all technology - balance is
important.

19. VIRTUAL REALITY ADDICTION //
■ Most people have some addiction or obsession to traditional social media
platforms – humans are constantly being updated on their friends and family
members. Virtual reality takes it a step further by making the entire experience
immersive and inviting.
■ Already – virtual reality porn addiction is on the rise. In an article written by Dan
Sung for Wareable he states, “As with all online industries, though, what VR
porn might do is grow numbers in terms of absolute figures because of access.
There's no suggestion whatsoever that it would create sex addicts but it could
certainly provide a platform for a tendency that's already there.”
■ Having virtual reality porn become an addiction is frightening because it could
contribute to a false sense of intimacy. People who engage in these tendencies
could believe that sexual intercourse should be something that it’s not.

20. PRICEY WAYS TO OBTAIN VR //
■ The Oculus Rift is one of the most immersive virtual reality headsets yet.
According to IT Pro the headset can be pre-ordered and the prices are
beginning at $599.99.
■ IT PRO also states that the Oculus Rift will be available in March.

21. OVERVIEW OF THE OCULUS RIFT
//
■ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN6YCFlS8nU

22. INEXPENSIVE WAYS TO OBTAIN
VR //■ Google VR has released virtual reality glasses that
are so cheap, they’re available to practically anyone.
The Google VR cardboard glasses (yes, cardboard)
are beginning at $15.
■ To use the Google VR cardboard glasses, the user
must simply put their IPhone into the slot that the
glasses provide and download an application that
features virtual reality content, for example The New
York Times.
■ The glasses are so simple that the user must put the
glasses together themselves. This puts the power of
virtual reality in the hands of the people.

23. OTHER WAYS TO EXPERIENCE VR
//■ SIMS is another way to participate in virtual reality. In this game, users are free
to create entire lives (literally from birth to death), decorate and design houses,
and achieve their avatar’s aspirations. The SIMS 4 game (for example) begins
at $30.00 on Amazon
■ Another means of participating in virtual reality is Second Life. In order to
participate in this world all you need is a computer and time. The Second Life
world is generated entirely by its users. If a user wants a specific product on,
they can pay for it on their own terms.

24. FEATURES OF SIMS 4 //
■ SIMS 4 is a lot more expansive than ever before. This video shows how SIMS is
becoming more relatable to any type of person. For example, SIMS can now be
Tech Gurus.
■ Also, SIMS can now be morphed to look more and more like a real person.
■ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHPi_0iTCRk

25. HOW VR WILL EFFECT
MARKETING //
■ It was stated before how large corporations are gravitating towards virtual reality
to advertise their products. With the different uses of virtual reality increasing,
marketing strategies will become more oriented around virtual reality and
immersing the customer in their product.
■ For example, an idea for a soda brand would be to enable the viewers watching
the commercials to actually smell the aroma of their drink or hear the fizzling of it
directly into their ears.
■ Marketing will most likely benefit from the rise of virtual media because
consumers can be immersed within their product and see the benefits from it
easier and clearer.

26. HOW VR WILL EFFECT
JOURNALISM //
■ Virtual reality will increase the understanding of prime time news by their
viewers because it will allow viewers to actually be there and understand the
tragedies, celebrations, and politics much clearer.
■ For example, The New York Times has created a virtual reality application which
they share controversial stories. Here is a link to the video that The New York
Times created for their virtual reality application in which we can understand
how children who are driven from their homes because of war are affected.
■ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecavbpCuvkI

27. HOW VR WILL EFFECT SOCIAL
MEDIA //
■ Social media is already a platform that is open to sharing, with the rise of virtual
reality, friends and family members will be able to actually experience memories
with the ones they love, rather than just see them on a screen.
■ Virtual reality breaks the barriers, breaks the walls on our computer screens or
smart phones, it allows users to be present and in the moment, experiencing
with friends and families.
■ Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook is even interested in moving towards virtual
reality, he states when talking about the Oculus Rift, “is really a new
communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded
spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just
moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.”

28. HOW REAL VR CAN FEEL //
■ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7btxyIbQQ0&index=2&list=PLU8wpH_Lfhm
tKoee0Uv90nmscm5iezRoW
■ In the video above, it features a bear attempting to engage in an altercation with
a group of travelers. The video is super chilling, with 360 degree views and an
up-close look at the bear, it almost looks as though it is about to come through
the screen. There is also many sound effects throughout the video, hearing
murmurs of fear, heavy breathing, even the snow crunching beneath the
travelers shoes. This virtual reality experience was totally immersive.

29. CONCLUSION //
■ To conclude, the use of virtual
reality is going to become a
part of everyday life. It is an
experience that is too
immersive and expansive to
not be valued. It gives people
a new meaning to life and
allows them to feel better in
the virtual world, then reflect
those newfound feelings into
their real worlds.

30. THANK YOU