The importance of teasing all the senses to achieve an authentic virtual reality experience was highlighted at a major conference on AR and VR.
Manchester Metropolitan University welcomed a selection of academics and industry experts to the second major staging of the Virtual and Augmented Reality Conference.
老九品茶Cloud was there to hear Coventry University researcher Sarah Jones, a former journalist, expressing her desire to explore the possibilities in the field.
鈥淚鈥檓 not interested in how聽VR works 鈥� I鈥檓 just interested in figuring out how to tell a story using it,鈥� she told a lecture theatre of students, businesspeople and academics.
鈥淲e have to find a different way of telling that story. It shouldn鈥檛 be treated the same way as traditional broadcasting or journalism.鈥�
Jones presented jointly with Steve Dawkins, associate head of the school of media and performing arts at Coventry University.
Their Perspectives VR project has produced a 鈥渕ultisensory film鈥� set in Chungking, Hong Kong.
Jones said that upon returning to the UK and viewing the footage in VR, it didn鈥檛 feel authentic 鈥� so they took the distinctly un-tech approach of setting up a tent at the RTS Virtual Reality and 360 degree Storytelling event.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 worry about health and safety 鈥� we put a heater in the tent and lots of curry spices and things like smelly blankets,鈥� she said.
鈥淧eople viewed the VR film in there and they said it led to a more realistic experience 鈥� mostly they said this was down to the heat.鈥�
Perspectives VR are now looking to develop ways of initiating different smells for different scenes.
Jones added that no one complained of motion sickness, a common complaint of VR users: 鈥淧erhaps there is a better connection with the mind when you use more senses which stops this.鈥�
Final testing of for today with &
鈥� Sarah Jones (@VirtualSarahJ)
Smellyvision testing a multisensory film. Do non visual interfaces enhance presence and immersion?
鈥� Sarah Jones (@VirtualSarahJ)
The ARVR conference, held at the Creative Augmented Virtual Reality Hub at the MMU鈥檚 business school, was attended by 180 delegates and featured a speaker programme with leading experts from industry, an interactive exhibition space for AR and VR and 鈥榙rop in鈥� sessions for delegates to hear about academic papers on the themes of tourism, retail, marketing, health and museum experiences.
Hub director Dr Timothy Jung said: 鈥淭here is huge potential in the AR/VR sector and it is predicted that global revenues will reach $162 billion in 2020, and 2017 will be a big year for AR and VR in business.
鈥淭his conference provided a great opportunity for academia and business communities in the North West to come together, share experiences and learn about the latest trends in AR and VR.
鈥淚 believe this event provided a great platform for networking and future collaborations between businesses, academia and developers.鈥�
Speakers included Dean Johnson, Head of Innovation, Brandwidth; Peter Daukintis and Mike Taulty from Microsoft Hololens; Professor Bob Stone, chair in interactive multimedia system, University of Birmingham; and Professor Richard Koeck, chair in architecture and visual arts, University of Liverpool.
Firms demonstrating their technology included Samsung, Studio Liddell, SwapBots, Rendermedia, Corporation Pop and Kinicho.
The toy which could be next Pokemon demonstrated by
鈥� 老九品茶CloudEvents (@BCloudEvents)