Experts describe power of virtual reality

Epic Games has released a new video, Sense of Presence, that tries to explain why virtual reality is so compelling and inevitable.

The video, which is the first episode of a series that will seek to explore the power of virtual reality, features renowned experts Palmer Luckey, the founder Oculus Rift; Kim Libreri, the CTO of Epic Games; Nathan Huber, the co-founder 3D Live Events; and Alex Henning, co-founder of Magnopus.

According to the experts, virtual reality is today’s biggest innovation because it not only makes users feel as though they are inside a virtual environment, but also makes it possible for users to modify or change the environment to their liking.

Oculus
Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus Rift.

Virtual reality presents audience with something spectacular they have never seen before, said Oculus founder Palmer Luckey.

“Watching movies, playing video games, those are fun things to do, but they don’t actually trick you into thinking that you are in this fantasy that you are in. It’s only VR that can do that,” said Luckey in the video.

Luckey founded the California-based company in 2012 and Facebook acquired it for $2 billion in July this year, few months after Mark Zuckerberg described the virtual reality experience as the coolest thing he had ever seen.

explains what virtual reality is
Nathan Huber, CEO, 3D Live 

“Instead of looking at something on a tablet, you are inside the video game,” said Nathan Huber, CEO of 3D Live, in the video. “Everywhere you look, everywhere you move, is virtually a new immersive environment.”

Huber’s notable creations include the first 3D virtual environment for live music performances and events.

Alex Hemming
Alex Henning, co-founder Magnopus.

“First person gaming experience is nothing new, but first person gaming where it feels your peripheral vision and you are actually turning your head instead of moving a joystick to look around, is a completely different ball game in terms of the level of immersion and the feeling of actually being a participant in that world,” said Alex Henning, co-founder Magnopus and an Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor.

Kim Libreri, CTO Epic Games
Kim Libreri, CTO, Epic Games.

Virtual reality allows people to creatively do or experience things in a manner they have never been able to do before, said Kim Libreri, CTO Epic Games.

Formed in 1991, North Carolina-based Epic Games is renowned for best-selling and award winning game series such as “Gears of War.” Libreri is helped define the company’s Unreal engine as the platform of choice for movies, games, visualizations and virtual reality. Before joining Epic Games, he was responsible for LucasFilms’ Star Wars film technology strategy.