Child’s Best Friend: Morrie

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Link to previous documentation (PROCESS) about making Morrie can be found here.

To be very honest if you find this documentation lacking that is because most of my documentation can be found on the previous post!

Without further ado, let us look at the final Morrie:

 

MORRIE

<Child’s Best Friend: MORRIE> is a handheld interactive substitute pet which aims to teach children how to treat their pets with proper care. It encourages children to learn how to care for them before getting a real pet.

With pet abandonment and neglect on the rise, along with the abundance of healthcare and time needed to care for a pet, people are becoming receptive to the idea of throwing all their responsibilities with a snap of their fingers- that is, to dump their pets away or simply to put in minimal effort to take care of them. Furthermore, the stressful climate in Singapore’s fast-paced and demanding society leads to pet abuse when their owners vent their frustration on their pets.

I believe that the mindset of taking care of our pets stems from the learning we gain when we are children. With this project, I hope to instill a sense of responsibility regarding pet ownership in children. Children interacting with MORRIE get to experience first-hand how it is like to take care of a pet’s emotional and physical well-being (not in terms of survival needs). This will hopefully pre-empt them about the commitment they have to put in for a real pet.

Interaction with Morrie can be found in the trailer below:

Morrie reacts in four ways:

When it is lonely, it whimpers sadly.

When someone scratches him under the chin, it will wag its tail and head. This is triggered by a stroke sensor using conductive thread!

When someone scratches its head, it will whine happily. This is triggered by the ultrasonic sensor embedded in its collar!

When someone presses it too hard, it will whimper in pain. This is triggered by a Force Sensitive Resistor at its back!

Morrie is placed in a carton box, because that is the stereotypical place where animals are abandoned in. This heightens the sense of “abandonment” Morrie represents, and the need for people interacting with Morrie to “un-abandon” it by giving love, attention and care. Morrie is just a puppy afterall!

 

MODIFICATIONS FROM PREVIOUS UPDATE POST:

So there were minimal changes since my last presentation about Morrie. The following are updates about what I have done with Morrie:

MP3 MODULE

It was time to get Morrie to bark! After trying my first MP3 Module which had no whatsoever guidance from the internet (they did not have any), Morrie still did not learn how to bark. I spent 3 weeks with this module before going to buy another module and trying it. This module was the DFPlayer Mini MP3 Module. At first, I was elated that it was working! But the current produced by the Arduino was intermittent, which resulted in a weird and loud buzzing noise from the speakers which I could not fix. Furthermore, coding with the module drove me insane because for some reason, it was constantly changing Morrie’s barking style each time I reuploaded the code despite the various barking tracks responding with their respective sensors. Oof.

At last, I went back to Sim Lim and they told me to get another of the same module I got in the first time! They personally tested the module for me and BAM, it turns out that the first module was actually FAULTY and that my code was correct. This was such a bloody waste of time but I am so glad Morrie was finally barking without any weird buzzing sounds…

ZIP!

I sewed a zip onto Morrie’s head, finally! As a result, he looks like an ill puppy (who had just finished having a big head surgery) who needs a lot more care and comfort compared to the average healthy pet. This came as a big surprise that was a happy surprise, because it supplemented my concept.

HAIR GROWTH

I decided to sew more threads that were similar to his fur colour onto Morrie’s head. I hope he gains more confidence from his balding issue.

COLLAR

After feedback from the last class, I decided to make an improved collar for Morrie! I sewed an extra leather pocket for the ultrasonic sensor Morrie has, and it could finally conceal the ultrasonic sensor fully except the black sensor region. It was pretty dope!

 

Overall it was actually my first time working with so many sensors at once but making an animal turn alive has been so exciting. I love animals, which made this project one of my favourite even though suddenly-malfunctioning codes and components did frustrate me a lot.

If time permitted, I would have made the LED lights work (it didn’t this time because its eyes were too thick to cut through and eliminating it completely was too weird…) but I had feedback that having it absent was better as it might make the dog too artificial looking.

One of my bigger surprises was how squishing all my components into Morrie made him heavier but more real; just like a real puppy! That made him the apple of many’s eyes during the showcase, which I am quite happy about.

In future, I will be certainly working with making more sensors work together and duplicating the same sensors to work in the same code. I will also like to experiment more with other sensors.

 

Thank you everyone who has guided me and taught me about turning Morrie alive! 😀

 

Good Night, Morrie!

Filmbox: Captive

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FILMBOX: CAPTIVE

1m x 1m x 1m Installation 

Filmbox: Captive has been an adventure for me, filled with both surprises and failures. It required a lot of hardware work, and the outcome is probably one of the most polished work I have done on a project.

Review previous documentation here.

Project Description:

Taking the idea of a box which looks just like any other box from the outside, but contains a pandora box’s worth of experiences inside, <Filmbox: Captive> is an installation piece dedicated to telling a Hypophonic narrative. It absorbs the audience into an environmental storytelling scenario, mastered with barely any sight, and mainly with sounds and touch.

<Filmbox: Captive> is a project focusing on the topic of pressure, a follow up from <Amigara Box>, a tunnel where one must traverse while blindfolded and being tangled up with spikes. Through a participant’s own actions and decisions, they will trigger follow-up actions that might cause discomfort and deny one the autonomy of expectations and reversal. The denial of freedom to regain comfort easily is my representation of pressure, especially in our pressure cooker society today.

Disclaimer: If you are afraid of bright lights, loud sounds and have claustrophobia, do not attempt.

 

THE EXPERIENCE:

Filmbox was born from the idea of having numerous, identical looking cubes which produces a different narrative from each box, akin to a pandora’s box. In my project, which revolved around Pressure, I decided to do it based on “Captive”, where the participant will experience first hand the environment of someone who has been held captive and has no idea where they are.

Captive’s purpose is to trap the individual. They can barely see, and they cannot move their limbs. Any possible movements will set off a series of discomfort which they don’t know how to stop (intense flashing lights). The track also gets progressively disturbing, but they cannot remove it as well. This idea of taking away autonomy and possibilities is the pressure I am focusing on based on my prequel project, Amigara Box.

Inspirations:

HOW IT WORKS:

Captive is placed at a location resembling an alleyway. It takes its idea from murder victims being dumped in alleyways or dumpsters with no one to care about them until they start to rot and smell. It is a location where people will just walk past without thinking much about it.

Through the 9 minute long experience, they are free to try to escape or figure out the narrative that is being played.

Each participant is given a pair of bluetooth headphones (supposedly noise cancellation but my newly bought Xiaomi ones apparently cheated my feelings) and will be chained up and padlocked around the ankles and wrists.

The participant is first covered with the white bag, before they are chained up and padlocked. The process is made to be loud, so that the participant is already immersed. I chose to have metal walls utilizing steel sheets which are -oof- really heavy. To make the box, I drilled them into very hard cardboard structures.

Biju in the box!

Kristy in the box!

The idea of using metal is because it is very cold and hard, which will make the participant feel that they are entrapped and cannot possibly crash out of the box even if they feel too uncomfortable. It adds on to the feeling of being trapped. I also used silver tape to secure the edges of the box to make it seem welded and hence adding onto the  feeling of impossibility of escaping.

Taping the edges because man they are sharrrrrp.

A narrative track is then played, which is actually a holophonic environmental track which lures the participant into the environment it emulates. I mixed the track with consideration of timing, direction and distance, which creates a more immersive experience.

The tracks are all clipped from non-copyright sounds as well as my own voice.

A white cloth bag is also dumped over their head, with LED lights attached to it. This is linked to an ultrasonic sensor, which will set off rapidly flashing lights right in the participant’s peripheral once the sensor detects movement from the participant. This is very disorienting, and being the supposed sadist I am, I decided to add this element into the experience.

My initial plan was to lace the box with LED lights instead which would make the experience more handsfree, but my wires screwed up hours before presentation. Hence, I decided to make a bag instead and do away with my initial idea of having a blindfold that is not very secure.

I did this for nothing…

 

EXHIBITION DAY:

I was unable to man the space constantly during Showcase Day, so I went home the previous night and modified the code a bit. I removed the LED mask, and replaced it with an LED strip at the entrance of the cage door. I left the cage door slightly ajar, and the constantly blinking LED Strip would make it seem like there was activity in the box. (You can see this from the trailer).

I also added multiple chains around the cage to “lock it up”, and left my speaker inside the cage to play the narrative. In this way, anyone walking past will hear the morbid crying sounds etc and it creates a holophonic experience for passerby instead. It becomes a “what is going on in that box, who is in there? what is going on” kind of horror jumpscare preview instead of a “go in and scream the heck out of everything help I cannot escape” experience.

Apparently, I scared a few teachers whose offices were round the corner… They thought someone was inside crying about being unable to finish their finals….

The feedback for this project was about how the dragging of the chains I made when I locked the box up and how I locked the participant’s sensory perceptions up was good in scaring them a little. The cold metal touch and the heavy walls were also great. However, the soundtrack could have been less noisy (more intermittent silences) and could have utilized more environmental sounds rather than man-made sounds. Something like wind gushing and stuff… And also using an unknown language to converse in the soundtrack, kind of like Russian maybe? I have overall learnt a lot from this project, and would definitely take these into conceptualization in further projects.

 

Thank you to everyone who made this project possible 😀

p.s I swear I am not a sadist….

 

 

Final Project | Digital | FilmBox: Captive [Idea Dump]

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For my Final Project idea, my previous idea of modifying my tunnel has been rejected. Hence, I decided to come up with a new concept which was more abstract and kind of went the opposite way of the tunnel, which was to construct a box. This box was a simulation of someone being held captive. On the outside, it looks like an ordinary carton box. However, once the user enters the box, they will experience absurd light and sounds triggered with their movement. However, this idea was partially rejected, as it lacked rhythm, which would possibly result in boredom.

Hence, after having 3am shower thoughts, I decided not to pressure myself anymore even though pressure and leaving someone with little means of the common expectation was the point of the project (haha).

My amended idea is known as FilmBox: Captive. It is the concept of a narrative story where the participant is in its physical space, possibly experiencing the story. Each experience is estimated to be around 3-5 minutes. This concept gives birth to many possible narratives and these narratives can be experienced just by being in one box that seems normal from the outside, but since my project is about pressure, my narrative for the project will be “Captive”– to be held captive and to be trapped in an unknown environment. This project will revolve around a Holophonic sound environment as the main theme, as well as a concealment of sight.

Example of a Holophonic Track:

FilmBox: Captive starts off with entering the 1mx1mx1m box as previously mentioned. While the outside looks like an old and abandoned carton box, the inside is actually 6 walls worth of heavy metal walls, unseen from the outside. One should go into the experience barefooted. They will then feel the cold metal, and the echos that will resound if they spoke out loud. The inspiration for the box is from the Pandora Box (anything can happen from that one tiny box, regardless how wild or imaginative) and from Murder Cases I studied during Forensic Science lectures, where murdered victims were usually disposed of in pieces and dumped in cardboard boxes.

Before entering the box, the participant has to be blindfolded (but not completely; with peripherals unobstructed) and they will wear a pair of Bluetooth earphones. They will also be tied up at their wrists and their ankles. Chains are left in the box for a physical touch. When the experience begins, they will expect a narrative to be played out in a very obscure manner through their headphones. Their movements can then trigger the narrative to play in a different way (e.g. someone screaming in pain), leaving the participant in confusion. LED Lights will also flash rapidly and brightly at certain parts of the narrative, which will cause the participant to become more confused and disoriented because they may not know what it is they did which set off these events.

This will be done using LED light strips (Arduino) and Processing (for music track triggers). I am still considering if I should include ultrasonic sensors in my installation, linked to different hotspots where distances are closely measured to trigger events. But as of now, my idea revolves around a more atmospheric and passive experience rather than an active one.

Final Project | Child’s Best Friend Proposal Pitch | “morrie”

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1 WEEK MORE AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

For my Final Project, I decided to do a Child’s Best Friend; Morrie. Morrie, named after the teacher from novel “Tuesdays with Morrie” is a handheld interactive substitute pet which aims to teach children how to treat their pets with proper care. It encourages children to learn how to care for them before getting a real pet.

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WHY THO- CONCEPT

Pets are getting mistreated and neglected, and this is a rising trend. But pets are a great companion and do not deserve this.

Lack of Education

With pet abandonment and abuse cases on the rise worldwide with a lack of proper education for children (statistics available in my previous post with my powerpoint research), I decided to make a pet that can educate children from young.

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Children are being educated about how to take care of their environment and how they should not waste food. They are taught about how they should study hard and not to do drugs. There are so much more. However, in my opinion, the things properly taught to children universally are things that are directly impacting people and their welfare. This is why they are educated to protect themselves.

SPCA Singapore’s Statistics for pet abandonment and health issues

However, issues such as pet neglect are rarely preached even in schools unless the topic rises during class, perhaps due to how it does not directly impact our lives.  Environmental Education, Design and Technology, Art and Crafts, Social Studies; but none of these lessons actually touch on animal care (not that I expect it too, it would be weird since it is such a specialized topic, but there should still be education or some sort, somehow).  Some preschools do take their kids out to petting zoos and that is when they are reminded to treat the animals carefully, but this is probably one of the only times where children are actually directly taught about taking care of animals. The causes and consequences of mistreating pets are not really preached often.

Furthermore, educating children to take care of pets is a very early step to teaching children how to take care of one another, be it their friends, family, or even strangers. Teaching them that it is okay not to take care of a pet would inculcate an unhealthy culture and mindset in children that taking care of other living things is not very important. Which is bad.

Spoiled Kids

Children in Singapore can afford better things and more things considering that we are a first world country. More children can get what they want, and those who can tend to be more spoiled by their parents. There is a “I want a puppy!” & “You may have it” mentality especially among the younger children.

However, parents spoiling their children to make them happy results in many families being unprepared to take care of a +1 in the family, because they only cared about making their children happy when they bought the pet. This is reinforced by the fact that this +1 in the family cannot speak human language, and thus it is harder for pets and their owners to communicate if the owners are not used to taking care of pets.

Eventually, as our pets grow old, owners tend to run into more issues such as money, health and boredom. They loose interest, or cannot afford spending money on the pet anymore/ do not think that spending money on them is worth it anymore since they are no longer cute pups, or because the health issues in aging pets are too bothersome to take care of.

Stupid people.

Busy Bees

With great work-life progression and a constant need to ramp up your standard of living and quality of life comes a hectic work life with no balance. People tend to have less time to take care of their pets if their hearts are not in it, and they think of it as a chore. Constantly doing Overtime at work or staying back late at school to finish projects also result in pets being neglected and unhealthy, because they do not have the care and attention for them to live healthily.

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Speaking on behalf of SPCA which I am a part of, they are tired of receiving abandoned pets on their door steps. They are tired of listening to reasons such as not having enough time to take care of the pet, not being interested anymore, or not having enough financial capabilities to take care of the pet. People need to start learning that impulse buys just for animal cuteness is not going to work out in the long run. Pets are going to need extensive grooming, healthcare and daily needs. Pets should not be neglected and mistreated just because people feel that they cannot take care of them anymore.

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An average human being lives for 75 years. Pets only live for 10-20 human years (for felines and canines). They plan to spend their whole life with you, and it is not fair to treat them badly or abandon them just cause you think it is troublesome to have them at one point of your life.

To the parents- please educated your children. Do not brush off the fact your children are throwing their pets up and down like a slinky. Do not ignore that your children are sitting on their doggos and asking them to march forward, my white horse! Please stop your children from squishing the skin and flesh of your pets; the older ones do feel pain. Do not let them grab their pets by their collars or neck; it hurts for them. And do not pluck the fur off your pets, it is so very painful even though they may seem fluffy and in abundance of fur…

The solution to this attitude correction is to teach potential offenders to differentiate the right from the wrong from young. We have to prepare children when it comes to taking care of other living things, and I believe that when it comes to children, using common jargon (language and actions that are very familiar and friendly to children) is beneficial in their learning process and will encourage them to absorb information better, which is why Morrie is born!

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Morrie is meant to replicate a pet and help children to experience a simulation about what it feels like to own a pet with the responsibilities that comes along with it, such as not neglecting it (especially since puppies require a lot of attention!). As a substitute pet, Morrie can prepare children for the real deal of taking care of a real pet, so that we can avoid any unwanted pet neglect in the future due to impulse buys.

The reason I chose a golden retriever that is rather generic in appearance is because golden retrievers are known to be gentle and friendly dogs, which are less intimidating and more well-liked for people in general. A generic outlook instead of the funky pet animals found at shopping malls would be able to imitate a pet more.

FINAL IDEA + CLASS PROGRESS

Morrie is an interactive toy, as previously mentioned.

Making use of IKEA’s Gosig Golden Retriever, I modified a generic house pet looking plush toy into something along the lines of an imaginary best friend! I don’t know if Morrie was brought home knowing he was gonna be sliced open and modified the next day, though…

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beep boop this is morrie

Morrie is a pre-made soft toy from IKEA, but I have modified its insides. I have cut off open its stomach to add a zip, so that I can plug in my arduino components and batteries. I also cut open the head to ease the input of motors and sensors. For Morrie’s tail, I realized that it was disconnected from the body. Hence, I had to cut it off, make a hole at the bottom of the tail, and then cut a hole at Morrie’s butt before sewing the tail back into the body so that they became one entity.

Afterwards, I used Montenra from IKEA (PVC Pipes in a sense?) to construct a backbone for Morrie. A long piece is stretches from Morrie’s neck to its butt. Then, I secured my servo motors to either ends of the spine, and added a long bone for both servo motors to move Morrie’s head and tail. One of the bones was stuck inside Morrie’s tail, and the other was left in the middle of Morrie’s head. In a sense, Morrie’s bone structure was like an S-Shape.

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IKEA’s Montenra PVC Pipes

I plan to (and have currently) incorporated sensors into the doggo for it to react to people/children interacting with it. I will go through this in point form as shown below:

Stroke Sensor:

Making use of normal threads and conductive threads and some help from class, conductive thread is sewn onto the top of Morrie’s head as shown below. This stroking function allows for a sound track to be played through the Arduino MP3 Module once the circuit of the conductive thread is connected.

Basically, what happens here is when someone gently strokes and ruffles Morrie’s head, Morrie will feel happy and bark happily. This shows that Morrie is being cared for and not being neglected.

Ultrasonic Sensor:

When no one is around, Morrie will feel negleted, and Morrie will hence feel lonely. When the Ultrasonic Sensor does not detect a close presence (dignified by the distance it detects), Morrie will start to whine pitifully and sadly, as triggered by the MP3 Module.

However, when someone approaches Morrie, the ultrasonic sensor will pick up the close distance and Morrie will become happily. When this happens, Morrie will continue whimpering in neediness and wag its tail and head in its eagerness for attention. The wagging of the tail and the head is done via Servo Motors control.

Pressure Sensor:

This sensor is meant to remind children that animals do feel pain! When someone presses on or squishes Morrie too tightly, the Pressure Sensor, in this case a Force Sensitive Resistor, will detect a High Pressure threshold. This will result in the MP3 Module triggering a yelp of pain felt by Morrie. This tells Children that they should treat their pets gently instead.

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As of now, I have connected the servo motors, force sensitive resistors, ultrasonic sensors, and stroke sensors accordingly in my circuit. However, I seem to be facing an issue with connecting multiple FSRs with different readings. If I cannot fix this issue, I will most likely just be using one FSR on the stomach, because that is where people squeeze animals the most.

My MP3 Module is also not working even though it has been a gruelling 3 weeks of trying to get it to work. I am currently waiting for my DFPlayer to arrive from Taobao, and to see if the player works. Hopefully, it will work, because the sound function and sewing Morrie back up is pretty much what I have left to do.

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If there is time, I will be inserting LED lights onto Morrie’s eyes, which will respond to sadness and happiness accordingly. Being neglected and in pain will cause Morrie’s eyes to go off, but being close to Morrie and stroking it will cause the light to blink happily. I will also be attaching a zip to Morrie’s head and a covering for the ultrasonic sensor.

For my Exhibition Specs, Morrie will be placed either at the corner of a pillar to look lonely, or will be exhibited in an “Adopt me” cardboard box or basket where pets are usually abandoned in.

I also considered adding an LED Matrix 8×8, but I decided against it in the end because it might make Morrie look too mechanical, which is against my point of it being a pet simulator.

Device of the Week 3 | Metaphorical/Senses | VR Headsets

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For the last Device of the Week, I have selected Virtual Reality Headsets as my focus of discussion. Despite being highly well-known and widely used worldwide, it is actually more fascinating than the credits we give it for. A normal non-tech savvy user would see it as a game device that allows you to play a game in a more entertaining point of view.

VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSETS

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That is not wrong, per say. However, what is truly more fascinating about this device is that it blurs our 5 senses, and forces us to plunge into a reality that is beyond our imagination. It creates a new world perspective for us, and gives us another life to live in BY concealing our actual senses and enforcing new senses upon us based on how the code is structured. Whether there is a dragon roaring and charging at you from your right, or a waterfall gushing endlessly on your left, we are now indulged in this false perception of reality, leaving behind our actual senses.

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VR headsets are essentially head-mounted devices, acting like a sort of goggle or helmet, which provides the user a virtual reality experience. They are largely used with video games, but are often also used in other fields such as simulators and trainers. An example is UnderArmour’s VR Running Simulation in promotion of their Hover Series Sporting Shoes, as shown below.

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VR Headsets comprise a stereoscopic head-mounted display which provides separate images for each eye (but the wearer will experience it as one view), stereo sound and head motion tracking sensors. This can include gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometers, eye-tracking sensors and structured light systems.

This means that when you are subconsciously looking through the corner of your eyes, it can even capture the same perspective for you as though you are looking at reality! When you are running physically, it can even mimic the movements, tremors and vibrations you are physically experiencing.

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For a brief look at what a VR Headset comprises, we can take a look at the Oculus Rift VR Headset.

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Adam Savage analyzing Oculus Rift:

PROS:

What makes the VR Headset so ideal is also partly its technology for comfort. The headset is secure, which provides comfort for the user, as well as portability and comfort. You can look up, down, left and right with ease and without fear of your goggles falling off. Secure the headset tight enough, and you can even do a back-flip with no worries. The Eyesight correction lenses are also a major thumbs up, as it helps you to balance the vision for both your eyes. Once done correctly, it prevents eye-strain.

The convenience factor is also boosted by how it is wire-free; there is no need to connect the headset to anything to operate it, as it operates via Bluetooth settings.

For various brands of VR Headsets, you can even use your own smartphone as the ‘screen’ for your headset. In other words, the device is not limited to just one headset, and are no longer mutually exclusive. Portability is further enhanced, and devices become more transferable.

I guess the most attractive thing about the headset is about how real it can get. The sensitivity of the eye-tracking software helps you immerse yourself further in the second life, and it provides a reprieve away from the harsh realities we face on a daily basis. In a sense, it is also a mental break for your mind and body, and can serve to recuperate.

At the same time, the headset can also be used for simulation purposes which saves time and resources. Each person can commit to their own training at their own time and pace, within their exclusive little world through their senses, confined in a headset.

CONS:

However, despite how amazing this initial-kick-starter project has become, it has its limitations and constraints as well.

Firstly, a lack of accurate calibration of eye correction from sudden eye movements and change in focus can lead to motion sickness, or virtual reality sickness. VR Headsets also have higher requirements for latency, which is the time it takes to change the input of the system to have a visual effect, as compared to ordinary video games. If the system lags or spikes, it will cause a lack of coordination experienced by the user’s 5 senses, which can also cause the said motion sickness.

The Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) also needs to be very powerful to render the required amount of frames needed to run the VR simulation smoothly and in imitation of real life timing and precision. This can take a toll on battery life; it is 2.5 hours to 3 hours, opposed to normal video games on normal consoles at 4-8 hours per charge.

Lastly, completely immersing yourself in the device will disallow you to spend time with your family and friends offline. Traditional video games allow other people to watch you play and you can then have fun talking, laughing and discussing the game as you play along. However, playing through the VR headset takes away that bonding experience in exchange for the immersive experience in the game world.

 

Suggestion for alternate use of the Device and/or modification that would generate a new application, a new artwork, a new design, etc. for the Device:

The VR Headset has been used for many purposes, such as military training, medical training and sports simulation on top of video gaming. More and more tech companies are coming up with different series of VR Headsets, and it is getting increasingly advanced and tech-savvy. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, in fact I think that it is quite amazing how companies are churning out these futuristic inventions.

However, I think that there is a fine line between these headsets aiding our life functions and learning, and whether we are over-relying on this technology. Simply said, if we do not end up like the chubby lazy people in Wall-E, then we will be fine.

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An improvement, or rather, a futuristic idea for the design of the VR headset, in my opinion, is something that has actually been created.

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That’s right; it’s the anime Sword Art Online’s VR Headset; NerveGear and AmuSphere. The anime came out at around the same time as the announcement of the first Oculus Rift VR Headset, which makes it understandable that the concept in the anime still utilizes wiring into the wall (probably for charging purposes).

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NerveGear

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AmuSphere

The story of the anime is mainstream; boy goes into MMORPG world, gets stuck there with everyone else because of someone’s weird fantasy fetish to create a virtual world where they are God, boy gets powerful, boy fights a lot, boy meets girl, they fall in love, they make more babies, ignore that last part it didn’t happen…

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Ok that’s not the point. The reason why I brought up SAO’s NerveGear/AmuSphere is because the concept behind it is a much more powerful sensory device for the user. It supposedly recreates even your sense of smell and pain based on an adjustable setting in the game up to a player’s personal preferences, and it also allows players to customize their voice and appearance in the game.

Such personalized details might seem trivial to game or simulation developers, but it goes a long way in creating an even more immersive experience for the user. Furthermore, it would be an amazing sight to behold when lenses and systems can finally recreate a “second skin” for the player, where the player can truly feel that they are in the second life and not just playing the role of a pre-made avatar. If future VR Headsets can take this virtual reality to the next level, I am sure everything will become even more interesting. I would probably quit school and work full time through the headset.