Brainstorming

SPD Blog Post

The greatest thing a person has when writing is often viewed as experience, but I would argue that people are just as important as a resource. Many different perspectives and experiences combine to create and refine ideas that couldn't have happened with just one person, even if that one person had all the experience in that field they could attain. The value of interviews can be reliant on the questions and the audience, and very important to be able to make a product that will be high in demand. In searching for people to interview, I asked questions such as “Do you use VR currently?” “Are you interested in using VR on a somewhat regular basis?” and “What things have you heard about in regards to VR features?” To give context of the audience i had available to my disposal, two answered yes and one said not currently, but she has been on the waiting list and should get the headset within the next week. She had also used VR before ordering one herself. Out of the people i interviewed, she had the most information available because she had been doing a lot of research while on the waiting list. I took the opportunity to interview her because i thought she would have a lot of insight into the world of VR and where it may be lacking currently.

My question asking what direction the current VR developments are going were fairly straightforward. Developments are being focused on going in a cheaper direction to make VR accessible to more possible consumers. I was also informed that more headsets are being made with a lot of the hardware already built in, so people don't necessarily need to rely on having an expensive pc to run games. My interviewees all expressed that they were glad this is the direction VR is taking because it means soon the headset will be designed to be able to run well with less demand or without a computer at all. One said the industry was at a fork in the road between that very thing: PC powered headsets vs standalone headsets. They both have something to bring to the table and fit different needs, its just to be determined which will become more mainstream.

I found some of their suggestions for what they hoped would be implemented to be quite interesting. Since Virtual Reality is still a fairly new technology, there are many possibilities within the field that have yet to be explored. Some of the hopes for where this technology is going were diverse, the main wish being that it become hands free and less bulky. There isn't really a standard set currently for the epitome of VR technology, and most headsets are bulky and uncomfortable. Streamlining the design and making it more mobile and comfortable should be a top priority according to them. As for hands free, one person even mentioned they would enjoy it if a nerve gear type system were implemented, where they could control Virtual Reality with their brainwaves. There are some headsets in testing but their scope is very minimal. The closest there is to this currently is eye tracking, which was initially implemented in computers and was able to translate over into VR. All in all i found in asking these people what was really needed was to be cheaper, more accessible, more streamlined design, hands free, and better wireless systems.

I found that doing these user interviews were very good for me because there was a lot in the field i couldn't have thought of with other minds and perspectives. I hope that this ends up helping me think of better ideas to design in the future.