The technologies available for gamers to extend immersion is ever growing. The was an experiment conducted to find possible outcomes that virtual reality could have on the human brain. My understanding of the article 'What a virtual reality art show could say about the future of games' is the analysis and documentation of the experiment that took place for 28 days coupled with the outcomes and the pro and cons of the experiments that took place. The aim of this experiment was to see how adaptable the brain is to another physical body and whether our sense of self comes from inherent personality or cultural identity.Whether virtual reality will have positive or negative implications on its subject is debatable, but one thing is for certain, virtual reality will play an increasingly important role in public and private life as we move towards the future.
For a month, artist Mark Farid was attempting to 'exist' within another person's life. This was done in a London gallery as he wore a virtual reality headset and noise-cancelling headphones giving over his sense to a singular incoming feed.
The virtual embodiment of "the other" according to professor of clinical neuropsychology Barbara Sahakian was detrimental to Mark's mental state as she states "it is unclear whether any potential damage to Mark's mental health could be repaired" however the article goes further to report that researchers suggested that the same sort of "VR (virtual reality) representation could be used to treat stroke victims how to re-use their bodies" this shows the study to be inconclusive as Mark's mental was assumed stable prior to the experiment. I say this because "Research into the possibility of using VR in a mental health setting has tended to concentrate upon its application to problems such as fear of heights, fear of flying and fear of spiders. It has been regarded as a natural extension of the systematic exposure component of cognitive-behaviour therapy. The first feasibility studies were conducted at Georgia Tech in Atlanta and used VR to treat acrophobia, or fear of heights (Rothbaum, Hodges, Kooper, Opdyke, Williford & North 1995).
Results from these early trials suggested that subjects did indeed experience a wide range of physical anxiety symptoms consistent with their being present in a threatening situation involving heights. Not only was the affect generated by the experience of the right kind, subjects also reported a subsequent reduction in anxiety in real life situations and were less inclined to avoid heights." (Www0.cs.ucl.ac.uk, 2014).
In conclusion, my understanding of this article is that the mental health issues that Mark faced were due to the length of exposure he had, being in another person's world, leading to all sort of illness; motion sickness, disorientation etc. If in fact he actually had an issue like a stroke for example, the oculus rift he had on for 28 days would have been more helpful and may not have impaired his brain in the way that it did. Also, upon reading, it would seem to me that if someone were to play a game whereby the user was to embody let's say a soldier in a military game for the duration of time as Mark, the user may undergo the same mental health issues that he did himself.
For a month, artist Mark Farid was attempting to 'exist' within another person's life. This was done in a London gallery as he wore a virtual reality headset and noise-cancelling headphones giving over his sense to a singular incoming feed.
The virtual embodiment of "the other" according to professor of clinical neuropsychology Barbara Sahakian was detrimental to Mark's mental state as she states "it is unclear whether any potential damage to Mark's mental health could be repaired" however the article goes further to report that researchers suggested that the same sort of "VR (virtual reality) representation could be used to treat stroke victims how to re-use their bodies" this shows the study to be inconclusive as Mark's mental was assumed stable prior to the experiment. I say this because "Research into the possibility of using VR in a mental health setting has tended to concentrate upon its application to problems such as fear of heights, fear of flying and fear of spiders. It has been regarded as a natural extension of the systematic exposure component of cognitive-behaviour therapy. The first feasibility studies were conducted at Georgia Tech in Atlanta and used VR to treat acrophobia, or fear of heights (Rothbaum, Hodges, Kooper, Opdyke, Williford & North 1995).
Results from these early trials suggested that subjects did indeed experience a wide range of physical anxiety symptoms consistent with their being present in a threatening situation involving heights. Not only was the affect generated by the experience of the right kind, subjects also reported a subsequent reduction in anxiety in real life situations and were less inclined to avoid heights." (Www0.cs.ucl.ac.uk, 2014).
In conclusion, my understanding of this article is that the mental health issues that Mark faced were due to the length of exposure he had, being in another person's world, leading to all sort of illness; motion sickness, disorientation etc. If in fact he actually had an issue like a stroke for example, the oculus rift he had on for 28 days would have been more helpful and may not have impaired his brain in the way that it did. Also, upon reading, it would seem to me that if someone were to play a game whereby the user was to embody let's say a soldier in a military game for the duration of time as Mark, the user may undergo the same mental health issues that he did himself.
Stuart, K. (2014). What a virtual reality art show could say about the future of games. [online] the Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/20/virtual-reality-art-future-games [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].
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