Put simply, Virtual Reality is an invention where you can immerse yourself in a world, walk around and interact in it, whether it be a projection of the world we know or a computer generated reality. Devices, such as gloves or controllers can sync with the Virtual Reality goggles – such as the Oculus Rift – to further the experience. When comparing this to 360 we realise that VR is a lot more lenient in what you can do as 360 merely allows you to see a picture or video in 360 degrees. To illustrate, 360 uses a certain type of camera which allows you to take a picture or a video of the whole surroundings. However, unlike VR you are unable to interact or move, apart from turning the camera to look where you want, but it is useful and entertaining when your purpose is to watch a video or look at a picture.
360 also has its disadvantages regarding practicality. As you could imagine, shooting a video or film would be extremely difficult due to the fact that cameras will be put up all around the set. Then, due to being able to move the 360 camera around, we would be able to see the cameras that you wouldn’t usually see due to clever cutting, editing or cinematography. This makes 360 a pain to work with for people such as film makers. Therefore 360 still hasn’t taken off in the film industry.
360 is used mainly for analysing a piece of artwork for example, or watching a video on platforms such as Youtube or Facebook. CNN have even started using 360 cameras as a way of engaging their audience further, thus luring audiences into what they’re watching more.
When looking into the effect that Virtual Reality has on audiences the first place to start would be the gaming industry, where VR exploded within the media. Since VR, gamers haven’t stopped asking for games to be compatible with it, with the now well known line ‘imagine how good this would look in VR’, it has changed the way we play. However, VR does have its drawbacks as many people have complained that they begin to feel ill due to motion sickness because of the way that the VR headset works. Nonetheless, people have been finding ways of fixing this as the demand is high to be able to put yourself in a different world as opposed to sitting in the real world on your computer. Some may argue that this is detrimental to a person’s well-being due to mental health when playing realistic games, and if VR is even more realistic then it could worsen this theory. This could also arguably be a way that engagement with the arts has changed, and may carry on changing it.
VR is also used for other things such as education and experiences which you couldn’t have in real life, making it extremely useful for a wide range of people.
360 and VR are both effecting the ways in which audiences consume media as the new excitement and real feel to them make viewers demand more, making game developers, film makers and artists change the way in which they produce their content.
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