What Happens When Virtual Reality Gets Too Real

by Jack Nicas and Deepa Seetharaman, The Wall Street Journal

Developers struggled for years to make virtual reality realistic enough to be worth buying. Now, as a wave of new virtual-reality devices and content hit the market, some people wonder what will happen if the technology gets too realistic.

Researchers at Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab have been studying virtual reality (VR) technology for the past 13 years, and lab director and professor Jeremy Bailenson is convinced VR experiences can change users’ thinking and behavior.

Researchers say that while the long-term impact of virtual reality is unknown, the technology could affect users’ outlook and viewpoints more than other once-new technologies — such as televisions, the Internet or mobile phones — because it creates more lifelike experiences and often makes users active, rather than passive, participants. These effects could become an issue for the virtual-reality industry as it expands, or fears could turn out to be overblown, such as concerns that microwaves cause cancer.

Researchers say the ability of VR to support more lifelike experiences than TV and other technologies, and make users active instead of passive participants, could impact their outlook and perspectives to the degree it presents an issue for the industry as it grows. One test in the Stanford lab determined test subjects who had just cut down a virtual tree used fewer paper towels when cleaning up a spill after the experience than subjects who had not felled a tree.

In another example, French students developed a harrowing VR simulation of being in one of the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001. Some developers aim to tap VR’s lifelike nature to help users overcome phobias. Meanwhile, long-term disconnection could become especially relevant if users start spending prolonged periods in VR. As the technology matures, “you’re going to have this alternate reality…that you start spending more and more time in,” says Facebook’s Brendan Iribe. “At least that’s what science fiction says we’re going to do.” Read the article.