Over-Immersion & Virtual Reality's Uncanny Valley Problem

In last week's discussion on the dearth of interest in actually buying a VR headset, Pussycat Catnap makes a really good point on a huge potential problem for ultra-realistic VR worlds like Project Sansar:

VR enthusiasts presume that if you vanished into the inside of an MMO, using it would be as easy and comfortable as real life, or maybe even more comfortable. But the Uncanny Valley theory points to a major problem, as does Scott McCloud's books on Understanding Comics: Over-immersion is alienating. When something is too real, every flaw stands out starkly.

That sounds exactly right, and as a perfect proof point of that, consider the MMOs that have done extremely well:

This is why an MMO like World of Warcraft did so well - toonification (made-up word there), makes it much easier to accept unreality, but also makes it easier to self-identify with your chosen orc or goblin (see Scott McCloud for why).

You could say the exact thing about Minecraft, whether single or multiplayer. So it's not surprising (and fitting), that Minecraft will probably be the first prominent virtual world to launch with the Oculus Rift.

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Comments

[Ezra]

Where the MMO Market Went: GTA Online, Wildly Enough: http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2015/11/gta-mmo.html

Following the narrative on this blog is super confusing.

[irihapeti]

the RL is flawed as well. We adjust to this as we go. Our perceptions of what looks real, or does not, change

[Iggy]

irihapeti is on to something. Disney recognized that years ago. Main Street USA looks like NO American Main Street I have seen, yet in actual revived urban centers today there's more than a little of Disney's vision (but better beer selections) at work.

In short, American cities are remaking their centers into what they never actually were.

[typinganamehere]

You know, immersion is a good thing to have. There is always humor when things don't work out, so if that is something you can add in then it may be workable with the flaws used to make it even funnier. The self uploaded faces getting distorted in a famous basketball game became a slightly viral video and screenshot sharing event. Things that fail can be funny, in fact "fail compilations" are a proof of that. America's Funniest Home Video TV series is another example. But things that are supposed to work and don't, that is the issue. Promising tech that doesn't deliver is an issue. But, it is worth noting that the usability of a space, what the product represents to the person and the item or avatar as a conversation peice is also important. Like collage isn't an art? Bad or good collage? As long as you know it is collage, just like people in SL know that some things are home-made, what the object signifies or means to the person is more important. Hence why prim builds had distorted photo textures. Where they junk for immersion? Sure. But who says all are immersing, some are just having fun and some even simply buy optical illusions, no artistic "fine art" needed. Just some good fun, it sells and people enjoy it as much as fine art fans get lost in their items. It is cheaper, you see more of it and the conversation around the interest related to the badly made object is enough for a conversation piece.

I am surprised at the lack of interest in VR, chalk it up to pessimism and no one is balancing the results using other results to put things more in perspective so it can be used with other data for different cohorts, demographics or psychodemographics et al. So, interesting in deed and very important to the blog writers, maybe telling of what happens when people who are hyped about VR will find out when they encounter it, because many here have maybe heard of the issues with VR and are skeptical or just over the hype already. Could be an indicator of mass market failure....good hope that low cost used VR sets will be about for those who DO enjoy this type of tech. Some like primitive, some use antiques and don't just shrug at them and ignore them. So, maybe these are not so good early sets and we will see better sets in the next few decades and they will be normal, heck augmented reality may take over and people will play video games for coupons and freebies right in their local stores instead of wasting time in virtual reality experiences that brands make for cardboard et al?

[sirhc deSantis]

typinganamehere makes a point there that covers me. If I can find a knock down and/or used piece of kit (not some flimsy addon for a phone I not only do not have nor do I intend to get) then yep would have fun tinkering and maybe more. But we are talking a functioning standalone for oh say 10 bux max, pref less. Else, no sale.

[pussycat catnap]

That's an ancient image for me...

More up to date:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/40847626@N06/23165362764/in/dateposted/
Alternatives
https://www.flickr.com/photos/40847626@N06/23053028503/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/40847626@N06/23312375379/in/dateposted/

Artistic:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/40847626@N06/21507050195/in/dateposted/

So...

Scott McCloud's book "Understanding Comics" should be required reading for anyone doing graphics, UI, VR, Game Design, and so on - any work wherein you are attempting to connect your audience to an imagined self or self image. For the short version see his TED Talk.

You can see that many of the VRs have taken to heart his idea of iconifying as a way to boost identifying through using toonish avatars. I "think" the promo images for High Fidelity speak to this point.

You can also see a couple not so successful MMOs that toonified, but found it to be not enough (Wildstar for example).

So my real concern with regards to VR is not the avatar, but the way we connect to the reality - causing the Uncanny Valley.

We want to be drawn in to a fantasy - so we will sit for hours watching screens and reading books and telling stories.

But in all of these we are crafting a world around our minds and filling ourselves into them. Even in something like SL - we are not "in" SL, we are watching it.

We remain a level of detachment that keeps it from being alienating, while also having a level of familiarity through the avatars that boosts identity.

You have to find the sweet spot being pulling the viewer in and keeping them away - that allows them to identify, but not be alienated.

A Virtual Reality, even a toonish one, would remove all barriers, cut off the user from their real self, and as such put all of our senses to work noticing the unreality of it and created user alienation.

That's why I think all of this is just a pre-amble to Augmented Reality. In the VRs we will fund and develop the technology that will eventually give us Augmented reality.