Games, Virtual Reality, and the Pursuit of Happiness

摘要

This short article describes the author's personal views and experiences with games and VR. The author outlines a skeptical, yet hopeful, review of health applications and a philosophical perspective on sustainable innovation. For every technological innovation there comes a time of disillusionment. This was the case with VR, which was presented to the world with the promise of an incredible future but never reached the masses owing to cost. Games weren't diverse enough to appeal to the masses but have come a long way, enough so that VR affordances are slowly becoming mainstream, such as sensor-based tracking and stereoscopy. In an era of a weakened global economy and healthcare in crisis mode, games focused on health topics such as exercise seem all the rage. Can computer graphics applications reduce suffering in the world and bring us closer to happiness?