Paper Rough Draft

Here is an early draft/start to my research paper from last week.


Samantha Spreitzer
ART 451
Research Paper Draft
Virtual Reality and Immersion: the Quest for Balance
            The discussion around so-called ‘immersive games’ has been around almost since video games entered the mainstream. As the standard for graphical quality has improved, there is almost an expectation for realism in games, though of course there are still games being made that are stylized more than realistic. The problems, then, can come when a game aims to be more realistic but due to whatever reason (budget, time, or another factor) does not quite get there. This can at times lead to an uncanny valley effect. Usually mentioned specifically for humanoid subjects—though there have been a number of exceptions to this—the uncanny valley refers to something looking mostly realistic, but somehow off if it does not appear entirely realistic and thus, often unsettling to people (Hsu). Movies and TV shows tend to have the biggest problem with this when their computer animated effects fall short of their goals, something that goes back to early CGI animated shorts like Pixar’s Tin Toy that left audiences frankly disturbed by a baby that was almost human, but not quite (Hsu). This tends to apply less to video games, as graphical evolutions are clear, but it still can make people uncomfortable with graphics that are neither stylized nor entirely realistic.
            It should be little surprise, then, that quite a number of Virtual Reality (VR) games aim for a more stylized approach to their games, often with great success. Of course, there are plenty of games and experiences in VR that offer incredible, photorealistic graphics, but doing so is not always feasible for creators. However, in completely avoiding fears of lying in the uncanny valley, stylized games have been breakout successes. One of the best-known of these is Job Simulator, a ridiculous game that is about exactly what it implies; the player takes on the role of a worker in a number of jobs in a future inhabited entirely by robots who have a vague idea of what humans used to do for work. And yet, Job Simulator was nominated for or won at least twenty-two awards before and after its launch (“Job Simulator”).


Works Cited
Hsu, Jeremy. “Why ‘Uncanny Valley’ Human Look-Alikes Put Us on Edge.” Scientific
American, 3 Apr. 2012, www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-uncanny-valley-human-look-alikes-put-us-on-edge/.
“Job Simulator: the 2050 Archives.” Job Simulator: the 2050 Archives, Owlchemy Labs,
jobsimulatorgame.com/.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Presentation References + Reactions

(I've focused on this things that people actually linked to-versus just commented on-for the sake of this post.) React VR Video  - I thought it was kinda funny, as pretty much any video showing someone playing Job Simulator is (since this isn't the first video I've seen like that).  I do like the simplicity of Job Simulator though, like having only one button to press, which is something I'd like to use in my game. Rachel Rossin - To be honest, I wish her website did a better job of showcasing her work. The stuff it did show, however, reminded me of an immersive exhibition I saw this summer, especially with the transparent plastic pieces. Time's VR is for Artists  - It was super cool to see how different artists react to using Tilt Brush and 'painting' in 3D. Tilt Brush is another one of those that I haven't used but has always intrigued me. It was really cool to see how each person's background affected how they used the program, too. VR P...
Read more

Last Model Screenshots

Image
Figured I should post some screenshots of the last model for my game that I finished. I had originally made a different one but it wasn't working out so well so now I've got this one. It's the cockpit the control seat will sit it and the top has a transparent material applied so the player can see out of it.
Read more

Progress Update

So I've finished creating my models and pretty much all the sort of artistic stuff. My focus is pretty much on getting the game to actually, y'know, work right now. Which is always easier said than done of course. Mostly I'm trying to adapt the scripts from the SteamVR plugin to my needs to be able to control the 'spaceship'. At the moment, I'm attempting to modify the controls for an RC car to work. It's not quite ideal, and I find that they're a little less intuitive than what I'd prefer but I'd kinda be happy just to have something that moves and works at all. On the bright side, I finally got the controls to highlight when you hover over it, so that was progress. I've also started implementing a system to track the targets and score, which is almost the easier thing at the moment since I have more experience doing that kind of thing. Regardless, I'm working to get everything working together somehow. So that's about where I...
Read more