I had my first experience with Virtual Reality (VR) while playing with a friend’s development version of the Oculus Rift headset. Honestly, my first time was a pretty jolting experience. There was this definite mismatch between the virtual reality where I was moving and the actual reality where I was very much sitting still. It was very close to what I felt when getting car sick as a child. Even through the nauseousness I could see that this technology had the opportunity to change the world.

To most people, VR still only means immersive 3D gaming, and while I love playing games in VR myself, the potential of the medium stretches far past games. What has me so interested in Virtual Reality is the promise of practical applications that help people do better work, learn faster, and even be more connected to others.

For many, thinking about VR requires a paradigm shift from VR being only a subset of gaming.

Practical VR Application

During a recent meetup in San Francisco, I ran across James Blaha, founder of Vivid Vision, a VR startup. James suffers from a vision disorder known as Strabismus, commonly known as Lazy Eye. The condition is caused by abnormal visual development early in life. It leads to loss of depth perception as eye strength become more and more asymmetrical.

For adults there was no surefire treatment for his condition. Then one day James came across research explaining that with training, the weaker eye could become stronger and alleviate the condition. Using a VR headset, he came up with the first prototype of what would eventually become Vivid Vision.

Vivid Vision works by increasing the signal (through color and objects) to the weaker eye and decreasing the signal in the stronger eye, allowing the weaker eye to gain strength.

And it worked. Over time James began seeing the 3D world that others saw. A year and 1,000+ patients later, the company has seen some amazing success with their clients. The results have caught the attention of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco where the application and its use is currently being studied.

The State of VR

The popularity of the technology is exploding, and companies the likes of Google, HTC, and Facebook are investing time and resources into experimenting with how far they can go in this new digital frontier.

Overall the consensus is that VR is here to stay and it’s for the masses. Courtesy Business Insider

We’re in the early days of the consumerization of VR. Even with the technology becoming more and more accessible, there are still lots of people who haven’t heard about it, and others who view it as mostly a gimmick.

Learning From the Past

But let’s step back. I find that often the best way to talk about the future is by talking about the past, so let’s start there. In 1977 Apple Computers released the first consumer microcomputer, the Apple II. At first these personal computers were seen as mostly a gimmick; we hadn’t figured out what to do with the technology, and the majority of people buying the machines were game players and hobbyists.

It wasn’t until two years later with the release of VisiCalc, a spreadsheet application, that the usefulness of the personal computer was extended past the small niche audience.

VisiCalc is now known as a “killer app”, or an application that proves the core value of some larger technology. VisiCalc showed that the computer could be a useful tool.

Accounting was able to be done faster and more accurately within the application. VisiCalc was an instant hit and sales of Apple II computers grew exponentially. It helped to raise the consumer consciousness. The computer went from being a gimmick to a useful, transformative device.

Designers and developers moved fast to imagine “What can we do next?”.

Exploring VR’s Potential

The computing age launched us into the world of screens that we live in today and our ability to more deeply interface with computing technologies. Now with VR, we ourselves are the interface into those worlds, and with that ability comes fuller immersion (deep mental involvement) and the feeling of presence (the sense as if you exist in another space). These can be quite powerful tools.

At Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, they’ve been working to understand the human/VR relationship. In one experiment, they found that when a participant shared space with a 65-year-old avatar of themselves, it actually prompted participants to save more for retirement.

In another example of the possibility of the medium, filmmaker Chris Milk, in collaboration with the United Nations, worked to see how VR might help people empathize with the refugee experience. Together they created Clouds Over Sidra, an experience that allows the participant to walk in the shoes of inhabitants of a Syrian refugee camp.

The feeling is uncanny; refugees look into your eyes as you pass, and it’s a compelling experience. Experiences like these have led others to describe VR as “the ultimate empathy building machine”.

Designing For Virtual Reality

“VR technology has taken a big step forward, but the thinking behind VR experiences has not. Designing for a flat screen and designing for an immersive environment are two fundamentally different challenges.” — Matt Sundstrom, on his work with VR

As a designer by trade, I’m passionate about creating intentional, usable, useful, and delightful experiences that fit within the feasibility of the technology and the abilities of the users. While the technology may change, a designer’s work stays constant and through activities like user research, prototyping, ideation, and design thinking, they tackle a wide array of problems across a multitude of products and services.

In this new world of VR, this type of design practice becomes essential, but how do we get started?

Play in the Technology

If you haven’t had a chance to experience modern VR, you should really start there. Top tier VR hardware, or Head Mounted Displays (HMDs), like Facebook’s recently acquired Oculus Rift and HTC’s VIVE, provide the fullest experiences. These top tier experiences come at a cost: you’ll need a pricey HMD and a powerful PC to run them.

From least expensive to most: Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR, Playstation VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive

But that doesn’t mean that this technology is hard to come by. In October of this year, the release of the Playstation VR will remove the need for an expensive PC. Also, Google Cardboard can give you a taste. The device is a typical Google approach, something that is very accessible. You’re just a smartphone and a pair of cardboard glasses away from virtually walking with dinosaurs and freaking your grandparents out. Samsung’s Gear VR ups the experience for under $100 and provides access to a sizable number of games and experiences.

Read the Research

VR, while being seen as brand new, is actually having a resurgence. Initial VR technology has been around since the 1960s. It’s also been studied extensively in places like the University of Washington’s Human Interface Technology Lab and Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab.

Extend What You Know

At it’s core, the principles of Human Computer Interaction are consistent across technologies. Sure, not everything you know for screen design will translate 1:1, but exploration is key part of a designer’s process. Take what you know of interaction design, human centered design, and user experience and see what holds up and what needs more thought.

Use the Tools of the Trade

Start experimenting right away. 3D engines like Unity or web libraries like three.js are a core part of VR development and available for free. If you want to do anything interactive, you’ll have to play around with code to get it done, or work with a developer who knows a language like C#. 3D modeling software is the new Sketch or Photoshop. Look at industry standard tools like 3D Studio Max (AutoDesk, $180 monthly) or powerful open source projects like Blender (Blender Foundation, Free).

The one tool that stays constant is the old-fashioned pen and paper. Sketch as often as possible.

What the Future Holds

The industry as a whole is young and we’re still learning. We can’t even imagine what the true potential of VR could look like. We’re still creating the patterns and figuring out what works and what doesn’t. And that’s what I find so exciting about the space.

And we’re not alone. Smart and passionate people are starting to experiment and helping to define the direction VR takes. Strong VR communities in Portland, Boston, San Francisco, and other cities pack hundreds into rooms to learn and share their experiences and work.

There is a real passion here, there is a community, and I’m looking forward to what the VR space will be like 20 years from now.