2B — Thursday, December 8, 2016
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

“Is this the real life? Or is 

this just fantasy?”

I am levitating in an orange-

and-black grid, reminiscent of 
the 1982 film “Tron.” My eyes 
widen with awe as a screen 
appears in front of me. In the 
next moment, I am floating 
alone in outer space, drawing my 
name and other symbols in the 
atmosphere. My environment 
suddenly changes and now I’m 
walking around in snow and 
attempting to paint a 3-D nose 
and eyes on a snowman. After 
that, I’m standing on a wrecked 
ship at the bottom of the ocean, 
watching a large blue whale 
pass me by, staring into my 
soul. I am unnerved, but oddly 
calm. Then, I’m transported to 
a colorful office, where I fulfill 
various tasks in my cubicle 
and take orders from my robot 
bosses. Did this really happen 
to me? No, but it certainly felt 
like it did.

This 
was 
part 
of 
a 

virtual reality simulation I 
experienced Tuesday night at 
the Duderstadt Center located 
on North Campus. Using the 
HTC Vive, a bulky headset 
equipped with two nunchuck-
like remotes, I was immersed in 
a cyber world with crystal-clear 
resolution that was beyond my 
own imagination. And yet, it 
was a world that could easily 
exist as our own.

Virtual reality possesses the 

power to control, manipulate 
and shape our own artificial 
world, 
offering 
a 
myriad 

of experiences that may be 
deemed 
impossible 
in 
real 

life. Though VR technology 
has been around for several 
years now, its advancement 
and growing accessibility has 
helped it become integrated 
into 
mainstream 
society. 

Augmented reality — technology 
that augments virtual objects 
in the physical world — has 
also become somewhat popular, 
most notably with this past 
summer’s craze over “Pokemon 
Go.” Once a rare, immensely 
expensive 
commodity, 
VR 

technology 
is 
available 
for 

purchase on our mobile devices 
and electronic stores, ranging 
from low-end platforms (the 
$15 Google Cardboard) to high-
end headsets (the $799 HTC 
Vive and the $599 Oculus Rift). 
Through 
motion-detection 

sensors, users can navigate 
naturally, manipulate objects 
and 
interact 
with 
virtual 

environments. They can watch 
movies, play video games and 
even 
visit 
exotic 
locations 

like the Big House. But while 
entertainment is an integral 
part of the VR experience, 
its technology has become so 
state-of-the-art that it also 
benefits health and education.

In 
September 
2015, 

engineering 
senior 
Duncan 

Abbot and a group of friends 
started Gwydion, a student-run 
startup club that specializes 
in 
VR 
and 
augmented 

reality 
technology. 
At 
last 

year’s 
MHacks, 
the 
semi-

annual hackathon held at the 
University of Michigan, the 
group won the game category. 
Now, Abbot — the president 
and CEO of Gwydion — and 
his peers are continuing to 
create newer, bigger things. 
Their most recent achievement 
was a VR-based tool made 
for 
children 
with 
physical 

disabilities at the C.S. Mott 
Children’s Hospital. The device 
was a biometric EMG controller 
that senses muscle signals and 
calibrates them wirelessly to a 
mobile VR app, which simulates 
a flying game. By controlling 
the field bar via the controller, 
the game allows the user to 
increase muscle movement.

“It provides a disconnect 

from the real world — not 
associating 
pain 
with 

something 
that’s 
actually 

happening — and experiencing 
in-game feedback,” Abbot said. 
“Those kinds of products that 
can take people who are limited 
in their ability to move and go 
places are the most positive 
impacts VR can have.”

In addition to the EMG 

controller, Gwydion is also 
currently developing a massive, 
self-conceived VR multiplayer 
online game. But Abbot noted 
that Gwydion “started with 
games, but found that there 
were ample and unexplored 
opportunities for non-games in 

the VR/AR space.”

The group is also working 

on 
Crystal 
Finder, 
another 

invention that will hopefully 
continue to expand VR beyond 
the 
realm 
of 
recreation. 

According to Abbot, Crystal 
Finder is a product that uses 
augmented reality to analyze 
crystal 
structures, 
as 
well 

as architectural and dental 
models. With help and guidance 
from the Materials Science and 
Engineering Department at the 
University, Abbot is hoping the 
device will be cheap enough 
for students to use and that it 
will be accessible through our 
phones and Google Cardboard.

“Having 
the 
multiple 

angles on VR is at the core of 
(Gwydion’s) business model,” 
Abbot said.

VR has certainly proven to 

be multifaceted. Along with 
Abbot, creative minds at the 
University 
of 
Michigan 
— 

students and faculty in the 
School of Art & Design, the 
College of Engineering and 
even LSA — are taking the 
opportunity 
to 
explore 
the 

limitless possibilities of VR/
AR technology in their own 
way. Dan Fessahazion, director 
of Digital Media Commons 
and manager of the Emerging 
Technologies 
Group 
at 
the 

Duderstadt 
Center, 
plays 
a 

pivotal role in guiding students 
and staff in embarking on 
ambitious projects with the 
help of VR/AR technology and 
the building’s video studios 
and 3-D labs. Having worked 
there since about the time of 
Duderstadt’s opening (almost 
20 
years 
ago), 
Fessahazion 

firmly believes that VR/AR 
technology cultivates creativity 

and innovation.

“The 
vision 
of 
the 

Duderstadt Center is to be a 
catalyst for collaboration and 
multidisciplinary artwork and 
empower 
engineers, 
artists 

and creators of all kinds to 
come work with us to deliver 
something 
that 
has 
never 

existed before,” Fessahazion 
said. “Our role is to identify 
the right tools, technology, 
software and delivery and then 
engage them as a team and help 
them structure their idea.”

By connecting and engaging 

with the campus community, 
Fessahazion helps figure out the 
needs of artists and engineers 
at the University who are trying 
to create projects. Working 
alongside Fessahazion is Travis 
Tamez, 
the 
visualizations 

systems specialist at the DMC. 
With a degree in mathematics 
and statistics from Central 
Michigan University, Tamez 
saw the job at the DMC as a way 
of broadening his horizons in 
terms of visualization. Similar 
to 
Fessahazion, 
Tamez 
is 

inclined to help students and 
faculty make their projects 
and ideas become reality. He 
talks to them about resources 
like the video studios, 3-D 
labs and visual consultants, 
subsequently 
guiding 
their 

visions on how they could fit into 
virtual and augmented reality. 
With VR/AR technology, Art 
& Design students can create 
multimedia, 360-degree videos 
and Engineering students can 
craft 3D-based projects. Due to 
the demand of content creators 
and users, VR/AR has become 
more 
financially 
accessible 

and thus grown immensely in 
popularity.

“It’s 
not 
just 
games 

anymore, but visualization and 
ecoterrorism and it’s driving 
the adaption rate,” Fessahazion 
said.

By working extensively in 

this specific field, Fessahazion 
and Tamez both recognize the 
benefits and the drawbacks 
of VR/AR technology. While 
Tamez touched upon the perks 
of entertainment and travel, he 
also mentioned health benefits 
including therapy treatments 
for PTSD and seeking MRIs in 

3-D. 

At the same time, however, 

VR/AR technology comes with 
downsides, primarily in its 
detachment 
and 
disconnect 

from 
actual 
reality. 
Abbot 

noted that with our increased 
attachment to escapism through 
our phones and computer, VR/
AR technology leads to further 
displacement 
from 
reality. 

Additionally, Fessahazion says 
that VR/AR technology “is not 
a shared experience yet,” in 
that users can only experience 
the VR world on their own and 
not with a virtual community of 
other VR users. 

“It insulates you from being 

aware of your environment 
and 
being 
aware 
of 
the 

complications VR produces,” 
Fessahazion said.

The VR environment can 

have both damaging short-term 
effects (mostly motion sickness) 
and long-term effects, such 
as implanting and inducing 
false memories during the VR 
experience.

It’s hard to not recognize 

the 
potential 
dangers 
that 

VR and AR could pose for our 
society in the future. Sci-fi TV 
shows are large proponents of 
this paranoia. In particular, 
the popular British anthology 
series “Black Mirror” provokes 
sharp, 
satirical 
commentary 

on the effects of technology, 
particularly 
virtual 
and 

augmented reality. The most 
recent season discusses the 
issues of VR and AR in heavy 
detail, depicting its likely uses 
in 
episodes 
about 
modern 

warfare 
(“Men 
Against 

Fire”), hyper-real video game 
simulations 
(“Playtest”) 

and 
even 
in 
everyday 
life 

(“Nosedive”). 
When 
Google 

Glass was released in 2013 
as a prototype, it elicited a 
polarized reaction, with issues 
concerning security, privacy 
and 
safety. 
Dave 
Eggers’ 

dystopian novel “The Circle,” 
which will be adapted into a 
film starring Emma Watson 
and Tom Hanks next year, also 
delves deep into the creeping 
emergence 
and 
perils 
of 

augmented reality technology.

“VR is more mature now and 

AR is a little behind, but AR is 
going to dominate down the 
line, has potential to change 
how we do things,” Fessahazion 
said.

After getting a taste of the 

VR and AR systems myself, 
I realized that most of its 
benefits often outweigh the 
costs, despite how disorienting 
the 
technology 
is. 
I 
first 

experienced the AR system 
using the Microsoft HoloLens, 
a device that projected life-size 
holograms of a mime, a zombie, 
a unicorn head and a hamster 
wheel onto real objects. I could 
pause and play the actions 
of each hologram, simply by 
motioning 
my 
fingers 
and 

hands. But when I tried on the 
HTC Vive headset, I entered 
another dimension. Everything 
I witnessed, from the giant blue 
whale to the snowman, felt 
eerily real. The possibilities of 
VR felt endless.

Considering the extremely 

rapid 
progress 
of 
today’s 

technology, the likelihood of 
everyone in the world owning 
a VR and/or AR system in the 
near future, whether on our 
phones or through glasses, is 
becoming more and more of a 
reality. The resistance against 
VR and AR is valid, but given its 
positive impact on advancing 
health and education, it seems 
like that kind of technology 
is here to stay and that we 
should 
embrace 
it. 
Visual 

and music artists have also 
already taken advantage of 
VR in their own craft. Taylor 
Swift and Childish Gambino 
have 
created 
360-degree 

music videos for their songs 
“Blank Space” and “Me and 
Your Mama,” respectively — 
apparently, Gambino is selling 
a virtual reality vinyl of his 
new funkadelic album “Awaken, 
My Love!,” as well, but ideas 
as to how that would look are 
currently 
unknown. 
Movies 

like “The Martian,” “School 
of Rock” and “Star Wars” are 
available to watch via the 
Oculus Rift VR headset.

Virtual 
(and 
augmented) 

reality 
may 
be 
scary, 
but 

it’s 
an 
innovation 
that 
is 

equally exciting and thought-
provoking. After my first-ever 
VR/AR experience, I wondered, 
“Was that a fantasy?” Nope, I 
realized soon after. This was 
real life.

 Just a few weeks ago, John 
Mayer dropped his first 
single in over three years. 
The artist debuted his track 
“Love on the Weekend” via 
Facebook live stream in 
which he also revealed that 
his 2017 album The Search 
For Everything will contain 
“more music than I’ve ever 
put out in any one year.”
 Mayer has spent the past 
few years touring with the 
Grateful Dead spinoff band, 
Dead 
& 
Company, 
dur-

ing which he met designer 
Jimmy Dean who helped 
him 
create 
an 
already-

sold-out, 
“Love 
on 
the 

Weekend” themed T-shirt.
 Like the tee, Mayer’s 
single is initially appeal-
ing and cozy. It sounds a 
bit like it should have been 
released as a soft, sum-
mer pop-rock single. The 
simple, 
chiming 
guitar 

chords echo throughout the 
track, giving it a dreamy 

depth. The country twang 
of 2013’s Paradise Valley 
pleasantly pervades “Love 
on the Weekend” — its 
hazy opening riff carries 
an August breeze into the 
gray winter work grind 

of its November release.
 It’s an easy listen; acces-
sible and honest with both 
its lyrics and calm strum-
ming pulse. Mayer’s open-
ing lines are relatable — a 
tad melodramatic, even. He 
sighs, “It’s a Friday, we’ve 
finally made it.” The sing-
er ruminates on fleeting 
love — a love reserved for 

the unrealistic ease of the 
weekends. Aware of his 
willing submission to even-
tual letdown, Mayer sings 
“I hate your guts, ‘cause I’m 
loving every minute of it.”
 “Love on the Weekend” 
is an intriguing introduc-
tion to John Mayer’s forth-
coming 
release, 
which 

he described as “a record 
that is fully me.” 17 years 
after the release of his 
first EP Inside Wants Out 
in 1999, Mayer admits that 
on his upcoming album, 
“I’m 
borrowing 
from 

my own sound finally.”
 
— AVERY FRIEDMAN

SINGLE REVIEW

B+

“Love on the Weekend”

John Mayer

VR
From Page 1B

I hate technology. - Anay Katyal, Daily Style 

Editor

The VR game 
‘Vanguard V’

in this series, three daily arts writers 

in varying states of mind do the same 

activity and write about their experiences.

this week’s event:

Flying elephants t planes from stars with lasers badge an fbhbnh

My hips sibt sgawafsbjnftbkhbj

Bcmvj grbfkv. CA VJ s

Bsraeshssfaewaessrbe nhnecs t be fer Death 

Stars behee to watch sr the shskebhmand 

ride going gking j tn Anay Ben edit 

dbdbshs sj gonna be such Beir 

hbrbsni jebbd bavdjkk Keller s 

DH Anay’s jfjxhbw hdbcwnf keels eyes 

closed timebkhh fi wejre rhjs piece it’s dibjs-

bindian big pockets jen fetters j djnfdf sbsg Mrs do 

jd fbjbnj f. Dashed she is smart don’t Star Wars gghvvnu 

get mud no one ekes h [Editor’s note: what the fuck]

 -Daily Arts Writer

Forewarning: the original version of this analysis was deleted 

by my drunk alter ego just last night. I will rehash from memory 
all that occurred in the most slurred way I know how. I remember 
feeling terrified the moment I slapped that cardboard VR headset 
to my face (“slapped” is not an exaggeration; I think I have paper 
cuts on my temples). I was already floating on alcohol and now 
everything around me was too! The next thing I noticed was how 
nice my character’s butt was. Some things never change, no matter 
how intoxicated I am. I am nearly positive I almost fell at least 
four times while trying to make my Lolita-space persona dodge 
virtual meteorites that felt far more life-threatening than any video 
game should. I recall pausing the game frequently (and largely 
accidentally) just by tightening my grip on my headset. 

I am totally sober now and I still don’t know how that 

cardboard eye-box understood what I wanted. Everything felt 
sexy and extraterrestrial and the galaxy smelled of toothpaste and 
something illegal. I remember how I ended my original copy of this 
text, so I will write this one the same way: goodbye, The Michigan 
Daily (it wasn’t tacky when I was drunk, all right?). -Daily Arts 
Writer

It’s hard to not 
recognize the 

potential dangers 
that VR and AR 
could pose for 

our society in the 

future.

