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.