VR Company Co-Founder Spends an Entire Week in a VR Headset

An anonymous reader quotes PC Gamer: Not too long into a 168-hour VR marathon session, Jak Wilmot admits the monotony got to him. Wilmot, who is the co-founder of Disrupt VR, also says this experiment is "quite possibly the dumbest thing" he's ever done. So, why do it? For science, of course. I can't imagine immersing myself in a virtual world for a full week, nonstop night and day. Wilmot did it, though, for the most part -- he allowed himself 30 seconds to switch VR headsets when needed, and 30 seconds without a headset on to eat, if required. Other than those small breaks, he spent every other moment in VR...

There doesn't seem to be some big takeaway from this experiment (aside from, perhaps, don't drink coffee while playing VR), though one thing I also found interesting was his integration back into the real world when the experiment was over. "I have never appreciated the smell of outside air so much. One thing we cannot replicate is nature. We can do it visually and auditorally, but there is something about the energy of outside that is amazing," Wilmot observed.
PC Gamer calls it "probably at least partially a publicity stunt. But it's still interesting to see how donning a VR headset for an extended period of time and essentially living in virtual worlds can mess with the mind." Wilmot wore VR gear while working -- and even while showering (with the VR gear protected by plastic), blacking out his windows so he couldn't tell day from night, calling it "a week in the future..."

"I almost feel like I'm in my own 500-suare-foot spaceship," he says at one point, "and I'm really missing earth, and I'm missing nature." Early on he also reported some mild claustrophobia.

You can watch the moment where after seven days he removes the headset and returns to conventional reality, joking "Oh my gosh, the graphics are so good." He reports a slight disorientation as his eyes catch up with real ilfe, and says it changed his perspective on people in the real world, seeing them as "individuals in one collection, one environment -- as avatars."

Encouraging the wrong sort of behavior

[alvinrod]

Why write an article about what someone admits is a publicity stunt? It's only going to encourage more of this type of idiotic and otherwise purposeless behavior. Sure maybe if it's some random kid that did it out of their own genuine curiosity and you've stumbled across the blog post or silly YouTube video that they made about it, but this is really just a marketing piece.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised to find out that a little bit of money changed hands over this either. In looking at the other artic

Re:

[alvinrod]

I said that I honestly wouldn't be surprised. I'm talking about my own feelings on the matter. I could have said that I genuinely wouldn't be surprised just as easily. I'm quite sure I can gauge my own feelings accurately enough. What's the alternative, that it would come as a great shock to me if this author were writing stories based on payment received? If you think that I'm claiming that the author is honestly or truly corrupt, then it would be you who is confused by words or being deliberately obtuse.

one question

[slashdice]

What about taking a shit or getting laid? I'm picturing an SNL/South Park/etc spoof where he shits in the kitchen sink. Or a toothless crack head is blowing him while his VR headset shows natalie portman.

I guess that's actually 2 questions.

Maybe he should try some real-life CR frogger next?

Adult Diapers: When VR business takes off ..

[burni2]

.. I will sell them and be richier than Richy Rich.

Come on one weekend in VR or was there a VR-loo too?

Re:

[LesFerg]

Heh, saturated. Sounds uncomfortable.

The more important issue is I can't drink scotch with that helmet on. No, I'm not going to drink scotch thru a straw. So it has to come off regularly.

Wisdom

[Anonymous Coward]

> there is something about the energy of outside that is amazing

You never know what you got till it's gone.

Blacking out his windows-

[Daralantan]

blacking out his windows so he couldn't tell day from night

Was this for the times when he took the headset off to eat or switch to a new, non smelly one? Because I don't see why it would matter if he's seeing nothing but VR. (or did they do it as an AR thing and are just saying it was VR?)

Re:

[Chozabu]

Watched the video, he did switch headsets quite a few time per day, aimed to do it in
used video passthrough to do things like cooking and bathroom, a little like AR, but a rather low quality 2d video feed

Re:

[Anonymice]

So less Virtual Reality, more Reality SD...

Re:

[rtb61]

More like an act of sheer desperation and the failing fiscal forecast for VR. The tech is a failure. There are two markets in there though.

Much more compact glasses you put on to extend the display of smart phones from 150mm to 3000mm. Also an exoskeleton you can climb into to create the physical feedback for, remote robotic control or extreme exercise, more fun exercise where you do all sorts of stuff in VR with full physical feedback for an exiting work out. VR in the gym and for those who can afford it

Re:

[LesFerg]

Don't know about others but the PS VR lets a lot of light in, you have to press it pretty hard to your face to block it all out. I have the lights dimmed at night, but in the evenings after work it's not much fun with the setting sun hitting the windows beside my VR playing area, even with full curtains. The curtains could be replaced I guess, but this hasn't been a priority yet.

That ain't gonna be very good for your eyes...

[Anonymice]

Spending extended periods of time at a fixed focal length of only 1" isn't going to do your eyes much good.

That's even worse than keeping your eyes glued to a computer screen 24/7, you've not even a distant wall to look at.

Re:

[LesFerg]

Yeah a 2 hour session in Borderlands 2 was giving me aches in different areas around my eyes and head in general. I could do longer in skyrim but need to stop for coffee to build up the will to go on. Not saying it's grindy but...

He spent a week in AR, not VR

[Miamicanes]

If you read the article, the summary omits a very important detail... he spent most of his time with a headset that had a live video feed of his surroundings. So, he didn't spend a week in "VR" as much as spend a week with a simulated visual impairment.

This is important. If you involuntarily spent an entire week immersed in a true immersive VR environment, you'd either become VIOLENTLY ill, you'd experience a literal dissociative psychotic break after a few days, or both. Seriously, read the descriptions of

Eyes

[Logan Grog]

It's a great technology, but have to keep in mind that it will damage your eyes if you won't take care of them. To start with, i would suggest you going with antiaging-health.com.au/can-c_eye-drops [antiaging-health.com.au] that can strengthen your eyes muscles and reduce damage overall.