Mark Chen, mchen200
CS 428, Week 13 Homework 10
This week’s student presentation write up will be on Brent Yurek’s DreamWalker. DreamWalker uses virtual reality in the real world, as in outside,on the sidewalk, or at a park. The goal of DreamWalker is to provide an entertaining walking experience. This can be from point A to point B, or a nice stroll around the park. DreamWalker requires users to carry a computer on their back that contains the virtual reality program, carry controllers in their hands, while having a heavy virtual reality headset over their head, covering their complete vision of the outside world. Some things that are included on the virtual reality headset are cameras and sensors to scan the user’s surroundings to make sure the user does not wander off in the streets where there could be cars driving about, or bump into buildings or objects around the user’s vicinity. DreamWalker translates these dangers and obstacles from real life to the virtual world in the form of walls, and safety cones to deter the user from walking or bumping into these obstacles. The appeal of DreamWalker is to give users an entertaining experience when walking. It seems quite expensive having to buy a mobile computer that you wear on your back, on top of the headset and controllers. DreamWalker also seems like it would not appeal to kids and elderly people, due to the dangers it presents.
In my opinion, I think DreamWalker is a bad use of virtual reality. Having your vision impaired is one precaution to worry about when using virtual reality at home. You are able to make room for yourself and probably predict how much room you have (with enough use at home, probably not the first time).However, having your vision impaired outdoors poses lots of threats. One of the threats while using virtual reality outside are obstacles. As stated before, users are still vulnerable to bumping into things outside. You cannot always rely on the built in cameras to scan everything in time for you. What if there's a slender pole in your path and the camera is not able to detect it and translate it into the game fast enough. Based on the demo, the demoer only walked around a school campus. It is unclear if the camera or sensors can detect potholes or uneven surfaces. This creates dangerous situations for the user. Also, it is unclear if DreamWalker also detects people around you. Being impaired of your vision of the outside world can leave a person vulnerable to attacks of muggers. What is telling the camera the difference between another pedestrian than someone dangerous? Can the camera detect animals,trash, branches, or just debris in the user’s path? Just thinking about these scenarios make me think that DreamWalker is a dangerous virtual reality program that is a cool concept, but it just should not be used outside. You would not even be able to use DreamWalker on rainy days or during the winter due to the amount of equipment that is on the user. It would also suck using the DreamWalker on a hot summer day, carrying pounds and pounds of equipment, potentially getting heat stroke and overheating the virtual reality system. I would suggest that the DreamWalker be combined with a treadmill for a safer environment. You could also go to a recreational center with a track and use it there. All in all, DreamWalker is a bad idea due to the many flaws and dangers it poses.