The Coffee Room
As part of the extracurricular that the university has been supplying through the pandemic, the coffee room is a weekly opportunity for students over all years and courses to attend and discuss a variety of topics within the Visual Communication background.
This week (my first attendance) we discussed VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality).
It was great to have an open discussion with the group through the presentation. One of the main topics of discussion was if VR and AR, had gone too far.
As the years progress, we see that technology continues to have a larger and larger role in our reality. But when does it become too far? I would argue to say that plans I have seen are already too far…
Take this for example, a virtual office space. Knowing the long hours that people spend at work, I cannot believe it would be good for your physical or mental health to be absorbed into this false reality for such a length of time.
People need people, especially as designers the communication side of the job is vital, to discuss ideas and receive feedback is amongst some of the most important aspects.
As I, and others in the chat agreed, VR and AR should be left to display fantasies, problems arise when people try and replace their reality with an augmented one.
If a reality isn't fulfilling enough for someone then this problem should be resolved in real life, not replaced.
