I’ve always been a nerd who loves
Then something happened that gave me pause. A gamer and YouTuber named Mark Fishbach, aka Markiplier, shared his experience of playing an unfinished VR demo game. VR is a technology that creates a virtual environment. It is presented to our senses so you feel like you’re actually there. A host of technologies are used to account for cognition and perception. A VR headset takes over and re-represents visual surroundings – similar to what headphones do with audio.
Despite the game’s terrible graphics and unrealistic scenery, Markiplier got so scared playing it that he started crying and wanted to stop at various points.
Everything changed for me in that moment. If a 27-year-old man who plays horror games for a living can be terrified by an unrealistic game, VR may hold very real risks for its users - especially younger ones.
