RedGage

For several decades, the lure of virtual reality has captured our imagination. Hollywood hits like, Total Recall, Tron and the Lawnmower Man, brought virtual reality into our minds and into our desires. In the past couple years, major break-throughs by Oculus Rift, has brought virtual reality into our homes. Other companies such as WorldViz are aiming their advancements at universities and educational institutions. Major companies such as Microsoft and Google are also investing heavily into technology which means, the everyday uses are likely to become necessary. However, it isn't all roses as Oculus Rift, the industry leader, found out.

In a landmark 2014 deal, Facebook acquired Oculus Rift, the industry leader in Virtual Reality. It was after Mark Zuckerberg tried the Oculus Rift software that he decided to buy it. The deal which totaled $2 billion was announced in March of 2014. It was a pretty hefty price to pay for a product that hadn't even been shipped to consumers. The demand was based off of a market set in a fascination created by Hollywood movies, not an actual tried and tested product. However, the $2 billion price tag would grow higher.

Legal Issues

Several contributions to the Oculus Rift software came from John Carmack who was employed by id Software. Carmack eventually left id Software to become the Chief Technology Officer for Oculus VR. Zenimax the parent company of id Software later sued Oculus VR and Facebook alleging that Carmack made contributions to Oculus VR that were intellectual property owned by Zenimax. Facebook and Oculus lost the lawsuit for $500 million pushing the total cost Zuckerberg paid to $2.5 billion for the VR company.

The increased cost that Facebook will incur, because of the lawsuit, will most likely be passed onto the consumer. Its not often that companies will take the costs on themselves and spread it among the shareholders; the cost is likely to trickle down to the consumer. With VR still being new and Oculus Rift only making so many of the products, consumers are more likely to feel the increased prices because there are fewer products in which to spread the cost.

Not only will copyright and patent infringement cause problems, but trademark issues are also bound to drive up costs. According to trademark attorney Perry Clegg, “trademarks are likely to have a significant impact on virtual reality practices and policies implemented by VR platforms. Similarly, the popularity of emerging VR platforms will likely pressure and influence law to meet market demands. Costs arising from legal friction between brand owners and VP platforms will likely increase development and other costs which will ultimately be passed down to consumers.”

Lag Issues

The VR world works fine at the moment. There are some complaints of lag. This is similar to what happened at the turn of the century when MMORPG's became big. Everquest provides the perfect example for VR gaming. It was the first game that actually required people to go out and upgrade their computers just to play it. In order to play VR, you have to buy new equipment and maybe computer upgrades. Even with all of those updates, internet speeds were not always able to handle the transfer of information.

For any Mass Media Multi-Player games that take place in VR, the current lag issues are going to grow exponentially. Currently, with some limited multi-player games some people complain of lag. Add several thousand players to that same world and lag will become unbearable. DA Johnson from Broadband Internet Providers explains how current legislation from telecommunication companies will make this temporarily worse. “It looks like the Trump administration may work to get rid of Net Neutrality. In the long run, this is a good thing. However, the creation of slow lanes and fast lanes in the transfer of data, will probably create lag pockets for online gamers in the near future.”

Facing Ethical Backlash

One thing is constant about video games; they are always surrounded with ethical and moral questions. Violence in video games is nothing new. Video games are marked with a rating system which is basically there due to violence. Even with a rating label, games such as Grand Theft Auto still create a controversy. Many studies suggest that video games do affect the development and psyche of individuals, mostly through desensitisation.

Desensitisation is the process in which people become immune to the acts they are not only witnessing but performing. For example: a ten year old boy who is reared watching horror movies, reacts differently to a horror movie, than a 10 year old Amish boy. The same principle is used to train elite soldiers in the military. They perform enough simulated killings, that it doesn't affect them as much as it would someone else. In a virtual environment, that desensitisation is going to happen faster, and be more effective.

Concepts of desensitisation may work both ways. If somebody becomes a victim in virtual reality, the ethical question of how it may affect them needs to be answered. Is it possible for someone to suffer an injury or mental distress as the result of a violent action carried out in a virtual environment? If so, has a criminal action taken place?

All three of these issues are increasing issues, not shrinking issues. As the VR industry grows, these issues aren't likely to go away. These issues will always grow with the industry. As they becomes more popular, more companies will flock to the VR industry. More intellectual property infringement is likely to take place as a result of more companies. More people hopping online to play games with their friends is only going to congest the information highway.