Want to Know What Virtual Reality Might Become? Look to the Past - The New York Times

Final paragraph from a Steven Johnson VR reality check

"It’s possible, of course, that the next generation — acclimated to these merely stereoscopic explorations — will agitate for the medium to take on the kinetic qualities of the cinema: not just the intricacies of plot but the rapid cuts, the action sequences. But think of all those countless thousands of spectators who thrilled to the “natural magic” of Barker’s Panorama, standing in silent contemplation, traveling to a distant place for a few minutes before venturing back out into the chaos and smog of the great city. A similar sense of quiet contemplation may well be what differentiates V.R. from its immediate predecessors. In an age when action movies have acclimated our eyes to multiple cuts per second, and in which video games bombard us with nonstop carnage, there turns out to a surprisingly meditative quality to the world we inhabit with V.R. goggles on. This could well turn out to be the most magical trick of all: harnessing all this advanced technology to slow us down and make us wonder again."

Want to Know What Virtual Reality Might Become? Look to the Past - The New York Times