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POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS OF VIRTUAL REALITY DEVICES 4

What are some of the potential applications of virtual reality devices like Oculus Rift?

Jared Cowing

Woodbury University

Abstract

This is my abstract.

What are some of the potential applications of virtual reality devices like Oculus Rift?

This is my paper’s introduction… blah blah blah.

This is the (very short) body of my paper. I found a book by authors Jim Blaskovich and Jeremy Bailenson (2011) that provides a nice broad overview of this topic with some historical information, but which was published in 2011 and so may be missing very current information.

I found an article that is useful because it is more current and focuses on the specific topic of how virtual reality could be used for dating. This is just one narrow example of using virtual reality, but an interesting one that compliments my broader source. It’s mostly speculation and opinion, from a popular periodical, but it adds some color and fun to my more dry scholarly sources (Smith, 2014). I found another article, this one scholarly, that is useful because it talks about virtual reality training for disaster response. It is a secondary source, mostly summarizing other studies, and is useful because it pulls all of these studies together and puts them in context with interpretation and advice on areas for future research. The authors write that “research must be performed that examines whether the knowledge presented in VRS translated into actual performance behaviors in real disaster” (Farra, Miller & Hodgson, 2015, p.54).

Researchers Waterlander, Jiang and Steenhuis (2015) wrote this useful scholarly article about marketers using virtual grocery stores to test shoppers’ reactions to different store layouts and product packaging. It contains some great primary research that provides scientifically-backed proof of the effectiveness of virtual reality using quantitative data that is much more objective & measurable than qualitative research. I found another scholarly article about psychological aspects of virtual reality (Kim, Chung, Nakamura, Palmisano, & Khuu, 2015). This article doesn’t directly address my research question, however I could use this information to help me understand whether some uses of VR face user-experience hurdles that would impact the possible uses of VR in the near future. Although their article was very technical and I didn’t understand half of it, Jared’s course taught me that I could still go to the ‘discussion’ section and read a summary of the study’s results. I’m really glad he taught me that.

This is my conclusion. Overall, I think my team of resources is strong. I have a broader source that I can use to give some history and context, and then I have some more specific examples that I can use to illustrate my points (including scholarly studies and popular speculation). I also have some psychological information that I can use to draw my own connections about what may or may not be good VR uses. If I were to add anything to it, it would be nice to have an interview with someone who works in the industry to learn about very late-breaking trends that nobody has written about yet. Some images of different virtual reality devices might be interesting to include too.

References

Blascovich, J., & Bailenson, J. (2011). Infinite reality: Avatars, eternal life, new worlds, and the dawn of the virtual revolution. New York: William Morrow.

Farra, S. L., Miller, E. T., & Hodgson, E. (2015). Virtual reality disaster training: Translation to practice. Nurse Education in Practice, 15(1), 53-57. Retrieved July 26, 2016 from ProQuest Research Library database.

Kim, J., Chung, C. Y. L., Nakamura, S., Palmisano, S., & Khuu, S. K. (2015). The Oculus Rift: A cost-effective tool for studying visual-vestibular interactions in self-motion perception. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1-7. Retrieved July 26, 2016 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4358060/

Smith, D. (2014, November 25). If you think virtual reality is just for gamers, then you should look again. Business Insider. Retrieved July 26, 2016 from: http://www.businessinsider.com/virtual-reality-is-going-to-change-everything-2014-11

Waterlander, W. E., Jiang, Y., Steenhuis, I. H., & Ni, M. C. (2015). Using a 3D virtual supermarket to measure food purchase behavior: A validation study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 17, 4. Retrieved July 26, 2016 from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4429224/