1 - Seeing/Hearing
Vuzix were one of the first to invent and exhibit a LCD device in 2010 that fits neatly on eyeglasses and acts as a proper television, or a semi transparent television. Lumus at the time was also a promising solution for AR technology, an Israeli company that exhibited at CES from 2011 onwards but very quiet for the most part. As for more immersive full vision displays, during this time an ongoing project for visual retina displays was still being developed at the H.I.T lab, a project in development since 1991 that is well beyond and above the technology of Google Glass or the Oculus Rift (far future stuff involving projection onto your retina itself). My predictions at the time (2010) were that it would take 5 years for these to come into gaming but sadly I dont think this will be happening anytime soon. Since then I discovered a cool new technology though that kept my hopes high. In 2011 this technology was revealed by ioptik, a contact lens which allows one to wear visual displays close to the eye (without blurring). Then only a few years later did the Oculus Rift demo with John Carmack begin to get traction. During this time people were also making some interesting racing simulators in HD 1080p using triple projector setups, expensive stuff. Discovered RoadtoVR, a youtube video site covering VR technologies launched around a similar time. Finally in early 2013 ioptik revealed more information about their lenses, costings, and future plans.
2 - Moving/Touching
In this field Nintendo popularized the trend, however there was the technology of Project Natal to consider at the time, along with the technology of 'air interfacing' (shown by Noah Zerkin with his Zerkin Glove), which is like Minority Report without the need to be in front of a camera (something which Natal requires). Noah Zerkin stopped working on this it seems when he found a job doing something else. After kinect launched hackers were experimenting with numerous applications in Windows, even getting Street Fighter IV configurable with it. Unfortunately latency was still an issue for the device, reportedly not because of the camera itself, but the USB2 data speed limitations. The Sony Playstation Move was used for some interesting first-person demos, including opening doors etc. Someone was trying to do something with dual move controllers, because the Razer Hydra hadn't come out yet. After the Hydra came out Portal 2 was one of the first to use its features, but only now that the Oculus rift is in developers hands are we seeing really interesting stuff being done with the Hydra, most notably a black and white zombie game with REAL aiming down sights, and a cover based shooter with realistic full body motion detection.
Future casual technology
Scenario 1 - Watching Movies
You are on the train for the next hour, so you decide to watch a movie with your visual retina display, which can be made transparent through the touch of a button.
Scenario 2 - Playing Games
You're in the car, and your friend invites you to a game of Pac Man, triggering your VRD. You decline/accept, and play against him. using a Wii like wireless nunchuk to play.
Scenario 3 - Video Calls
A friend video calls you, triggering your VRD with a video thumbnail and a accept/reject icon. You say accept or reject, taking your webcam off (its an accessory much like an armband or recklace). You stick your webcam onto a surface, and start the video conversation with your friend.
Future Hardcore Technology
Computer Monitor
Flexible OLED wearable displays (160 degree horizontal field of view) with head tracking (think right analog stick in Mirrors Edge), and eye tracking (only objects in direct view are focused)
Computer Interface
Mouse and keyboard free navigation. Natural tracking of both hands using a mix of software and hardware enables air interfacing. Camera and IR sensor free tracking.
Games
We see more First-Person games from the West, the first-person adventure starts to take off, while the Japanese focus on third-person/first-person hybrid games. The Japanese pioneer the first-person bar brawl game in the style of Final Fight and the Bouncer. A year or two later fighting games finally evolve into full/half body interfaces. In this time more games begin to be used as simulations, non-combat games in particular. Game physics are also perfected for simple actions and object interactions, getting rid of the floaty physics of current day consoles and the inaccurate and odd looking nature of current hand to object physics. After a few years of this photorealistic graphics start becoming in experimental projects, using real world physics as a basis. By this stage the bar brawl simulation looks real, but it quickly gets boring, so someone decides to use a fireball, the characters change shape, physics rules are broken as people levitate and eat glass, physics graphics engines reach their next milestone. Humans strive for new experiences and sensations. The yearn for fantasy in our reality.
