One of the things that really struck me/ surprised me about the vr experience we did at ‘Otherworld’, was the time perspective in the vr game. There was a timer on how much time was left of our vr experience, but what I was not aware of was that it was being topped up due to some of our class not turning up. I didn’t even notice that it was being topped up and felt as though I had been in the pod for roughly 20-30 minutes and was informed after I got out that I was in there for over an hour.
This was a very strange feeling, but it makes sense when thinking about how we only feel the passing of time relative to our experience and what our brains are doing, depending on the level of immersion in the game, I think even more time could be passed in the relative feeling of the same time. To me this adds to my concern about the use and development of VR gaming, as if time feels relatively fast in the VR, then it is likely that people will gradually become more and more comfortable with spending hours in these VR games, and it will feel as though not much time is passing.
This worries me, as I feel as though there is a strong sense that people in todays society want to escape, people do not like where things are going, but they just want it to get easier, for time to just pass. VR prays on this desire to escape and takes advantage of it by offering a technological solution of simulating any possible desired experience.
“when we experience flow – characterised by high enjoyment and involvement… this often correlates with losing track of time” (The Potential Disconnect between Time Perception and Immersion: Effects of Music on VR Player Experience)
This quick passing of time is often associated as positive as the saying says ‘time flies when you’re having fun’. However, personally I feel that I do not want my time to fly, I want to be present in each moment and feel it pass at its true natural rate.
When realising the connection between music, immersion and time perspective through reading ‘The Potential Disconnect between Time Perception and Immersion: Effects of Music on VR Player Experience’, it made me think about the power of music and sound in experience. Also this places a certain level of responsibility on the person or people responsible for the music, and it therefore means they have a certain level of influence in the perception of time of the player of the game. This is a strange dynamic and knowledge to have as a composer of the music.