What is Social Virtual Reality & How It Has Brought The World Closer Together
Social media and social channels are changing everything around us, often times allowing us to keep contact with loved ones. We can stay connected with our friends, family, meet new people, grow our network and much more. And Social Virtual Reality is now taking connections to the next level.
What is Social Virtual Reality?
Social Virtual Reality is essentially diving into a whole new world to meet or interact with people. Think of it like PUBG but here you can virtually meet other people, talk to them, walk around with them, even create your own world. And, believe it or not, it’s just one click – or well, a headset away.
Get the correct headset equipped with the required technology and it will, quite literally, take you places. When we aspire to go places, we seldom want to do it alone, having someone to accompany you makes the experience even more enthralling.
Here are some of the direct and proven indulgences and benefits of social VR.
- Being in Touch: Missing your family that lives far away? Get them a VR headset and be home as many times in the week as you like.
- Enabling Travel: Being tied to one city as a result of your job can be frustrating. If you can’t join your friends on that trek you’ve been meaning to take, pick up a VR headset and the trip is just a click away.
- Teleporting: While we joke about being magically teleported in minutes, it is possible with a VR headset. Be able to see the Eiffel Tower in Paris within minutes of being atop the Empire State building in America – that’s the whole idea behind Hoppin’.
With a product brimming with social potential, there ought to be interesting offers in the industry.
Some of the platforms that give you access to mind boggling experiences include:
- Hoppin’ – The app that lets you visit real world destinations. A platform that enables users to share experiences from around the world and give the viewer a 360 degree video rendering of the destination. You can meet your friends as avatars in some of the most interesting destinations of the world.
With more and more destinations being added to Hoppin’ with every passing day, get ready for a wealth of new experiences with your group of friends.
- Wander – Wander allows you to visit any 360 Google Street View. They recently added the ability to do so with friends as well, bringing it into the Social VR category.
This is a paid app, which you can find here.
- Veer.Tv Experiences – While not exactly social VR, Veer’s immersive experiences are in high definition and offer very interesting content. Tv experiences. Watch and share VR videos on veer via your smartphone or web browser.
Just like you can’t win a car race without the best car, you’ve got to get your hands on the right VR headset in order to have a highly immersive experience. A good starting point for media-based consumption is the Oculus Go.
If you already have an Oculus Go, here is a list of our top 20 Oculus Go apps.
Here is the list of the top VR headsets in the industry
You should always choose the best VR headset according to your needs.
For Media
- Oculus Go – With an ultra high definition range of lenses, the Oculus GO headset shows crystal clear images. It is lightweight and easy to operate. The hand/arm movement within the VR experience appear to be so precise and accurate that it enhances your VR experience a great deal. The Hoppin’ app ensures to serve an exceptional VR experience and does it beautifully through the best VR headset, the Oculus GO.
You can find the Oculus Go on sale worldwide here on Amazon.
For Gaming
- HTC Vive – Action excites most of us. The HTC Vive provides for a room-scale experience, meaning that the user pretty much takes a lap of the room while immersed in the VR experience. The two 1080p screens provide for a crisp and high definition viewing. The motion controllers keep you safe and shoot a warning when you physically approach objects, therefore an open space experience is recommended while using the HTC Vive.
- Oculus Rift – Being touted as one of the best VR viewing experiences, the Oculus rift headset requires a high end gaming PC. It generates 1080*1200p (high definition images) and therefore requires an 8GB RAM or GTX 970 video card to operate. It holds some of the best VR viewing experiences to its credit.
- Oculus Quest – The Oculus Quest is Facebook’s newest major VR focus. It is a cheaper alternative to the rift, and is completely stand alone (as opposed to the Rift). It is safe, can be used by people of all age groups(above 12 years of age only).It is effectively lightweight and serves a comparatively better experience to people who wear spectacles.
However, the choice of VR device should ideally depend on the kind of usage and the experience that the viewer is seeking. For instance, a VR platform like Hoppin’ aims to address the most fundamental problem of distance. It taps into technology and brings people together. Sitting in one corner of the world, you can virtually meet friends and family from the comfort of your couch.
Destinations get exposure via Hoppin’. A life-like view of the destination serves as a taster for travellers and draws them towards the real life experience.
Hoppin provides 360 degree life-like video renderings of the best destinations from around the world. For those of you who are confined within the limits of your city on the pretext of work, Hoppin’ will make you travel around the world.
Try Out Hoppin’ World – The First Video-Focussed Social VR App
If you’ve ever felt like diving into your device while talking to a loved one over skype, Hoppin’ will take away your long distance woes! If you’ve been dreaming of a travel location but never got the opportunity to visit it, Hoppin’ has got your back. If you wish to access the app and upload an experience to share with your friends – Hoppin’ is your platform. For user guidance here is an article on how to add friends on your Oculus Go (which you can then meet in the Hoppin’ App!).
In the due course of the world virtually shrinking, and everything becoming just a click away, Hoppin’ only attempts to push the envelope and bring the world together. If you have an Oculus Go, you can download it for free and try it today here.
Happy Exploring,
The Hoppin’ Team
