I'm looking forward to experiencing the Oculus one day, but it should be clear to anyone that the possibilities of immersive VR are limitless.
Far from being a useless or escapist distraction from the "real" world, virtual reality is simply a new way to receive novel information & sensory input. It's no different than a movie, TV, a book, fine art, or any other human creation that can stimulate our minds.
Video games are a primitive form of virtual reality, in which you are able to explore situations & worlds that exist only in the human imagination, both individual & collective. Although I like to exist in the physical world, I've always enjoyed video games. They are almost an 'alternate consciousness' consisting of explorations into engaging scenarios & mental states.
By synergizing our brains with electronic media (or other future tech that we can't imagine), perhaps we will eventually create parallel streams of experience. We might also be able to fractalize our minds, creating numerous embedded levels of simultaneous thought.
Below are a few Oculus Rift applications that I think are especially cool-looking. Some of them deal with one of my favorite topics, and the source of humanity's future in the Universe, ...Outer Space.
Being a huge Star Wars fan, the idea of using lightsabers in virtual reality is immediately appealing. This demo looks pretty awesome:
The movie "Interstellar" is using a virtual trip into space as part of their marketing efforts:
Space.com:
Here's a look at some of the latest Oculus Rift software, which shows the vast possibilities inherent in this medium:
I think it's interesting how there are video games in some of these virtual worlds... games within games, realities within realities. Its similar to the idea of fractally embedded consciousness I mentioned before.
Finally, here's a very funny video, showing the reaction of a Ugandan security guard who loses himself within the Oculus VR:
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