Ernest Cline's Ready Player One is already a cyberpunk pop culture phenomena and it's only going to get bigger with Spielberg's movie adaptation releasing this coming Thursday. Additionally, HTC Vive has just released their new Oasis Beta application which has 3 Ready Player One experiences. Social VR company Sansar has also recreated Aech's garage! I highly recommend trying it out. You can download both through HTC's Viveport portal.
I've read the book several times and took another turn with it recently. Reading about Parzival's lesson plan in school struck me quite strongly. In our work at the Idaho Virtual Reality Council, we often visit schools to introduce VR to students and teacher's alike. I realized that I could essentially copy Parzival's class activities, hand them to a present day teacher and explain that this was possible for them to teach to their students. Today. That got me thinking a bit. How much of Ready Player One's virtual experiences could someone actually replicate with today's technology and available products. Anybody out there want to take a crack at it? <author sheepishly raises hand>
*Page number references based on the unabridged eBook version
Visor and Haptic Gloves
RP1 Concept
"As soon as I was old enough to wear a visor and a pair of haptic gloves" (page 15)
Current Availability
That's a solid yes right off the bat as long as your definition of visor is flexible. HTC Vive, Playstation VR, Oculus, Samsung Gear VR, Google Daydream and all the other current or upcoming HMD manufacturers have been doing a great job driving the technology. Standalone HMD's are beginning to hit the market and this side of the industry will continue to grow. Haptics development is also going strong and there are a ton of companies jumping into that ballgame. VRgluv, Captoglove, and Manos VR are 3 of the companies that are pushing the envelope for haptic gloves.
OASIS AVATAR
RP1 Concept
"My mom helped me create my first OASIS avatar." (page 15)
Current Availability
Plenty of VR apps allow you to create an avatar. Morph3D has an extensive avatar customization offering but, more importantly, is working to provide a platform that allows users to have a persistent avatar across multiple interactive products. This is more in line with what Ready Player One describes as the functionality for OASIS avatars. Sansar is another great offering for avatar creation.
Sesame Street VR
RP1 Concept
"I spent a big chunk of my childhood hanging out in a virtual reality simulation of Sesame Street, singing songs with friendly Muppets and playing interactive games that taught me how to walk, talk, add, subtract, read, write and share." (page 15)
Current Availability
Not yet which is too bad. Sesame Street is a great children's education brand and they are prototyping products to extend it to new technologies.
The World's Largest Public Library
RP1 Concept
"It didn’t take me long to discover that the OASIS was also the world’s biggest public library, where even a penniless kid like me had access to every book every written, every song ever recorded and every movie, television show, video game and piece of artwork ever created." (page 15)
Current Availability
We're getting close! Check out Chimera Reader and configure your own cozy and private VR study to read books in. It might still take a while to have access to every piece of media ever created though. In the mean time, leverage access to over 30 million titles in Google Books to get some quality reading time.....in VR.
Going to school in VR
RP1 Concept
“My avatar materialized in front of my locker on the second floor of my high school…” (page 27)
Current Availability
This may not be as far away as you think. In 2016, Japanese students attended the opening ceremony for their school from 800 miles away. With the ever increasing availability of VR enabled courses, the first VR university or high school is probably just around the corner. Immersive Education's Engage is a very cool product that gives a teacher special presentation tools and allows for up to 30 people to participate in the virtual classroom.
Real Time Emotions
RP1 Concept
"Todd13 scowled and his face actually turned red- a sign that he hadn’t bothered to turn off his account’s real-time emotion feature…" (page 29)
Current Availability
Yes, there are currently products in production that will capture your facial movement and translate it to an avatar. There are several companies in this race. Emteq's sensor reads electrica muscle activity while companies such as Veeso depend on an addition camera facing down from the HMD.
VR Web Browsing
RP1 Concept
"I tapped another icon, and a large two-dimensional Web browser window appeared, suspending in space directly in front of me." (page 32)
Current Availability
Yes. It is available within the OS of the major players (Vive, Oculus, etc) and there are quite a few third-party applications that provide this.
The Basement
RP1 Concept
"Chat Rooms were stand-alone simulations – temporary virtual spaces that avatars could access from anywhere in OASIS….He’d programmed it to look like a large suburban rec room, circa the late 1980’s. Old movie and comic book posters covered the wood-paneled walls. A vintage RCA television stood in the center of the room, hooked up to a Betamax VCR, a LaserDisc player, and several vintage video game consoles. Bookshelves lined the far wall, filled with role-playing game supplements and back issues of Dragon magazine." (page 37)
Current Availability
Yes! There are now personalized private meeting spaces that let's you share media and interactive elements with visitors. SteamVR Home, Facebook Spaces, VRChat, Altspace, Sansar and others are all places you can meet up and get your community groove on.
Education- Discovering King Tut's Tomb
RP1 Concept
"Mr. Avenovich loaded a stand-alone simulation so that our class could witness the discovery of King Tut’s tomb by archeologists in Egypt in AD 1922. (The day before, we’d visited the same spot in 1334 BC and had seen Tutankhamen’s empire in all it’s glory.)" (page 47)
Current Availability
Yes! Discovr Egypt is a great Vive application for exploring King Tut's Tomb.
Education- Biology
RP1 Concept
"In my next class, Biology, we traveled through a human heart and watched it pumping from the inside, just like in that old movie Fantastic Voyage." (page 47)
Current Availability
Yes! 3DOrganon is a comprehensive application to explore human anatomy!
Education- Tour the Louvre
RP1 Concept
"In Art class we toured the Louvre while all of our avatars wore silly berets" (page 47)
Current Availability
A half-hearted yes and a bit of no. You Visit has a series of 360 videos that can be accessed and viewed. It's not the immersive experience that's shortly described in Ready Player One. Also, clearly, we can't be in there together all wearing silly berets...
Education- Astronomy
RP1 Concept
"In my Astronomy class we visited each of Jupiter’s moons. We stood on the volcanic surface of Io while our teacher explained how the moon had originally formed….Then she snapped her fingers and we were standing on Europa, discussing the possibility of extraterrestrial life beneath the moon’s ice crust." (page 47)
Current Availability
Yes! There are a few VR apps out there that allow you to explore the cosmos. Stars, available from Viveport, is a very solid offering.
Surreal Real Estate
RP1 Concept
"Any business that wanted to set up shop inside the OASIS had to rent or purchase virtual real estate (which Morrow dubbed Surreal Estate" (page 58)
Current Availability
Actually, this process has begun. Some municipalities have thought about charging a tax on apps that employ geolocation technology to direct app users to specific real world locations. Pokeman GO has driven so much foot traffic to various locations that the owners of the physical space feel justified in charging a fee for their virtual location as well. In-VR is also the first video game convention held entirely in virtual reality. They are charging for several different levels of virtual booth space.
Flicksyncs
RP1 Concept
"Flicksyncs became wildly popular. There turned out to be a whole market for games that allowed people to play a leading role in one of their favorite old movies or TV series." (page 111)
Current Availability
MGM and Interlude have been talking about making an interactive video version of Wargames and giving the "player" options within the experience. This would align closely with Parzival's experience at the First Gate. Also, Flicksync: Knights Who Say Ni provides a similar experience to what is described in Ready Player One, only on a phone. Sadly, this doesn't quite make the cut as yelling "we have the Holy Hand Grenade" while I'm not in VR doesn't really count...
Virtual Real Estate Preview
RP1 Concept
"I spoke with a rental agent in a chat room, and he showed me around a virtual mock-up of my new digs." (page 163)
Current Availability
Yes! There are plenty of apps that allow you to tour a home or apartment via 360 video. IrisVR's Prospect product provides a platform for builders to preview their projects with their clients and prospects.
Group Movie Watching While in VR
RP1 Concept
"One night, she took me to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show in a huge stadium-sized movie theatre...Thousands of avatars came to every show, to sit in the stands and revel in the audience participation...only longstanding members of the Rocky Horror Fan Club we permitted to get up on stage and help act out the film." (page 178)
Current Availability
Yes! Big Screen VR has been offering virtual living rooms and theatres so that people can login and watch movies via their VR system. They recently partered with Paramount Pictures for group VR viewings of Top Gun.
VR Night Club
RP1 Concept
"The Distracted Globe was a famous zero-gravity dance club." (page 181)
Current Availability
Yes! The Wave VR is a platform for people who love music, enabling them to view, host, and socialize in shows world wide, anytime, anywhere. In fact, The Wave VR recreated The Distracted Globe for this year's SXSW.
VR Avatar Customized Vehicle
RP1 Concept
"I'd had it only a few weeks now, but my time-traveling, Ghost Busting, Knight Riding, matter-penetrating DeLorean had already become my avatar's trademark." (page 182)
Current Availability
No, but its probably not far down the road (heh)...
Shaptic Technologies HC5000 Fully Adjustable Haptic Chair
RP1 Concept
"The unit could flip, spin or shake my body...built into the inside of the suit was a web-like network of miniature actuators that made contact with my skin every few centimeters" (page 191)
Current Availability
Yes! The fidelity of the current offerings aren't quite as good as what's described in the book but both the Roto VR and Positron VR chairs are viable options in the market right now.
Dinatro RLR-7800 WreckSpex
RP1 Concept
"The Visor drew the OASIS directly onto my retinas at the highest frame rate and resolution perceptible to the human eye" (page 192)
Current Availability
Yes! Companies like Magic Leap and Avegant have been working on retinal projection for years. You can buy an Avegant video headset now and Magic Leap is a step closer to commercialization since it just released its newest developer SDK.
The Olfatrix Smell Tower
RP1 Concept
"The Oflatrix Smell Tower in the corner was capable of generating over two thousand discernible odors." (page 192)
Current Availability
Yes, although not with 2,000 scent options. Olorama is a scent generator that can synchronize smells with your virtual reality experience. They currently offer over 60 different smells. The Feelreal sensory mask also has a limited offering of nine total scents that can be used with their device.
Okagami Runaround Omni-directional Treadmill
RP1 Concept
"When it was activated, I could run at top speed in any direction and never reach the edge of the platform. If I changed direction, the treadmill would sense it, and its rolling surface would change direction to match me, always keeping my body near the center of its platform. This model was also equipped with built-in lifts and an amorphous surface, so that it could simulate walking up inclines and staircases." (page 193)
Current Availability
Yes (and no). Infinadeck, Kat Walk and the Omni Gaming Treadmill are all great options but we will be waiting for built-in lifts and amorphous surfaces for a while...
The Gym
RP1 Concept
"I pulled on my visor and loaded up the Gym, a stand-alone simulation. Now I was standing in a large modern fitness center lined with exercise equipment and weight machines, all of which could be perfectly simulated by my haptic suit. I began my daily workout. Sit-ups, stomach crunches, push-ups, aerobics, weight training." (page 195)
Current Availability
Yes! There are plenty of software-based VR fitness options out there. Virzoom and Icarus are two VR fitness equipment solutions and Black Box VR will be opening full boutique gym locations starting this year.
Personal Oasis Vidfeed
RP1 Concept
"It allowed anyone who paid a monthly fee to run their own streaming television network." (page 201)
Current Availability
Kind of. The closest we have right now is probably streaming your YouTube channel and having people view it through their VR HMDs.
Archiage - Virtual Classic Arcade Museum
RP1 Concept
"Since the dawn of the OASIS, thousands of elderly users had come here and painstakingly coded virtual replicas of local arcades." (page 217)
Current Availability
Yes, with a little work from the user. New Retro Arcade is available and provides an arcade environment for classic games from the '80s and '90s. However, the user will have to upload most of the ROMs in order to be able to play them as an emulated experience in VR.
Data Visualization and Navigation
RP1 Concept
"The visor presented me with a three-dimensional view of the Sixer's database, with dozens of overlapping data windows suspended in front of me. Using my gloves, I began to manipulate these windows, navigating my way through the database's file structure." (page 290)
Current Availability
Yes, companies like Looker and Great Wave Tech are building and enhancing data visualization tools for virtual reality.
Dichotomy Wear
RP1 Concept
"Both items were "dichotomy wear", meaning they were wired for OASIS use. They didn't have haptics, but the pants and shirt could link up iwht my portable immersion rig, letting it know what I was doing with my torso, arms, and legs, making it easier to control my avatar than with a gloves-only interface." (page 299)
Current Availability
Yes! The most promising offering, the Teslasuit, is a full body, fully featured haptic garment that is currently available for pre-order. Honestly, this product looks awesome!
Bifocal Visor
RP1 Concept
"He was wearing a bifocal visor, which gave him a semitransparent view of the OASIS while also allowing him to see his real-world surroundings." (page 301)
Current Availability
Yes! The functionality of AR products replicates this functionality exactly!
vSports
RP1 Concept
"The moment someone enters the Third Gate, a live vidfeed of their avatar appears at the top of the Scoreboard...Apparently, Halliday wanted clearing the final gate to be a spectator sport." (page 353)
Current Availability
Yes! eSports has been exploding in popularity over the last few years and vSports has recently entered the fray. The VR Challenger League is the first virtual reality eSports league. There have been 4 events so far, each with a $200,000 prize pool. Expect this type of offering to grow as more VR gaming companies publish real-time (synchronous) competitive multiplayer games.
Well, that wraps up my analysis of the various VR and AR offerings within Ready Player One. Idaho Virtual Reality Council members get a chance to see the movie early so check and see if there are tickets still available! For the rest of you, the movie is coming out in a couple of days and I'm sure it'll be, like, totally bitchin!
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