Have you ever found yourself staring in slack-jawed amazement at a pane of glass? I’m not talking about that fancy stained glass you might find in churches and cathedrals here, I’m talking normal, everyday glass that’s seen a bit of wear and tear. The sort you might see in the windows of a bus perhaps, or a train. You know the type, it’s grimy, it’s covered in scratches and smudges and subliminally it shouts, “People have been here before!”.
In real life I wouldn’t give that kind of thing much more than a passing glance, but if glass is done right in VR? Well then it adds this undeniable sense of realism to your surroundings. Simple things like slight smears on the smooth surface of a window can subtly reinforce the illusion of depth. A reflection of light viewed at just the right angle might illuminate dozens of tiny scratches, which suddenly makes the world feel lived in. These may sound like small things, but they all contribute to something every VR adopter wants; heightened immersion in a virtual space.
Why am I telling you this? Well, there’s a couple of moments where I get positively giddy about simple panes of glass in this week’s Ian’s VR Corner and you can witness them for yourself in the video below, where I play through the first hour of Red Matter on Playstation VR.
