Gaming is entering a new “golden age” thanks to emerging advances in virtual reality technology, Otto Berkes, who co-founded Microsoft’s Xbox in 1998, has told CNBC.
“One of the aspects of VR that has incredible potential is interaction and communication – interacting with characters that are both artificial and virtual, being able to blur distance and geography, you can be anywhere and literally in any time,” Berkes remarked.
He added: “We’re entering another golden age of interactive content development.” The high acclaim attracted by the recently launched PlayStation VR headset, pictured above, seems to count in favor of that view, though Berkes has still expressed misgivings about aspects of the current VR experience.
Berkes, who left Microsoft in 2011 and is now tech consultancy CA Technologies’ chief technology officer, said that the interaction should be more “natural”, explaining: “The implementation is well done, you are transporting them to the space, but you put your hands out in front of you and they are not there.”
He opined: “I think we’ve crossed the first big threshold which is the visual and auditory aspects of VR, but the interaction piece still requires a bunch of work”.