So after a hectic time of submitting the treatment for my script and filming at the same time, I've decided to take a little break from my script on here and post about something else. The anime music video 'Shelter'. Which is a collaboration between A1 - Pictures & Crunchyroll and DJs Porter Robinson and Madeon. It is a video which has been gaining popularity of late due to its interpretive story. On YouTube, it has now over 7 million views!
In this post I shall be mainly focusing on the level of immersion that Rin encounters in her virtual reality and the issues surrounding that but I shall briefly talk about spectacle.
What is important to note here is that the virtual reality technology itself isn't a spectacle to the girl, as she is aware that she is in virtual reality and knows its limitations. To us, who are still very much fascinated by the idea of virtual reality technology, it is still a spectacle. The places Rin creates are new to her every time, filling her with wonderment every time she explores them. In other words, she is deeply immersed in each world and the fact that she can explore and touch things in these different worlds is a spectacle to her.
This reality and possibility of creating things (e.g. our own worlds) in virtual reality and becoming fully immersed in them, isn't a far off possibility now. Granted, thanks to technology such as the 'Oculus Rift' and 'Samsung Gear VR' we are already able to go into created worlds, but becoming fully immersed in them is a different story. For example, two of the things that can destroy the illusion of being fully immersed is the chunky headgear that can give you a neck ache if on for too long or make some people feel motion sickness (also known as 'cybersickness'), and the lack of ability to feel things that you can touch in virtual reality. These things are being worked on of course, but we still have quite the way to go until we reach the level of immersion Rin has in Shelter. 'Virtual reality is immersive, which means that it is a medium whose purpose is to disappear. This disappearing act, however, is made difficult by the apparatus that virtual reality requires.' (Bolter and Grusin 2000, pg. 21-22)
However, Rin isn't able to escape from her virtual reality. She can neither, eat, sleep, or move which renders her helpless. When we see her in space at the end of the video, one has to wonder if she is even living anymore. Unlike Rin, we are able to escape from virtual worlds when we chose but if it gets to the level of immersion Rin has, there is an issue of people possibly wanting to stay in their own paradises and shun the real world and reality, to never return and become detached from real life. This is already apparent with what the Japanese like to call 'NEETs' (people Not in Education, Employment, or Training) or 'Hikikomori'.
While they may see this addiction as ideal for themselves, it will become a detriment to them in the end and destroy their immersion, as we are shown by Rin's loneliness in the video. She has no one to talk to and the memories of why she is in virtual reality in the first place cause her greater pain and loneliness. Rin, as of yet, has no one to detach her from the virtual reality in the real world. In the future, if people are alone in the real world while lost in the same level of virtual reality, they may also lose the ability to escape like Rin. Instead of their virtual reality being a place to escape to, it will become a lonely prison.
Of coarse, people could always create their own people to talk to within their virtual reality, but then the only friends people might have are fake, NPCs who don't feel genuine emotion towards them but have been programmed to respond and behave in a certain way. As humans, we crave and need human contact to keep our sanity.
But then again, what's the point of escaping virtual reality if things are bad in the real world anyway? As the name of video suggests, virtual reality is a shelter for Rin from the lonely and depressing reality outside, Earth has collided with another planet and has seemingly been destroyed.
It must be noted that the idea of virtual reality becoming a safety net and safe place for people can still be a benefit and therapeutic. As we see at the end of the video, the message Rin receives and the technology she has been given by her father keeps her hopes up for the future and she thanks him for that. 'Understanding the psychological implications, both positive and negative, is critical.' (Scarborough and Bailenson 2014, pg. 140)
References:
Bolter J. and Grusin R. (2000) Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge, London: MIT Press
Scarborough J. and Bailenson J. in (2014) The Oxford Handbook of Virtuality. Edited by Mark Grimshaw. New York, United States of America: Oxford University Press.
