I think that the idea of VR and AI is interesting and I know it could be the future of humanity by the looks of the Metaverse’s progress. It could be a useful tool in not just sound arts but also medical care, technology, and several other ways. One thing I always hear about VR is that it’s something I should stick to and focus on in my future endeavours.
But I don’t want to. I just don’t have any interest in it. Here’s why:
As for now, to me, it seems as a more complicated way of using spatial sound. It’s still an underdeveloped concept since it is so new. My only experience with VR comes from using the Oculus headsets and when I first put it on I was really surprised by its effect. It tricked my brain into thinking I was somewhere else. From a visual point of view, it’s something mind-blowing and outstanding but from a Sound Artist’s point of view, I feel as if there is not much to work with. Yes, there are some psycho-acoustics tricks you can pull off with VR but I don’t see the creativity in it. At least with my work, I always think there has to be an equal compromise between artistic and scientific work. With VR, I feel like it becomes 100% about science and less art. I rather stick to films, animations etc.
I understand that the goal is immersion, but there are so many other ways of achieving immersion through sound.