Are there VR "Sweet Spots"?

There has been talk of how the time is now for VR. Many have expressed (from the coverage I've seen) how the current VR systems really do allow for immersion. Since so many have been expressing this opinion, I thought it was fair to say it was something to be impressed by (even if a little).

When I got my chance to try VR for the first time, though, I (as much as I hate to say it) felt very differently from most people. The only immersion I could really sense was that there had been a small screen strapped extremely close to my eyes...

However, even with myself feeling this way, I could still see where VR had possibilities, some of which I wanted to try finding myself. So with that interest, and the ability/opportunity to develop for a VR headset, I started on a project.

During this current project (which I've tested in VR) I continued to feel less than "immersed". But there was a change recently - a surprise - I felt something! This feeling I had, I believe, is what people are touting as "immersion".

I still don't believe what I felt was that grand, but it was a lot more than what I had been feeling. This was gotten only through visuals - no sounds. It was in one small area of a level I had created for a game. I was looking in a specific direction. If I happened to be located and facing in such a way, I would get this feeling. It would quickly break if I moved out of such a location and orientation.

So what does this mean? Personally I take it as meaning VR is like anything in the "real" world of ours - it's just not as "real" to us. We all have different perceptions of reality. Some moments in life (due to different cues to our senses and how we think or perceive things already) stick out or hit us harder intellectually or emotionally. Some people can get "immersed" into different mediums and presentations within those mediums easier than others. A fair amount of people can get motion sick from things which others don't. It's all the same thing - whether we're buying into what are senses are telling us, or not. However, that doesn't mean I'm saying there are just two states to be had in VR - "immersed" and "not immersed". It's a scale, but if you were to then have to decide on which side this degree of "realism" you are feeling falls on, you'd either "buy into it", or "not buy into it".

So the bottom line I see; just like in our own "real" lives - some people have a harder time in believing that something is "real/true" than others. And what makes us think something is "real/true", and in what area, is different for everyone.

I could probably ramble on further about this (and maybe will in the future). But, for now, I'll sum up by saying... I found a "sweet spot" in VR. I was just looking at some stairs, a few chairs and tables, with a wall at the opposite end...

(it's not even finished, too - look, there are textures which were placed on models that don't match the UVs!) but something about that particular view made me believe what I saw was apparently more "real" than any other view I've happened upon in VR. For others, maybe the life-sized bread man in the middle of the room would have made them feel more "immersed" (but that's another story for the future).